Rangers’ bullpen keeps Blue Jays baffled

Shawn Tolleson and Ross Ohlendorf were at the center of the biggest gut punch the Texas Rangers endured in 2015.

But Friday afternoon at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, they were at the center of the season’s biggest win as the Rangers fought off the Blue Jays 6-4 in 14 innings.

Neither reliever had pitched since the crushing five-run, ninth-inning collapse last Saturday with the AL West title on the line. Against the Blue Jays and 49,716 raucous fans, Tolleson and Ohlendorf combined for three of the seven shutout innings pitched by the bullpen.

Ohlendorf, who took the loss last Saturday against the Angels, struck out the side in the 14th to earn his first postseason save.

Tolleson, who gave up consecutive homers while pitching in his fifth straight game a week ago, looked more like the closer who recorded 35 saves during the regular season. He pitched scoreless innings in the 11th and 12th Friday afternoon.

“It was fun to get back out there,” Tolleson said. “It was fun to be able to put up a couple zeroes just like all the other bullpen guys. I was prepared to go two or three, whatever they wanted me to do.”

Five relievers combined for nine strikeouts and held the Blue Jays to just two hits and two walks over seven high-stress innings.

“I think that was huge to be able to go out there and limit the damage, especially against the lineup they have,” said starter Cole Hamels, who left after allowing four runs (two earned) in seven innings. “To do it in this scenario when you’re on the road, you’re at an incredibly loud stadium, and they came through. They kept some of the best hitters in the league from hitting homers and scoring runs.”

Sam Dyson pitched the eighth before passing the baton to Jake Diekman, who has retired all 12 batters he’s faced in the series, including six on Friday.

“You’ve got to breathe,” Diekman said of managing the stress. “You can’t hold your breath. You want to feed off the crowd, it’s good. And in an opposing ballpark, you want to quiet them.”

Rookie Keone Kela pitched a scoreless 13th, refocusing after a benches-clearing kerfuffle that erupted when Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Kela exchanged heated words after Donaldson launched a deep foul ball down the left-field line.

Kela struck out Donaldson, and then got Edwin Encarnacion to end the inning with a deep flyball to the wall in center.

The dominance by the bullpen, which led the league with a 2.05 ERA in September, drew raves from teammates.

“Our bullpen is unbelievable, and they showed it again,” Adrian Beltre said. “It’s tough to pitch to that lineup, and they found a way to get it done. We’re here celebrating because of those guys.”

In two ALDS games, the Texas bullpen has held Toronto to one run and four hits in 11 innings.

“We mean business when we’re out there,” Tolleson said. “There’s not a lineup that we can’t compete against. I think this group of guys defines the word ‘team’ better than any team I’ve ever been a part of. Everyone is playing for the one common goal: winning.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Rangers’ bullpen keeps Blue Jays baffled."