Texas and Toronto kick off a full day of Division Series action at 12:45 p.m. ET, with the Blue Jays looking to pull even in the series with a Rangers club that surprised the baseball world with a 5-3 victory in Game 1.
Cole Hamels will look to add to his resume of postseason success (13 GS, 7-4, 3.09 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, .218 BAA) in his first playoff start for the Rangers, while 24-year-old Marcus Stroman, making his playoff debut, will try to silence a Rangers lineup that could be without third baseman Adrian Beltre, who left Game 1 with a strained lower back.
Toronto didn't escape the series opener without injury concerns of their own, as both third baseman (and likely AL MVP) Josh Donaldson (head) and right fielder Jose Bautista (hamstring) departed early with ailments of their own.
While the health of such big stars is certainly a key to their respective team finding success in Game 2, it's not the only one.
Fuhgeddaboutit
Since 2010, six of the eight teams that won the opening game in the AL Division Series eventually advanced to the next round. While the odds aren't in Toronto's favor, it'd be a mistake for either team to get too high—or too low—based on the results of one game.
Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin doesn't believe it's going to be an issue, as he told the Toronto Sun's Ken Fidlin:
I think we can win three in a row. We’ve done it before. The way to think about is this: I definitely think we can finish the year playing above .500 in the playoffs. If you do that, you win the whole thing.
[...]
I can only speak for myself. I’m ready for tomorrow already. This game’s over. They played better than us. We’ll look forward to getting back in the zone tomorrow.
Are the stakes higher than they were yesterday? Of course. But both teams need to keep their eyes on the prize—winning Game 2—and nothing else. The slightest loss of focus could prove disastrous.
Sit on Hamels' Heat
While Hamels has become less reliant on his hard stuff over the years, he still goes to his four-seam fastball and sinker fairly often. But he's developed a nasty habit of leaving his heat in the middle of the strike zone.
Of the 22 home runs Hamels has allowed on the season, 18 have come against his heat, according to BaseballSavant.com. That's something a home-run-happy Blue Jays lineup has to take advantage of.
Failing to do so is going to let Hamels get ahead in the count and find Toronto chasing after his changeup and curveball, which have always been his best strikeout pitches. That's a recipe for disaster and a surefire way to leave Toronto down two games in the series.
Big Names Have to Come Through With Big Games
Texas got big-time production from the likes of Delino DeShields Jr., Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos in Game 1, and that trend could very well continue in Game 2. But it might not.
What is for sure is that the Rangers' chances of leaving Toronto with a 2-0 series lead drop significantly if the biggest names in their lineup continue to do, well, nothing.
Elvis Andrus, Shin-Soo Choo, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli combined to go 0-for-18 with two walks and six strikeouts in Game 1. 0-for-18. The Rangers simply can't afford a repeat of that performance in Game 2, especially if Adrian Beltre's back keeps him out of action.
Unless otherwise noted/linked, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.
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