Toronto, Canada: The Houston Astros continued to dominate the Kansas City Royals, while David Price’s post-season slump drags on as the road teams prevailed on the opening games of the AL Division Series play-offs.
Robinson Chirinos belted a two-run homer and Rougned Odor added a solo shot as the Texas Rangers beat Price’s Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 in the best-of-five series opener on Thursday at Rogers Centre stadium in Toronto.
Rangers right-hander Yovani Gallardo allowed four hits, one walk and two runs and struck out one in five innings to post his fourth win in four Major League Baseball career starts against Toronto.
“We stayed with the game plan and got some ground balls whenever I needed to and limited the damage,” Gallardo said.
In the late game in Kansas City, the defending American League champion Royals lost for the fifth time in seven meetings with the Astros this season, going down 5-2 in their opener.
Price allowed two home runs, five hits and five runs and two homers in seven innings. He allowed two walks and struck out five as he lost his sixth consecutive playoff start. His career record in the postseason is now 1-6.
