ARLINGTON, Texas — Talk about a 1-2-3 punch for the Toronto Blue Jays in these playoffs.
The wild-card Blue Jays have rediscovered their power stroke in October, and are going home with a chance to sweep the Texas Rangers in the AL Division Series after a 5-3 win Friday.
Edwin Encarnacion capped a three-homer burst in the fifth inning off Yu Darvish, and Toronto won on a dreary, misty afternoon for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup.
One important reminder, though: Last fall, Toronto lost the first two games of the ALDS at home against Texas, then rallied to win the series.
“I learned something last year … you got to win three games,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “They’ve got a great team over there. You don’t lead the American League, powerhouse league, you don’t luck into that.”
Wearing spikes that had “No Panic” printed on them, closer Roberto Osuna got a five-out save that sent the Blue Jays home looking to clinch the series in Game 3 Sunday night.
Osuna entered after reliever Francisco Liriano was hit near the back of the head by Carlos Gomez’s line drive — Liriano was hospitalized as a precaution. It was Osuna’s first appearance since he left the mound in the AL wild-card win Tuesday night with a shoulder injury that left his status in doubt.
Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Encarnacion, who ended the wild-card game with a three-run homer in the 11th inning, 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.
“Getting behind in the count, and they were looking for fastballs,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “When I left it on the plate, they got it.”
Texas scored twice in the eighth, including Gomez’s single that struck Liriano. The pitcher walked off the mound, and an ambulance took him to the hospital for what Gibbons referred to as “some further tests.”
A day after Cleveland homered three times in an inning against Boston and won its ALDS opener, the Blue Jays matched the feat against the team that had the best record in the AL this year. The home runs boosted the Blue Jays in a game in which they got outhit 13-6.
While Toronto finished the regular season fourth in the majors with 221 homers, there were only eight the last 11 games. They already have eight in three postseason games.
“Home runs are always a good thing,” Gibbons said.
Darvish had as many strikeouts (four) in his five innings as homers allowed, becoming the first pitcher in the postseason to allow four homers in a game since Minnesota’s Rick Reed against Oakland in Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS.