Toronto Blue Jays take Game 2, lead ALDS 2-0 over Texas Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — Edwin Encarnacion capped a three-homer burst in the fifth inning off Yu Darvish and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 Friday to take a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.
The wild-card Blue Jays now go home looking to clinch the best-of-five matchup after beating the Rangers’ two ace pitchers. Game 3 is Sunday night.
A reminder, though: Last year, Toronto lost the first two games of the ALDS at home against Texas, then rallied to win the series.
Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Encarnacion, who ended the AL wild-card game with a three-run homer in the 11th inning Tuesday night, hit solo homers in a five-batter span in the fifth. Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run drive in the second put 20-game winner J.A. Happ and the Blue Jays ahead to stay.
Texas scored twice in the eighth, including an RBI single by Carlos Gomez that hit reliever Francisco Liriano in the back of the neck. Liriano walked off the mound, and an ambulance was waiting to take him to the hospital after the game.
Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna got five outs for a save.
