ed game Monday. He has been idle since Sept. 9 with a forearm strain.Royals: All-Sta

A look at the best-of-five American League Division Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers:---Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Texas (4:38 p. Vernon Wells Jersey .m.); Game 2, Friday, at Texas (1:08 p.m.); Game 3, Sunday, at Toronto (7:38 p.m.); x-Game 4, Monday, Oct. 10, at Toronto (TBA); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Texas (TBA). (All games on TBS).x-if necessary.---Season Series: Blue Jays won 4-3.---Projected Lineups:Blue Jays: 2B Devon Travis (.300, 11 HRs, 50 RBI), 3B Josh Donaldson (.284, 37, 99), 1B Edwin Encarnacion (.263, 42, 127), DH Jose Bautista (.234, 22, 69), C Russell Martin (.231, 20, 74), SS Troy Tulowitzki (.254, 24, 79), RF Michael Saunders (.253, 24, 57), CF Kevin Pillar (.266, 7, 53), LF Ezequiel Carrera (.248, 6, 23) or Melvin Upton Jr. (.238, 20, 61 with San Diego and Toronto).Rangers: LF Carlos Gomez (.284, 8, 24 in 33 games with Rangers; .210, 5, 29 in 85 games with Astros), CF Ian Desmond (.285, 22, 86, 107 runs, 160 Ks), DH Carlos Beltran (280, 7, 29 in 52 games with Rangers; .304, 22, 64 in 99 games with Yankees), 3B Adrian Beltre (.300, 32, 104, 31 2Bs), 2B Rougned Odor (.271, 33, 88), C Jonathan Lucroy (.276, 11, 31 in 47 games with Rangers; .299, 13, 50 in 95 games with Brewers), RF Shin-Soo Choo (.242, 7, 17 in 48 games, 4 DL stints), 1B Mitch Moreland (.233, 22, 60), SS Elvis Andrus (.302, 8, 69, 7 3Bs, 24 SBs).---Starting Pitchers:Blue Jays: RH Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.48), LH J.A. Happ (20-4, 3.18 ERA), RH Aaron Sanchez (15-2, AL-leading 3.00 ERA), RH Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37, career-high 204 IP).Rangers: LH Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.32, 200 2/3 IP, 200 Ks), RH Yu Darvish (7-5, 3.41), RH Colby Lewis (6-5, 3.71), LHP Martin Perez (10-11, 4.39, 198 2/3 IP).---Relievers:Blue Jays: RH Roberto Osuna (1-6, 2.68, 36/39 saves), RH Jason Grilli (7-6, 1.29, 81Ks in 59 innings with Atlanta and Toronto), LH Brett Cecil (1-7, 3.96), RH Joe Biagini (4-3, 3.06 in 60 games as a rookie), LH Francisco Liriano (8-13, 4.69 with Pittsburgh and Toronto; 2-2, 2.92 in 10 games, 8 starts, for Blue Jays).Rangers: RH Sam Dyson (3-2, 2.43, 38/43 saves), RH Tony Barnette (7-3, 2.09), RH Matt Bush (7-2, 2.48, 61 Ks in 61 2/3 IP), LH Alex Claudio (4-1, 2.79), LH Jake Diekman (4-2, 3.40, 4 saves), RH Jeremy Jeffress (1-0, 2.70 in 12 games with Rangers; 2-2, 2.22, 27/28 saves in 47 games with Brewers), RH Keone Kela (5-1, 6.09).---Matchups:A rematch of the 2015 ALDS that Toronto won in five games, including the wild clincher when Bautista had the go-ahead homer and emphatic bat flip as part of a disastrous seventh inning for the Rangers. They made errors on three consecutive plays, including two by Andrus. ... Toronto has a 208-203 lead all-time in the regular-season series. ... The ALDS opener will be their first meeting since May 15 in Texas, when Odor punched Bautista after the Blue Jays slugger made a hard takeout slide at second base in the eighth inning, after he had reached base when hit by a pitch. MLB disciplined 14 players and staff over the melee. The only players suspended were Odor (seven games), Bautista (one game) and Andrus (one game). ... Texas (60-31) and Toronto (58-31) were good during the regular season against the best teams, with the top two records in the majors against clubs that finished .500 or better. ... Texas three wins over Toronto this season were all one-run games. Each was won by a reliever, including Bushs first career victory May 15. ... In the ALDS last season, Texas took a 2-0 series lead by winning the first two games in Toronto, including a 14-inning Game 2. The Blue Jays posted a pair of four-run victories in Texas to force the deciding game at raucous Rogers Centre. ... The Rangers won a franchise-record 53 home games this season, which could come in handy because they have home-field advantage through the postseason. The AL won the All-Star Game for home field in the World Series.---Big Picture:Rangers: The AL West champions had a six-game lead in the division when general manager Jon Daniels pulled off two significant deals in the hours before the non-waiver trade deadline Aug. 1. Lucroy and Jeffress were acquired from Milwaukee, and the Rangers got Beltran (52 postseason games for four teams) from the Yankees. And when the Astros released a struggling Gomez on Aug. 18, the Rangers signed the two-time All-Star two days later and made him their starting left fielder after three games in the minors. Gomez became their primary leadoff hitter the last three weeks of the regular season. ... After not clinching the 2015 division title until the final day of the regular season, Texas had a champagne celebration after winning Game No. 154 this year in Oakland. ... Piloted by manager Jeff Banister, the Rangers (95-67) led the American League in wins and winning percentage (.586) for the first time in franchise history. ... Beltre had his third career .300/30/100 season. He joined Miguel Cabrera (six) and David Ortiz (five) as the only active players with more than one. ... Choo returned for the final weekend of the regular season after missing 39 games with a broken left forearm. ... This is the eighth time the Rangers have made the playoffs. In the previous seven, the only times they won postseason series were in 2010 and 2011 on the way to their lone World Series appearances.Blue Jays: After snapping a 22-year postseason drought in 2015, Toronto reached the playoffs for the second straight season under manager John Gibbons. The last time the Blue Jays did that was a three-year run from 1991-93 that ended with back-to-back World Series titles. ... This time, the Blue Jays (89-73) captured the top AL wild card by winning their regular-season finale in Boston. Then they beat division-rival Baltimore at home in the wild-card game on Encarnacions three-run homer in the 11th inning. ... The Blue Jays went 13-16 in September and October, their first losing month since April (11-14). ... Toronto averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs per game in September and October, a full run off their season average of 4.70. ... Blue Jays starters were strong down the stretch, allowing no more than one earned run in 12 of the final 17 games. The bullpen struggled, however, blowing leads five times in a seven-game stretch that ended Oct. 1. ... The Blue Jays went 46-35 at home, the fourth-best mark in the division. ... Toronto has several pending free agents, including Bautista, Encarnacion, Saunders, Cecil and RHP R.A. Dickey.---Watch For:- Banged-up Bullpen. Osuna exited Torontos wild-card victory over the Orioles with a sore shoulder. Tests did not reveal any damage, and Osuna said the soreness might be due to fatigue after he pitched 16 regular-season innings in September and October. If he is not available against Texas, Grilli would likely handle the ninth inning. The Blue Jays already are without setup man Joaquin Benoit, who tore his left calf running in from the bullpen during a bench-clearing scrap with the Yankees on Sept. 26.- Pair of Aces. For the first time, the Rangers have both Hamels and Darvish in their playoff rotation. Darvish, the three-time All-Star from Japan whose only MLB postseason appearance was a loss in the 2012 AL wild-card game against Baltimore, missed all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Hamels was acquired in a July 2015 trade and has won division-clinching games in both of his seasons with Texas. Hamels has a 3.03 ERA in 15 career postseason games, including two last October for the Rangers. The All-Star lefty was the MVP of the 2008 World Series and NLCS for the Phillies.- Unruly Fans. The noisy crowds in Canada are gaining a reputation for bad behavior. Toronto Police were looking for the fan who threw a beer can at Orioles outfielder Hyun Soo Kim in the wild-card game. During Game 5 of last years ALDS, Blue Jays fans littered the field with debris after a disputed call that let Odor score from third after Martins throw back to the mound deflected off Choos bat.- Close Calls. Texas was 36-11 in one-run games, setting an MLB record with a .766 winning percentage. The Rangers also led the majors with 49 comeback wins. They won eight times when trailing after eight innings, plus had an MLB-best 21 wins in their last at-bat.- RISP-Y Business. Toronto hit .249 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark among AL playoff teams. Over the final eight regular-season games, the Blue Jays were 13 for 66 (.197) with one double in those situations. George Bell Jersey . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. Mark Buehrle Blue Jays Jersey . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Francisco Lindor hit a two-out two-run double during an eighth-inning rally, helping the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Saturday.All three Indians runs in the eighth were unearned after second baseman Whit Merrifields error on pinch-hitter Abraham Almontes grounder, which allowed Rajai Davis to score with one out.Royals rookie left-hander Matt Strahm (2-2) issued Davis a leadoff walk and Davis stole second, his AL-leading 43rd steal.Kevin McCarthy replaced Strahm and walked the bases loaded before Lindors double over third base.Mike Clevinger (3-3) won for the AL Central champs by retiring the only two batters he faced. Cody Allen worked the ninth for his 31st save in 34 opportunities.Trevor Bauer tuned up for the postseason by striking out nine over six innings of three-run ball. Bauer could start Clevelands playoff opener Thursday against Boston.Tyler Naquin singled home Coco Crisp in the second for the Indians first run. Lonnie Chisenhall tripled in the third and scored on Edinson Volquezs wild pitch. Chisenhalls sacrifice fly in the fifth scored Lindor, putting the Indians up 3-1.Bauer yielded two runs in the sixth on successive doubles by Kendrys Morales and Paulo Orlando to lead off and Alcides Escobars RBI single. Merrifields two-out single in thhe third scored Drew Butera for the first run off Bauer. Sean Reid-Foley Blue Jays Jersey. Volquez finished the season winless in his final seven starts. He was charged with three runs, five hits, four walks and a hit batter over five innings.UNSUAL BACK-TO-BACKCarlos Santana doubled and tripled in back-to-back games. The last Indian to accomplish that was Ordell Hale on July 19 and 21, 1936. Santana has tripled in consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 15-16, 2012 against Detroit.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: RHP Corey Kluber will throw off a mound Sunday. He has not pitched since Monday because of a quadriceps issue. ... RHP Danny Salazar could throw a simulated game Monday. He has been idle since Sept. 9 with a forearm strain.Royals: All-Star C Salvador Perez was not in the lineup for the third straight game because of a sore knee and hamstring strain. ... RHP Dillon Gee, who was treated for two blood clots after pitching Sept. 25, tweeted, Got the blood clot out of my vein. Another step done, on to the next one!!UP NEXTIndians: RHP Josh Tomlin will start the season finale on six days of rest.Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy has failed to complete six innings in four of his past seven starts. ' ' '