Texas’ ‘tails whipped’ by Toronto in G1

ARLINGTON — In a rematch of last year’s American League Division Series, it took the Blue Jays all of three innings to take control.

Toronto set the tone in this matchup between bitter rivals and used a five-run third inning to cruise to a 10-1 victory over the Rangers in Game 1 on Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Park. That was more than enough run support for right-hander Marco Estrada, who allowed just four hits and one run over 8 1/3 innings in the longest start by a pitcher in Toronto postseason history.

Game Date Time Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 6   TOR 10, TEX 1 Gm 2 Oct. 7 1 p.m. TOR @ TEX TBS/SN/TVA Gm 3 Oct. 9 7:30 p.m. TEX @ TOR TBS/SN/TVA *Gm 4 Oct. 10 TBD TEX @ TOR TBS/SN/TVA *Gm 5 Oct. 12 TBD TOR @ TEX TBS/SN/TVA *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Rangers | Blue Jays • Complete Postseason coverage

“We definitely got our tails whipped today,” Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “They kicked our tails, but we still have four games left. We’ve got to find a way to win tomorrow.”

“When you’re on the road, that’s something you want to do is quiet the fans, and I think we did a pretty good job,” Estrada said. “Obviously, we don’t want any momentum on their side, and scoring seven runs by the fourth — that’s going to keep a lot of people quiet.”

• Pressure of big game no problem for Estrada

The Blue Jays did most of their damage against Rangers No. 1 starter Cole Hamels. Troy Tulowitzki had a bases-loaded triple, Melvin Upton Jr. homered and Josh Donaldson finished his afternoon with four hits, including a pair of doubles. Jose Bautista also added a late three-run homer as Toronto scored its most runs since a 10-2 victory over Seattle on Sept. 20.

“In reality, we were due to break out,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “I thought we worked Cole really tough, because he’s one of the elite pitchers in the game. That third inning, we made him work and got a couple of big, big hits. … But that’s one thing we do even when we’re struggling with at-bats — we make starters work.”

Hamels allowed seven runs — six earned — which set a career postseason high. He gave up a lot of hard contact and didn’t receive much help from his defense en route to surrendering six hits and three walks compared to recording just 10 outs. The 3 1/3 innings also was the shortest outing of his postseason career, and Hamels has not won a game at Globe Life Park since Aug. 25.

• Bad breaks tell tale of Rangers’ fateful 3rd

“Obviously, we would have liked to have played a lot more competitively,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “But the other thing you’ve got to look at is Estrada pitched a heck of a game. We didn’t have the game we were looking for from our side, but no, I don’t feel there will be any collateral damage.”

• Rangers put Game 1 in past, focus on drawing even

Estrada was an entirely different story. Through the first five innings, Estrada’s lone blemish was an infield single by Beltre to lead off the second. Estrada did not walk a batter and faced just one batter over the minimum through the first eight innings. The outing was somewhat reminiscent of his victory over Texas in Game 3 of last year’s ALDS when he kept his team alive by allowing one run over 6 1/3 innings.

• Stare in awe at Estrada’s ALDS-dominating bowling-ball …

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