Texas Rangers-Toronto Blue Jays series: What you need to know

Lineup

A lot of teams would love to have Delino DeShields leading off with his speed followed by Shin-Soo Choo, Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre following in the order. Toronto isn’t one of them. The Blue Jays have the most feared middle of the order in baseball in Josh Donaldson (41 home runs), Jose Bautista (114 RBIs) and Edwin Encarnacion (.929 OPS). They also have speed in Ben Revere (31 steals) and Kevin Pillar (25). And now Troy Tulowitzki is back in the lineup after missing three weeks because of an injury. The good news for the Rangers is that Choo and Beltre are white hot. A healthy and hitting Josh Hamilton also gives the Rangers a chance to keep pace. Edge: Blue Jays

Bench

With the Blue Jays starting two left-handers in the series, there’s a chance Mitch Moreland could be used off the bench, where he has been a big asset as a pinch hitter. Texas’ bench has speed with Drew Stubbs and a versatile outfielder in Will Venable. Toronto will have some pop on its bench with Chris Colabello, who hit 15 homers. The speed threat off the bench is switch-hitting Dalton Pompey. Edge: Rangers

Rotation

The Blue Jays will have the benefit of throwing their ace, left-hander David Price (9-1, 2.30 ERA with Toronto), twice in the series if needed, since Game 5 is on Wednesday. The Rangers will have their ace Cole Hamels going in Game 2 and a potential Game 5 on four days’ rest, but if Price does his job in Game 1 the Rangers will be in catch-up mode. Texas will counter Price with Yovani Gallardo, who hasn’t pitched into the seventh inning since June. Having Cole Hamels and playoff veteran Derek Holland in the rotation gives the Rangers more depth than the Blue Jays. The wild card for Toronto is righty Marcus Stroman, who went 4-0 down the stretch after coming back from knee surgery. His pitching, plus the opportunity to pitch Price twice, is a difference-maker. Edge: Blue Jays

Bullpen

If this were a matchup in July, it would be no contest, because the Texas bullpen was terrible before the trade deadline. But plenty has transpired over the last three months, and the back-end foursome of closer Shawn Tolleson and set-up men Keone Kela, Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson have been dominant. They’ll also be rested. Toronto has a solid closer in Roberto Osuna, but he’s a 20-year-old rookie. The Blue Jays boast a dominant lefty specialist in Brett Cecil, but they’ll also be relying on Mark Lowe in relief. The Rangers remember how well that worked out for them in 2011. Go with the hot hand as the Rangers had the best bullpen ERA in the majors in September with an ERA of 2.05. Edge: Rangers

Managers

Texas manager Jeff Banister could be taking home hardware regardless of how the Rangers do in the postseason. He’s a favorite for AL manager of the year after guiding a division winner despite the spring training loss of Yu Darvish and a 7-14 start in April. Banister also knows a thing or two about the postseason from his time with Pittsburgh. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was blessed to be the manager of a team that was the big winner at the trade deadline. Still, he put the pieces together for a team that hadn’t been to the postseason in 22 years. Edge: Even

Intangibles

The Blue Jays have been the best team in baseball the second half of the season (48-23 since the All-Star break) with the Rangers (46-28) close behind. Toronto has the benefit of having three games on the bad turf in Toronto, where they mash the ball and the Texas players are loathe to play. The Rangers have struggled mightily north of the border. Toronto is the betting favorite to win the World Series because of its overpowering offense, even though the team hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1993. But the Rangers’ motto of Never Ever Quit, which was the butt of several jokes after the team started slowly, has truly taken on a life of its own with the team’s play down the stretch. Edge: Blue Jays

3 keys for Texas

1. Warm up to Canada: Trips north of the border have been unfriendly for the Rangers, and they’ll have to win at least once in Canada to win the series. Texas hasn’t won a series in Toronto since 2012, and no team in the AL won more home games (53) this year than the Blue Jays.

2. Get quality starts: There’s no question Texas manager Jeff Banister rode his bullpen hard down the stretch, using his top two relievers in five consecutive games in the final week. A lot of that had to do with short starts. The Rangers must get at least six innings from the starters.

3. Ride the Beltre and Choo train: The Rangers can’t compete with the Toronto batting order from top to bottom. But there are no players hotter in baseball than on-base machine Shin-Soo Choo and RBI machine Adrian Beltre. That trend has to continue if the Rangers are going to score with Toronto.

3 Keys for Toronto

1. Price has to be right: Plenty has been made about the postseason struggles of Toronto ace David Price against Texas. He’s lost all three of his postseason starts vs. the Rangers, but over the last three years in the regular season he’s 3-1 against them. If the right Price shows up for this series, Toronto has a big advantage.

2. Flip the switch back to on: The Jays finished the season by losing four of their last five games. Sure, they had the AL East sewn up, but Toronto still had a chance and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and let it go. Was it because they were resting or slumping? A big Game 1 start would ease any concerns.

3. Swing for the fences: When it comes right down to it, there’s no secret combination to unlock the key to success for Toronto. It’s 41-123, 40-114 and 39-111. Those are the homer-RBI totals of MVP shoo-in Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Texas Rangers-Toronto Blue Jays series: What you need to know."