Toronto @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 9, 2015 ) Texas 6, Toronto 4

The Toronto Blue Jays owned the best offense in baseball during the regular season and boasted a starting staff with three of the four best ERAs in the American League following the All-Star break, but none of that is helping much in the American League Division Series. The Blue Jays will try to avoid being swept out of the AL Division Series when they visit the red-hot Texas Rangers for Game 3 on Sunday.

The Rangers beat David Price in Game 1 on Thursday and outlasted Toronto in 14 innings on Friday to take Game 2, putting themselves in position to advance to the ALCS one season after going 67-95. The Blue Jays are trying to turn the rare feat of winning a best-of-five series after dropping the first two games at home, and they were just 40-41 on the road during the regular season. “Sure, it won't be easy, they got a great team over there,” Toronto manager John Gibbons told reporters. “They outplayed us both games.” The Blue Jays will turn to Marco Estrada, who owned the second-best ERA in the AL after the All-Star break behind Price, for Game 3 while Texas goes with the hot hand in lefty Martin Perez.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marco Estrada (13-8, 3.13 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Martin Perez (3-6, 4.46)

Estrada’s 2.78 ERA after the All-Star break ranked second and his 0.91 WHIP paced all AL starters. The 32-year-old gets in trouble occasionally by giving up home runs – 13 in his final 10 starts – but is confident he can continue a stretch that saw him allow three earned runs or fewer in 12 of his final 13 outings. “I'm going to give it my all no matter what,” Estrada told reporters. “Like I said, if we were up 2-0 or down 0-2, like we are, it's the same mentality for me.”

Perez gets the nod over veterans Colby Lewis and Derek Holland due to his consistency down the stretch and a final two starts in which he allowed one earned run in 13 innings. The 24-year-old Venezuelan posted a 3.38 ERA over his final 11 starts and surrendered three or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 14 starts in 2015. Perez is facing the Blue Jays for the first time in his career while making his first career postseason appearance.

WALK-OFFS

1. Blue Jays LHP Brett Cecil suffered a torn left calf on Friday and will miss the remainder of the postseason.

2. Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre (back) sat out Game 2 and remains day-to-day.

3. Texas CF Delino DeShields is 5-for-11 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs in the series.

PREDICTION: Blue Jays 7, Rangers 2