The Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals headed to deciding Game 5s in their American League Division Series after crucial wins on Monday.
Josh Donaldson and Chris Colabello hit home runs in the Blue Jays’ 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers to send the series back to Toronto.
Game 5 is to be played today, with Cole Hamels to start for the Rangers against Marcus Stroman in a rematch of Game 2, which Texas won in 14 innings.
Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY
In Houston, defending AL champions the Royals rallied for five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Houston Astros 9-6.
The Cubs bashed their way to the brink of the National League Championship Series — and into the record books — as the Cubs set a post-season mark with six home runs in beating the St Louis Cardinals 8-6 for a 2-1 lead.
In the other NL game, the New York Mets wiped out the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-7 and took control of their testy series 2-1.
The 40-year-old R.A. Dickey, the 2012 National League Cy Young pitching award winner, allowed one run over 4-2/3 innings and was pulled with a 7-1 lead and a runner on base. AL Cy Young winner from 2012 David Price took over and pitched three innings, getting the win after losing in the opener.
After losing the first two games in the series at home, the Blue Jays won both games in Texas in a span of 24 hours.
Kevin Pillar also connected as three of the first eight Toronto hitters homered off Derek Holland, in his first post-season start since 8-1/3 scoreless innings against St Louis in Game 4 of the 2011 World Series.
Only two teams in MLB history have lost a best-of-five series after winning the first two games on the road — Oakland against the New York Yankees in 2001, and Cincinnati, to San Francisco in 2012.
The Royals took advantage when Astros shortstop Carlos Correa could not handle a deflected grounder that might have been a double-play ball.
Correa homered twice, doubled, singled and drove in four runs in Game 4. Houston took a 6-2 lead into the eighth, but a tough error charged to the 21-year-old rookie keyed the Royals’ comeback to even the matchup at two games apiece.
Game 5 is to be in Kansas City today. Johnny Cueto is to start for the Royals against Collin McHugh.
On a rare off night for Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber homered in Chicago’s win.
Arrieta struck out nine batters before departing in the sixth inning, and the bullpen finished the job in the first playoff game at Wrigley Field in seven years.
The Cubs held a share of the previous post-season homer record, hitting five in Game 1 of the 1984 NL against San Diego.
New York’s Curtis Granderson drove in five runs with two doubles off the wall, while Travis d’Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes homered as the Mets’ dangerous bats busted loose.
Before a bloodthirsty crowd of 44,276 in the first post-season game at Citi Field, the Mets broke their post-season scoring record as New York public enemy Chase Utley watched from the Los Angeles bench. The NL East champs quickly erased an early three-run deficit and made a winner of a mediocre Matt Harvey in his playoff debut.
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