ARLINGTON, Texas – The imprint on the side of Roberto Osuna’s cleats reads "No Panic," a motto taken from his walk-up song during home games, "Don’t Panic" by French Montana.
The 21-year-old Toronto Blue Jays closer certainly didn’t show any during the tense finish to a 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Osuna recorded the final five outs after informing manager John Gibbons before the game that his troubled right shoulder was good to go, working out of an inherited jam in the eighth and around a leadoff double by Adrian Beltre in the ninth to lock down a 2-0 advantage in the best of five.
"That’s really good news," Osuna says of the series lead, "but we’ve got to keep playing hard and keep playing baseball like we did here and hopefully we can win the first one up there."
Eliminating some of the doubt around Osuna should help, even if things got hairy in his first outing since leaving with what he described as a "stretch" in his shoulder during Tuesday’s wild-card game.
When Gibbons turned to him, the Rangers had crawled within three on the Carlos Gomez line drive that glanced off Francisco Liriano’s head and forced the left-hander from the game. There were men on the corners with one out, and Ian Desmond at the plate.
Looking for a groundball, Osuna opened the at-bat with back-to-back sliders that left the count 1-1, missed with a fastball and another slider to fall behind 3-1, before throwing a couple of centre cut up fastballs, one fouled off, one rolled over for a groundout to short that brought in another run.
"I was trying to get a groundball for a double play or something, that’s why I threw a lot of sliders in the beginning," says Osuna. "When I’m down in the count I’ve got to go with my best pitch and that’s what I did."
Carlos Beltran followed and Osuna fell behind on a first-pitch changeup before Beltran fought off three straight fastballs, the first at 95 mph, the last two at 96. Beltran then fought off an 84 mph slider, spat on an 80 mph changeup before swinging through a gorgeous slider that started middle-middle before tumbling out of the danger zone.
"A lot of guts, man," marvelled veteran set-up man Jason Grilli. "Cojones in Spanish."
Still, three outs remained and Gibbons did what earlier this week he said he’d look to avoid – use Osuna for more than an inning.
Beltre’s leadoff double spelled trouble, especially with Rougned Odor coming up, but Osuna outlasted him in a riveting duel. He missed with a cutter, threw 95 by him, fell behind 3-1 on two fastballs away, before rallying, getting a swinging strike on 95 up and away, a foul ball on 94 up and away before missing his spot in the centre of the zone but getting a swing and miss on 95.
"Obviously if he’s going to beat you, (you’ve got to make him) beat you to the opposite (field)," says Osuna. "That’s what I tried to do, pitch him away, but when he’s 3-1, you’ve got to attack him and that’s what I did. I missed in the middle, that was supposed to be away, but I missed hard and he missed it."
Jonathon Lucroy then popped up the first pitch for the second out and after a quick mound visit from Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki, Mitch Moreland flew out weakly to end the game.
"We just talked about, ‘Hey, one pitch away, locate your fastball, don’t let them beat you, stay hard and make him go that way,’" says Osuna, who is feeling much better about his shoulder now. "That brings me a lot of confidence that I didn’t feel any pain or anything. I’m looking forward to the next game."
The outing was Osuna’s 12th in which he’s recorded more than three outs this season, five of them coming since Sept. 16. He’s pitched on back-to-back days four times over that span, with three more outings on one day of rest.
"Really, that wasn’t ideal," Gibbons says of using Osuna for more than one inning Friday. "Wanted him to go one inning. I talked to him before the game. He said he felt really good. Liriano hasn’t thrown a whole lot out of the ‘pen, but the way it set up, figured, hey, get three outs right there, we’re in good shape anyway, but Moreland’s ball got things going and the walk … then he got hit.
"Brought in Osuna, hey, you got to put a stop to this, at least keep the lead, because it goes the other way and that game’s over. And it was starting to go that way."
Osuna made sure it didn’t, no panic.
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SANCHEZ GETS THE CALL: Aaron Sanchez pitched the Blue Jays into the post-season with a gem against the Boston Red Sox on the final day of the regular season and Sunday he gets a chance to send them back to the American League Championship Series.
The ace right-hander starts Game 3 against the Rangers, continuing a run of recent starts that have steadily progressed in stature. Against the Red Sox, he allowed only two hits and two walks with six strikeouts over seven dominant innings, winning the AL ERA title at 3.00 in the process.
"Like I’ve said all year, this is why I put so much work in during the off-season, to get back to this opportunity and go out there and compete against a really good team," says Sanchez. "There’s not much more I’m going to put on this game, understanding what type of situation we’re in. I’m just going to go out there and compete with my best stuff. That’s pretty much it."
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THINGS TURN QUICK: A week ago the Blue Jays were in danger of missing the post-season. Now they’re on the cusp of the ALCS.
"That’s baseball, it’s weird like that," says J.A. Happ. "(Thursday) it’s 90 and sunny and we score 10 and (Friday) it’s rainy and dreary and you don’t know what’s going to happen. We feel good about being up 2-0, we knew we were certainly capable and it’s going to be important to keep that momentum and try to care of it in Toronto."
Adds Roberto Osuna: "Everybody is playing really good right now. This is the team everybody knows, and it was the right time. Hopefully we can keep playing like this at home."
Kevin Pillar thinks the tight finish is one of the reasons for the quick turnaround.
"What we went through early in September, we didn’t have a choice, our back was against the wall," he says. "We had to win some games and we played a lot of meaningful games down the stretch. And it’s paying off for us. We know what it’s like to play must-win games. And we were able to be successful in those. And we’re just riding that high right now."
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NOT ON SAME PAGE?: Yu Darvish threw a lot of fastballs to a Blue Jays team that hunts heaters in Game 2, something he questioned after the game.
"It’s not like I couldn’t throw a strike with my sliders or anything like that," he said through an interpreter. "But like me and (catcher Jonathon) Lucroy, we need to talk. Maybe we went too much on the fastballs."
Those words are worth noting with Colby Lewis, a fastball-slider pitcher, set to start Game 3 for the Rangers.
