Rangers booted out of playoffs in Game 5 loss

They grasped for any explanation Wednesday evening after dropping Game 5 of the American League Division Series, a loss that eliminated them from the postseason.

Almost all of the Texas Rangers, players and coaches who are baseball lifers, had never been a part of a game that zany, really just a zany seventh inning, in which an obscure baseball rule gave them the lead and moments later three consecutive errors doomed them.

“That’s baseball,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said, stunned that he doesn’t have another game to play.

Even the starting pitcher, the playoff ace who was in position to win another big one, was stumped by it all.

“Every once in a while, sometimes it just doesn’t work,” left-hander Cole Hamels said.

Errors on the first three plays of the bottom of the seventh inning provided an opening for Toronto, and the bat-flipping Jose Bautista took advantage with a three-run homer that sent to the Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory that ended the Rangers’ season.

The Rangers, champions of the AL West, won the first two games of the best-of-five series but dropped the final three — including two at home — to see their unexpected playoff ride come to a screeching halt.

“I’m going home,” Beltre said. “I’m not ready to go home. I can’t process it yet that I’m going home.”

The Rangers led 2-0 on a first-inning fielder’s choice by Prince Fielder and a third-inning solo homer by Shin-Soo Choo, but Toronto forged a tie on a third-inning double by Bautista and a sixth-inning homer by Edwin Encarnacion.

Then, the 53-minute seventh inning happened. The Rangers went ahead 3-2 when catcher Russell Martin’s throw back to the mound after an Aaron Sanchez pitch hit Choo’s hand on the bat as he stood in the batter’s box, deflected away, and allowed Rougned Odor to race home.

Plate umpire Dale Scott originally called for a dead ball and sent Odor back to third, but manager Jeff Banister insisted that Scott check with the other umpires. Following a huddle, the run was counted and the Rogers Centre crowd snapped.

Water bottles and beer cans rained down on the field or, in many instances, fans on the first level. But the Rangers had a one-run lead and Hamels on the mound at stretch time.

Martin led off the bottom of the inning and sent a roller toward second base. Shortstop Elvis Andrus got to the ball, but it kicked off his glove for an error.

The next batter, Kevin Pillar, sent a chopper to first base. Mitch Moreland grabbed it and fired to second, but the ball skipped in the dirt and away from Andrus.

Ryan Goins was up next in a clear bunting situation, and the Rangers were ready. Beltre grabbed the bunt, turned and threw a strike to Andrus at third base. Andrus, though, dropped the ball for his second error of the inning.

“We had the opportunity to win, and I let everybody down,” Andrus said. “This is the toughest time in my career right now. There’s a lot of pain right now. I feel like I let down my team and my city. It hurts.”

The Rangers got an out at home as Ben Revere followed with a chopper to Moreland, who threw for the forceout. Hamels was lifted for right-hander Sam Dyson, the Rangers’ best reliever the past two months, and he got Josh Donaldson to airlift a jam shot to second base.

Odor, though, got his feet tangled and didn’t make the catch. The Rangers got a forceout, but the tying run scored. Bautista then took care of that 3-3 tie.

He launched a homer to left-center field, posing and flipping his bat before the trot home. Dyson’s temper flared twice before the inning ended, but the elated Blue Jays were six outs from a celebration.

All four of the Blue Jays’ seventh-inning runs were unearned.

“They’re a tough team,” said Hamels, who allowed five runs [two earned] and was saddled with his first career loss in a clinching situation. “You can’t really give them that inch because they’ll definitely take a mile.”

“You’re not going to make every play, but it was a tough inning for us,” said Moreland, who made only four errors in the regular season. “Plays we should have made. You can’t give that team extra outs, and we gave them three that inning and they made us pay for it.”

The ultimate price, as it turned out. The Rangers’ season is done.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Rangers booted out of playoffs in Game 5 loss."