In a literal sense, the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t need Troy Tulowitzki‘s three-run homer on Sunday.
The blast came in the sixth inning of Toronto’s pivotal Game 3 win over the Texas Rangers. The Jays were already leading 2-0 and went on to win 5-1 to stay alive in the best-of-five division series, which the Rangers now lead 2-1.
So Tulo’s RBI were pure insurance, mere glaze on the doughnut. Really, though, they were a lot more than that.
First, the home run instantly became Tulowitzki’s signature Blue Jays moment.
When the All-Star shortstop arrived north of the border at the trade deadline via a deal with the basement-dwelling Colorado Rockies, the hope was that he’d gild Toronto’s already loaded offense. And he teased big things, collecting five hits in his first 14 Blue Jays at-bats, including a home run.
But a shoulder injury suffered in a collision with teammate Kevin Pillar put Tulowitzki on the shelf. And while the Jays’ bats kept raking into October, it was worth wondering what, if any, contribution Tulo would offer.
For the first two games of the ALDS, the answer was “not much.” The Jays sagged in general, but Tulowitzki was a non-entity, going 0-for-10 with four strikeouts and five men left on base.
The Blue Jays aimed their ire at the umpires after some questionable calls in Game 2. But clearly, the issues ran deeper than that. Ace David Price, another trade-deadline addition, stumbled in Game 1, surrendering five earned runs in seven wobbly innings. And a lineup that led all of baseball in runs scored, home runs, OPS and a host of other statistical categories looked listless.
Toronto needed a spark, a jolt, a swift kick in the backside or its first postseason foray in 22 years was going to be short and sour.
Starter Marco Estrada set the tone early on Sunday, putting up zeroes with his off-speed array as the Blue Jays built their lead.
When Tulo stepped to the plate in the sixth, though, it felt like a turning point.
The Blue Jays had just loaded the bases with nobody out, only to watch Chris Colabello ground into a 3-2-3 double play. In an instant, a surefire scoring opportunity was in danger of fizzling.
Instead, Tulowitzki ensured the big inning would happen after all, launching a 3-2 changeup over the left field wall.
“It was huge and, in the moment, I was definitely pumped up,” Tulowitzki said, per Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. “Got back to the dugout and everybody was excited. It was a little breathing room.”
Tulo was indeed visibly psyched as he rounded the bases, as ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick noted:
No wonder—that was his first home run since Sept. 6, and the first long ball he’s blasted in the postseason since 2007, when he and the Rockies made a surprise World Series run.
If the Blue Jays are going to make their own Fall Classic appearance, they’ll need more thump from Tulo, plus his potent cohorts, including Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and AL MVP hopeful Josh Donaldson, who collected two hits and scored a run on Sunday.
In Game 4 on Monday, another must-win, the Blue Jays will face left-hander Derek Holland. That’s good news for Toronto’s mashers, who led all of baseball with an .818 OPS against southpaws. And while a bright red sample-size warning light should flash above this stat, Tulo is 2-for-3 in his career against Holland.
The point is, Toronto is back in this series after teetering on the brink of an embarrassing collapse. The Blue Jays entered the playoffs as a squad many, including yours truly, labeled a legitimate juggernaut. Now, with two more wins, they can prove it and stamp a ticket to the American League Championship Series.
Price, who undoubtedly wants a shot at redemption, is available for Game 4—which knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is slated to start—and will be ready to roll for a potential Game 5, per Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Still, this budding comeback is a tall order, as Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi pointed out prior to Game 3:
Forty-seven times teams have fallen behind 2-0 in the best-of-five division series, and only five of them have fought back to advance in the baseball post-season. …
As hackneyed as it sounds, any potential rally by the Blue Jays starts with that one elusive win, much the way it did for the 1995 Mariners over the Yankees, the 1999 Red Sox over the Indians, the 2001 Yankees over the Athletics, the 2003 Red Sox over the Athletics, and, of course, the 2012 Giants.
The Jays got that first win, and Tulo got his first postseason knock in a Toronto uniform—a big fly no less. Even if the runs he plated were superfluous, that means a lot.
All statistics current as of Oct. 11 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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