Estrada shines as Toronto takes game one from Texas, 10-1

Excellent and efficient, Marco Estrada turned in a gem Thursday afternoon in the first game of the American League Division Series.

Over his first two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, the right-hander has become an American League All-Star.

Over his first postseason with Toronto, he showed just how clutch he could be on the playoff stage.

And on Thursday afternoon, Estrada, a Glendale Community College product, penned the latest chapter in a growing story of postseason brilliance.

Riding a terrific change-up, throwing first-pitch strikes and working quickly every inning, Estrada put forth his best playoff outing yet, throwing 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball to lead Toronto to a 10-1 victory over Texas in game one of the best-of-five series at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Tex.

Game two of the series is Friday with JA Happ starting for the Blue Jays against Rangers starter Yu Darvish back in Arlington.

Estrada carried a shutout into the ninth inning before Elvis Andrus hit a leadoff triple and scored on a Shin-Soo Choo groundout to end Estrada’s day.

He allowed just four hits, the one run and no walks while striking out six in a sterling 98-pitch effort. In all, Estrada threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters he faced as he earned a win for the second straight postseason against the Rangers, having tossed 14 2/3 innings with just two runs allowed in that span.

“I don’t know, maybe cause I don’t let it get to me, I don’t really think about it,” said Estrada in a postgame televised interview when asked about his success in the postseason. “I think about it just as a normal game. You go out, you want to do your job and pitch deep into the game and that’s basically all I have on my mind. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself, I just go out and try to pound the zone.”

With Thursday’s performance, Estrada is 3-1 across four postseason starts with the Blue Jays and sports a 1.95 earned-run average.

Pitted against Texas’ Cole Hamels, Estrada was bolstered by a huge offensive output from the Blue Jays, highlighted by designated hitter Jose Bautista, who drove in four runs, and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who had three hits and three runs batted in, all of the latter coming on a bases-loaded triple as part of a five-run third inning that turned the game for good.

“Obviously, it was pretty good; I threw a lot of first-pitch strikes, which always helps, but, you know, the guys came up big today, that offense exploded,” Estrada said. “I don’t know if I’ve had a game with that many runs, so you gotta take advantage of that. I wasn’t nitpicking or anything, I wanted the guys to swing, early contact, that way it would keep me in the game a little longer.

“That’s basically what happened today. I wasn’t aiming for the corners so much, I mean obviously I still don’t want to give up hits, but you try to locate, keep the ball down, elevate when you need to. Basically, we were just trying to keep them off-balance, so that’s what we did. Obviously, having that many runs it makes it just that a little bit, not easier, because this game is extremely hard, but for your peace of mind, it makes it a little better.”

Estrada went 9-9 in the regular season with a 3.48 earned-run average and a .203 opposing batting average that led the American League and was the second-best in franchise history behind Roger Clemens. He was named to his first All-Star team, but missed the game due to injury.

Having battled a herniated disc, Estrada struggled a bit after the All-Star break, but was borderline terrific in his last three starts of the season, going 1-0 with two runs and nine hits allowed over 19 innings, racking up 19 strikeouts to seven walks.

Seemingly, that momentum carried into Thursday.

Estrada was phenomenal at the start, striking out left fielder Carlos Gomez, his former teammate with the Milwaukee Brewers, on five pitches before retiring center fielder Ian Desmon and designated hitter Carlos Beltran on just a pitch each.

In the second inning, Estrada allowed a leadoff infield single to third baseman Adrian Beltre in which Estrada likely should have covered first base, but first baseman Edwin Encarnacion had clearly ranged too far for a ball that should’ve been fielded by the second baseman. It was merely a hiccup as Estrada continued to cruise, retiring the side in order thereafter to end the second.

Toronto began its offensive explosion when third baseman Josh Donaldson doubled with two outs in the top of the third inning to drive in right fielder Ezequiel Carrera for a 1-0 lead. Following a single from Bautista that scored Donaldson, the bases were loaded for Tulowitzki, who promptly cleared them with a triple.

After the Blue Jays added another pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning for a 7-0 lead, Hamels was pulled.

Meanwhile, Estrada continued his brilliance, throwing perfect innings in the third and fourth on a combined 22 pitches. After another perfect inning in the fifth, Estrada had retired 12 in a row.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus led off the sixth with a single to center field, but was erased on the bases when he was thrown out attempting to steal second base on the back end of a Choo strikeout. Estrada expended 19 pitches in the bottom of the sixth, but was still just at 74 for the game, having faced only one over the minimum with two hits allowed.

In the seventh, Estrada gave up his third hit – another single to Carlos Beltran – but erased it when he induced a 6-4-3 double play from Beltre, keeping the score at 7-0 as he had still faced just one over the minimum.

With deeper counts and singles presenting themselves in the sixth and seventh, Estrada looked brilliant in the eighth, getting Rougned Odor to pop out on one pitch to lead off and finishing the perfect inning on just eight pitches.

With a 10-0 lead thanks to a Bautista three-run home run in the top of the ninth, Estrada took to the mound with 95 pitches. But the shutout bid went away quickly, as Andrus tripled on the first pitch of the ninth. Two pitches later, Choo grounded out to first base, but Andrus scored and Estrada was pulled.

“I’m not really sure what my pitch count was at, but obviously I wanted to finish this game, I wanted it bad,” Estrada said. “We’ve got a long road ahead, can’t wait to do it again.”

With his first postseason experience coming with the Brewers as a relief pitcher, Estrada has a 2.67 postseason ERA over 33 2/3 innings.

The series will shift to Toronto on Sunday with a 4:30 p.m. start. If necessary, game four will be Monday in Toronto and the fifth game would be Wednesday in Texas.