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Rangers take commanding series lead with 14-inning win

Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Texas Rangers came into the ALDS as underdogs against the Toronto Blue Jays and head back to Arlington with a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Hanser Alberto - the injury replacement for Adrian Beltre - singled home Rougned Odor for the go-ahead run in the 14th inning as the Rangers escaped with a 6-4 win Friday at the Rogers Centre.

Alberto had just four at-bats since Aug. 30 coming into the game and was 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts before delivering the game-winning hit.

Top Performer: The Rangers' bullpen continued its dominance in the series, tossing seven shutout innings. Five Texas relievers limited the potent Blue Jays' offense to two hits, while striking out nine and issuing a pair of walks. Rangers relievers have allowed one earned run across 11 innings through two games in the series.

Starting Pitchers: Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman settled down after a rocky first two innings in which the 24-year-old allowed four runs. Stroman went on to retire 18 of 20 batters before being lifted with one out in the eighth inning. After pitching his team to a division title, Rangers starter Cole Hamels followed a similar profile to Stroman, allowing three runs in the first two innings but finished after seven solid innings, striking out six, while allowing four runs.

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO
Stroman 7 5 4 3 2 5
Hamels 7 6 4 2 0 6

Turning Point: The win did not come without controversy, as Odor narrowly avoided being called out on a close play at second base prior to scoring the eventual winning run. Odor was caught aggressively rounding second and appeared to have lifted his foot off the bag while being tagged by Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Odor was ruled safe on the play, and the call was upheld after review.

Up Next: The Blue Jays head to Texas on the brink of elimination as Game 3 of the series goes Sunday. Toronto will send right-hander Marco Estrada (13-8, 3.13 ERA) to the mound to face Rangers left-hander Martin Perez (3-6, 4.46 ERA).

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