Marco Estrada, Blue Jays stave off elimination with 7-1 win

The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t dead just yet. They won Game 5 of the ALCS 7-1 over the Kansas City Royals, forcing the series back to Kauffman Stadium, trailing three games to two.

Starting pitcher Marco Estrada was the saving grace for the Jays on Wednesday, pitching 7 2/3 strong innings and allowing one run on three hits, walking one and striking out five. In fact, through seven innings, Estrada had allowed just two baserunners all night – Alcides Escobar on a single on the fourth, and Lorenzo Cain on a walk in the seventh. He set down the first nine Royals he faced in a row, and after Escobar’s single, retired ten straight.

Toronto’s offense struggled a bit against Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez, but got on the board in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a solo homer from Chris Colabello.

Following the homer, the Jays put runners on base in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, but couldn’t even move them into scoring position, let alone bring them home. Then in the sixth, a breakthrough came for the Blue Jays despite them tallying just one hit in the inning. Ben Revere led the frame off by walking on seven pitches. Volquez plunked Josh Donaldson with his first pitch, and then walked Jose Bautista following a ten pitch battle that saw Bautista foul off four straight 3-2 pitches. There would be no such battle against Edwin Encarnacion, but the result was the same – a six pitch walk that brought Revere in and doubled Toronto’s lead to 2-0.

Kelvin Herrera replaced Volquez, and while he did strike out the side in the sixth, he allowed the one hit that would cause the Jays to break the game open. After punching out Colabello, Troy Tulowitzki drilled a double to center on the first pitch of his at bat, clearing the bases and increasing Toronto’s lead to 5-0.

Danny Duffy replaced Herrera for the seventh inning, and the Jays tacked on an insurance run courtesy of back to back doubles by Donaldson and Bautista. In the eighth, Kansas City threatened to make a game of things. After Estrada retired Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas to start the frame, Sal Perez put the Royals on the board with a solo homer to right field. After a single by Alex Gordon, Estrada’s day was none and Aaron Sanchez came in to snuff out the rally. Sanchez allowed a single to Alex Rios, the first batter he faced, but forced Escobar to line out to right to end the inning.

And just for the hell of it, Kevin Pillar answered Perez’s homer with an RBI double in the bottom half of the eighth, pushing the lead to 7-1 and helping Blue Jays fans breathe a little easier.

Toronto’s bullpen wasn’t much of a factor on Wednesday, but they still did their job. Roberto Osuna needed just five pitches to get his three outs in the ninth, and Sanchez threw eight pitches in the eighth to take care of that inning. The Kansas City bullpen? Three innings, five hits, two runs, zero walks, and a whopping eight strikeouts. The off day on Thursday will help Duffy, who threw 32 pitches, stay fresh.

The Royals had just one at bat with runners in scoring position all game, and that was Escobar’s line out in the eighth. The Jays only had six at bats in the same situation, but the two hits they recorded were both doubles that scored four big runs for the team.

Game 6 will take place on Friday evening at Kauffman. Yordano Ventura will look to end the series for Kansas City, while Toronto counters with David Price, who was dominant for six innings in Game 2 before falling apart in the seventh inning.