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Swept away

Toronto Blue Jays players celebrate their walk-off win to eliminate the Texas Rangers during the tenth inning of Game 3 in the American League Division Series Sunday night. The Blue Jays won the game, 7-6.
Donaldson's mad dash home in 10th hands Toronto 3-game sweep of Texas

TORONTO — Josh Donaldson’s mad dash moved the Blue Jays into the next round of the playoffs.

Donaldson raced home from second base after Rougned Odor bounced a double-play relay in the 10th inning and Toronto beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 on Sunday night to sweep their AL Division Series.

Donaldson, the reigning AL MVP, led off the 10th with a double into the right-center field gap and Matt Bush intentionally walked Edwin Encarnacion.

After Jose Bautista struck out, Russell Martin hit a grounder to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who tried to start a double play with a feed to second base. After making the turn, second baseman Odor short-hopped his throw to first baseman Mitch Moreland and the ball skipped away, allowing Donaldson to sprint home and beat Moreland’s throw with a dive across the plate.

“I was at third base when the throw was being made,” Donaldson said. “Once I saw (Moreland) miss the pick, I felt like I had to take a chance right there.”

The wild-card Blue Jays are headed back to the AL Championship Series after beating Texas in an ALDS for a second straight year and will face the winner of the Cleveland-Boston series. The Indians lead 2-0, with Game 3 scheduled for Monday following a postponement Sunday.

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro, who spent 24 years with Cleveland before joining Toronto last fall, said he’d already reached out to one former Indians colleague about a potential ALCS meeting.

“It’s something I’ve tried not to think about,” Shapiro said, “but I texted (Indians GM) Chris Antonetti a two-word text about 10 minutes ago: Your turn.”

Toronto’s bench emptied and swarmed around Donaldson near home plate after his dramatic dash, while Bush kneeled in the infield and watched the celebration. The umpires huddled to review the play at second base, but after a brief delay, the crowd of 49,555 went wild as crew chief Joe West signaled the run counted.

“You’re like ‘Oh gosh, let’s not have a technicality ruin this moment for us right here,”’ Martin said. “It was a little bit of a buzzkill at the time.”

Nationals 5, Dodgers 2

WASHINGTON — Leave it to little-used, light-hitting Jose Lobaton to change the complexion of the Washington Nationals’ NL Division Series with one big swing.

Getting a rare chance to play because of starting catcher Wilson Ramos’ late-September injury, backup Lobaton hit a three-run homer through a strong wind to erase an early deficit Sunday. Daniel Murphy provided more-expected production with two RBIs, and Washington’s bullpen threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings, leading the Nationals past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 in a rain-postponed Game 2 to even the series at 1-all.

“I’ve got to try to do something for the team,” said Lobaton, who had one hit off a left-handed pitcher all season before connecting with a curveball that stayed up from LA lefty Rich Hill with two outs in the fourth inning.

“And I’m not saying that I’m going to be like Willy and hit a homer and hit .300. Play hard every day, no matter who is in and who is not,” he said.

After dropping Game 1, the Nationals trailed 2-0 when Hill allowed No. 8 hitter Lobaton to put the hosts ahead for good.

“One bad pitch to a guy that I don’t think anybody really thought was going to be that guy to hurt us,” said Josh Reddick, who drove in a run for LA.

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