Marco Estrada pitched 6 1/3 quality innings Sunday to lead the Blue Jays to a 5-1 win over the Rangers in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Facing postseason elimination, Toronto kept its season alive with stellar pitching and timely hitting.
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The Blue Jays still trail 2-1 in the series, but finally appear to have found some of the offensive form that led them to the AL East crown.
Here are our five takeaways from Game 3:
1. The Blue Jays can hit. This may seem like we're stating the obvious about a team that tied for second in average during the regular season and sent 125 more players across home plate than any other team. But after falling in Games 1 and 2, people started losing faith in the Jays.
AL MVP hopeful Josh Donaldson wasn't going to see his career year come to a close with a sweep, so he went 2 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. Defensive specialist Kevin Pillar also added a boost by collecting two hits.
2. The real Troy Tulowitzki did stand up. The talented shortstop came into Game 3 batting a putrid 0 for 10 in the playoffs, but he put all the struggle to bed with a key three-run home run in the sixth inning. The Rangers had just turned a double-play with the bases loaded and no one out, and it looked like they might exit the sticky situation unscathed until Tulowitzki changed the game with one swing of the bat.
Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez, who relieved starter Martin Perez with the bases loaded, threw two fastballs right down the middle of the plate. Tulowitzki fouled the first one back but sent the second one into the left-field seats for his first postseason home run since 2007. He finished the game with four RBIs, which is the most he's had in any previous playoff series, let alone single game.
3. Marco Estrada's stellar regular season wasn't a fluke. The 32-year-old righty enjoyed a breakout regular season that saw him go 13-8 with a tidy 3.13 ERA. But there were still questions surrounding Estrada heading into the postseason until he answered all of them Sunday, tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball.
Estrada gave up just five hits and struck out four batters to earn his first career playoff win.
4. The Rangers need Adrian Beltre back soon. Beltre remains day-to-day with a back strain, but the Rangers need him back in the lineup if they're going to hang on to the series. The four-time All-Star and Silver Slugger hit .287 with 18 home runs and 83 RBIs during the regular season, and was 1 for 1 in Game 1 before leaving.
5. Toronto's bats seem ready to break free. It's been a relatively quiet postseason offensively for MLB's hottest team in the second-half of the regular season, but after a solid five-run outing in Game 3, the Blue Jays might just be ready to really score some runs in their upcoming games.
What's next: Game 4 at 4:07 p.m. on Fox Sports 1 — 40-year-old R.A. Dickey (11-11, 3.91 ERA) will bring his knuckleball to Arlington in a must-win game against Derek Holland (4-3, 4.91 ERA) and the Rangers.