Baseball-Blue Jays endure rough return to postseason baseball

By Steve Keating TORONTO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The Toronto Blue Jays and their fans had a sobering return to MLB's postseason party on Thursday as their ace pitcher struggled in a losing effort and two of their best players left the game with injuries. The American League Division Series opener was played a day after Toronto's National Hockey League team kicked off a new season, an event that would normally have the hockey-mad city doing cartwheels. That game, however, was greeted with a ho-hum shrug as the Blue Jays seized the city's sporting spotlight after engineering a second-half resurgence that led to their first postseason berth since 1993, when they won their second successive World Series. But the Blue Jays' postseason return did not produce the result a capacity crowd of nearly 50,000 had hoped for as the visiting Texas Rangers drew first blood in the best-of-five series with a 5-3 win. The Blue Jays and their supporters will have little time to agonize over the loss with the teams scheduled to resume their series on Friday. "Every game's vital really, you've got to win three out of five," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "The thing we've got going for us is, I think, we've been resilient all year. "We've lost some tough games and we don't lose many in a row normally. ... We always seem to respond." The last time the Blue Jays were in the postseason they were owned by a brewery and not a telecommunications giant. Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky, now a grandfather, was still in his prime and the Internet was the stuff of science fiction. The Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and the city's Major League Soccer team have not played a playoff game in their eight-year-existence. With the bar set comfortably low the NBA's Toronto Raptors, founded in 1995, have made the playoffs seven times but only advanced beyond the first round once. So it was the Blue Jays again restoring a dose of sporting pride with an astonishing late season run. At the All-Star break in June the Blue Jays were sitting eight games back of the division lead and the postseason hopes of even the most diehard fans wilting in the summer heat. But then Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos stepped up to the plate and swung for the fences. In a 48-hour trade blitz, Anthopoulos upset the status quo by acquiring Troy Tulowitzki, one of baseball's best shortstops, from the Colorado Rockies and David Price, the ace pitcher the club had coveted, from the Detroit Tigers. The mid-season makeover continued with the addition of speedy outfielder Ben Revere and switch-hitting utility infielder Cliff Pennington. Those pieces joined forces with offseason signings like Canadian-born catcher Russell Martin and slugging third baseman Josh Donaldson, a leading candidate for American League most valuable player honours. Those blocks joined the cornerstones of the team, sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and suddenly the Blue Jays were transformed into World Series favourites closing the season with on a remarkable 43-18 run to reclaim the American League East Division crown.