The baseball world is still buzzing about last night's explosive action.
The Cubs set a major league record for hitting six home runs in a playoff game.
But more puzzling, confusing and odd was the Blue Jays using starter David Price in relief in last night's game in Texas. The Jays were down 2-1 in the series so it was a "must win."
The Jays rocketed in the first to a 3-0 lead over the Rangers. R.A. Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young winner when he won 20 games for the Mets, allowed only one run over 4 2/3 innings and was pulled with a 7-1 lead, with a runner on base. Shin Soo Choo, who already with two hits, was coming to the plate.
"It
was hard for me to do, but I thought that was the best way to win the
game, keep them from coming back," Jays manager Gibbons said. "Probably not a
relationship-building move, but a team win, that's what I was looking
for."
Price needed only one pitch to retire Choo to end the fifth,
and went three innings to get the win after losing in the series
opener. However, Price gave up 3 earned runs over his three innings of work.
Everyone expected the 6'5" All Star pitcher Price to start Game 5 in Toronto. Instead, the Jays will got with their home grown 5'9" spark plug, Marcus Stroman.
A few national media members think that using Price in Game 4 relief (he threw 50 pitches) eliminated the debate on who would start Game 5. It was a calculated move by the Blue Jays to NOT have Price available to start in Toronto. Even though Price has had less than stellar post season record, just like Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, on the surface starting Price gives the Jays the best chance to win the game, right?
Apparently management thinks otherwise. And that is probably a bitter pill for Price to swallow this off-season. It will not hurt his value as Price is the best AL pitcher in the regular season. It is just that owners pay $200 million for ace starters who can dominate in the postseason like Madison Bumgartner.
But the Jays traded a lot of talent to get Price from Detroit prior to the trade deadline.
The Jays took the story line of redemption out of Price's hands and put the fate of the season on a young hurler. Stroman only started 4 games this year, going 4-0, 1.67 ERA in 27 IP with a 0.963 WHIP for a 1.2 WAR.
It would seem that the Jays do not expect to sign Price in the off-season so it makes some sense to battle test the pitchers who will be around in the 2016 pennant run.
