Baseball-Blue Jays get spotlight, Rangers get win

By Steve Keating TORONTO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The Toronto Blue Jays were annointed as World Series favourites after a sizzling second half finish to the season that brought them back to the Major League Baseball playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Below .500 at the all-star break, the Blue Jays took flight and closed out the campaign with a 43-18 run that made them the postseason darlings. Mostly overlooked in the Blue Jay hoopla were Toronto's American League Division Series opponents the Texas Rangers, who grabbed everyone's attention on Thursday with a 5-3 Game One win to take control of the best-of-five series. While the Blue Jays and their booming bats were grabbing the headlines, the Rangers were also putting together a remarkable run, going 41-22 down the stretch to claw their way to the Central division crown and back to the playoffs after a two-year absence. The slight did not go unnoticed in Texas, who made a 'hey don't forget about us' statement by slamming a pair of home runs off Toronto ace David Price and grinding their way to a victory that ended with two of Toronto's most dangerous sluggers Josh Donaldson (concussion) and Jose Bautista (cramps) in the training room. "Well, we've got a very confident group of guys," said Rangers manager Jeff Banister. "We've got a group of guys that they absolutely love playing together and they've been up against it all year long since spring training. "We know that we're a ballclub that's not a perfect ballclub, but we've got a group of guys that play extremely well together. "They love playing the game of baseball together and they find a way to meet the demands of the game. "All they know is they want to go out and play baseball." The victory over American League Cy Young contender Price allowed Texas to take control of series as they send ace lefthander Cole Hamels to the hill for Game Two on Friday against Marcus Stroman. Acquired by Texas at the trade deadline, Hamels, the 2008 World Series most valuable player helping the Philadelphia Phillies to the Fall Classic, has been work horse for the Rangers who have won the last 10 games started by the lefthander, including a 9-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels to clinch the division title. "I think the postseason's where it's at," said Hamels. "These are the moments that I enjoy the most, so I think in order to get here you do have to have a sense of focus. "Then when you're here, you try to lay it all out on the line because sometimes you don't get that second chance. "This is the reason we play baseball. No matter what team we play for, we want to be able to play in front of a high octane crowd and this is what Toronto offers. "So this is what it's all about." (Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Andrew Both)