http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/sports/baseball/toronto-blue-jays-texas-rangers-american-league-division-series.html 2016-10-07 23:47:47 Blue Jays Take Control of Division Series With Four Home Runs Troy Tulowitzki, Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Edwin Encarnacion slammed home runs off the Rangers’ Yu Darvish. === ARLINGTON, Tex. — Yu Darvish brought the The Blue Jays swung hard against Darvish, the ace right-hander for the Soon enough, though, the big swings paid off. The Blue Jays battered Darvish for four home runs and headed home with This series, so far, is playing out like last fall’s, in reverse. Then, the Blue Jays lost the first two at home, won two in Texas, then won the clincher at Rogers Centre. Now the Rangers have lost two at home. This is nothing new for the franchise. The Rangers are 1-11 in division series games at Globe Life Park, and also lost here in the 2012 wild-card game and a one-game playoff in 2013. They did better in later rounds in 2010 and 2011, but could not quite win a World Series. Toronto’s J.A. Happ, a 20-game winner in the regular season, earned another victory Friday by wiggling out of jams and getting ample support from his offense. Troy Tulowitzki slammed a two-run homer off Darvish in the second, and Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera and Edwin Encarnacion went deep in the fifth. It was the first time in 102 career starts that Darvish had allowed four home runs. The Rangers had relished the chance to play in October with two aces. Cole Hamels was 15-5 and made the All-Star team. Darvish was strong in his comeback season after Tommy John surgery. But there were troubling signs down the stretch. From Aug. 30 through the end of the season, Hamels and Darvish had three starts apiece in which they allowed at least five earned runs. They both added another against Toronto. In Game 1, the Blue Jays torched Hamels for seven runs (six earned) in three and a third innings. They scored five times in Darvish’s five innings. The Rangers now turn Colby Lewis, a workmanlike veteran, in Game 3 against the Blue Jays’ Aaron Sanchez, whose 3.00 earned run average led the A.L. this season. Friday’s loss was especially frustrating because the Rangers had so many chances. They left 13 runners on base, including two in each of the first four innings. Ian Desmond led off the seventh with a double – his third hit – but was thrown out at the plate by third baseman Josh Donaldson after hesitating before breaking for home. Jason Grilli ended that inning by inducing a foulout from Jonathan Lucroy, stranding two. Francisco Liriano replaced Grilli to start the eighth, but left when Carlos Gomez singled off his body – Liriano stayed upright, but replays seemed to indicate the ball struck him near the base of his neck, or perhaps in the back of his head. Closer Roberto Osuna, who left the wild-card game with shoulder trouble, took over and induced a run-scoring grounder that made it 5-3. He struck out Carlos Beltran with a slider to end the inning, then weathered a leadoff double by Adrian Beltre in the ninth, moving the Blue Jays one victory from returning to the A.L. Championship Series.