Blue Jays gained vital experience in 2015

ARLINGTON — This was playoff baseball at its teeth-grinding best. One team jumps to a lead, and then the other claws back into it, refusing to give in or go away.

This is the kind of game the Toronto Blue Jays had to learn how to win. By the way, that’s true of every championship-caliber team, and the Blue Jays are definitely that.

They did win this one, defeating the Texas Rangers, 5-3, on Friday afternoon at Globe Life Park to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five American League Division Series. This game reminded the Blue Jays why last season was both disappointing and educational. 

Game Date Time Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 6   TOR 10, TEX 1 Gm 2 Oct. 7   TOR 5 TEX 3 Gm 3 Oct. 9 7:30 p.m. TEX @ TOR TBS/SN/TVA *Gm 4 Oct. 10 1 or 6 p.m. TEX @ TOR TBS/SN/TVA *Gm 5 Oct. 12 8 or 9:30 p.m. TOR @ TEX TBS/SN/TVA *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Rangers | Blue Jays • Complete Postseason coverage

“I don’t think you can get what the playoffs are like unless you’ve been there,” center fielder Kevin Pillar said.

That’s how these Blue Jays are different. They were remade breathtakingly fast over the past 24 months, and the club took off almost immediately in the second half of the 2015 season, going 42-14 during one stretch.

But grinding through the playoffs last season — that is, coming back from an 0-2 deficit to eliminate the Rangers in the ALDS and then losing a six-game AL Championship Series to the Royals — might end up being especially useful.

That experience set the stage for a team that was playing must-win games down the stretch this season and has opened these playoffs by winning a tight, tense AL Wild Card Game against the Orioles on Tuesday night and taking two on the road from the Rangers.

Of Toronto’s 25 active players, 16 were acquired after the end of the 2014 season. The Blue Jays made big trades for third baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and others. They also signed impact free agents like catcher Russell Martin and starting pitchers Marco …

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