The Blue Jays dominated the Rangers in Thursdays ALDS Game 1. Will they make it a Texas two-step when the two teams meet again Friday afternoon?Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Fridays game, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen?Happ is on the mound:?One of the least likely 20-game winners in recent memory,?J.A. Happ?signed a three-year, $36 million contract that now looks like the bargain of the offseason. When he was traded from the Mariners to the Pirates last year, Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage had Happ raise his arm slot a bit and take a more direct stride toward home plate.The idea that this increased the velocity on his four-seamer isnt necessarily true. While he now throws 92-93 mph as opposed to 89-90 when he first came up with the Phillies, he was also throwing 92-93 with the Blue Jays in 2014. It has, however, generated more swing-and-misses -- up from 15.9 percent with his fastball in 2014 to 20.5 percent this year -- with better command as well. The raise in arm slot has perhaps added some deception to his delivery.He works away to right-handers with his fastball and goes up or low and away to lefties. He throws both a four-seamer and two-seamer and throws his fastball a lot -- 73 percent of the time. Among qualified starters, only Bartolo Colon and teammate Aaron Sanchez threw a higher rate of fastballs. His secondary pitchers are a slider, curveball and changeup. He throws the curve about only seven times per start but batters hit .137 against it. It could be an effective two-strike option against an aggressive Rangers lineup. -- David SchoenfieldWhen Darvish is on the mound: In his return from Tommy John surgery,?Yu Darvish?was as dominant as before, striking out 132 batters in 100 innings. After returning in late May, he made three starts and then missed five weeks because of neck and shoulder issues, but he was healthy in the second half. In his final outing against the Rays, he fanned 12 in six innings.Darvish has a full arsenal of pitches (including a slider, changeup, curveball, cutter, sinker) but has learned that he can succeed living off a fastball that averaged 93.5 mph -- actually higher average velocity than pre-surgery -- and a deadly slider. He changes speeds effectively with the fastball as he can still dial back and touch 97-98. Batters hit .157 against his slider, right in line with his career mark of .162. Perhaps as a precaution after the surgery, he doesnt throw the slider as much as he did, down from 30 percent to about 20 percent.One thing I dont understand is why he doesnt ditch the cutter. It was an effective pitch for him in 2012, but batters have pounded it ever since -- hitting .333 and slugging .567 against it. Sometimes it seems Darvish simply has too many pitches and likes to use all of them, although he has cut his walk rate from his rookie season. The Rangers were pretty careful with his pitch count as he topped 100 only three times (all in August), but improved efficiency allowed him to go six-plus innings in 11 of his final 13 starts. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightAdrian Beltre. At 37, Beltre had another tremendous season, hitting .300 with 32 home runs and cementing his status as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He was also Mr. Clutch, hitting .385/.408/.646 in late and close situations. He has averaged 6.3 WAR per season since joining the Rangers in 2011. What hed love is to get back to the World Series like that first season in Texas -- and win it this time. -- SchoenfieldWhat will decide todays gameJose Bautista has homered in each of the first two games of this postseason, but hes about to face his kryptonite. Hes 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts against Game 2 starter Darvish. On Bautistas career, thats his worst average against any pitcher he has faced at least 15 times.Darvish has succeeded against Bautista by keeping the ball away. He typically throws outside pitches -- those on the outer third of the plate or further outside -- 44 percent of the time against right-handed hitters. Against Bautista, that rate is 60 percent. Bautista hit .175 with a .288 slugging percentage against outside pitches this season. From 2012 to 2015, he hit .250 with a .411 slugging percentage against them.?--?ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win?When Darvish becomes a free agent after next season, hell be looking for a deal that pays him close to $30 million, if not more. Winning Game 2 of the ALDS against lefty Happ would look real good on an already excellent resume. Darvish will need his best effort to beat Torontos 20-game winner, but the Rangers signed him to win games like this. He gave up one run or fewer in three of his past four starts. Who knows how much the four-day layoff hurt the Rangers, but it wont matter all that much if they go down 2-0. -- Jean-Jacques TaylorThe Blue Jays won big Thursday and have 20-game winner Happ starting. Closer Roberto Osuna also probably will be recovered and ready to go. So the Rangers will need a great outing from Darvish or they will be heading to Toronto with their backs to the wall, their toes on the cliff edge and their spouses one finger tap from booking a mid-October trip to Hawaii. Will that pressure help or hurt Darvish? Well see, but Im looking for a closer game than 10-1.?-- Jim CapleWhere the series standsIts not a must-win game for the Rangers, but it feels like a must-win game, as you dont want to go back to Toronto down 2-0 and facing AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez in Game 3. Bautista has homered in six of his past 13 games, so Darvish will have to figure out how to avoid seeing another Bautista long ball.?--?Schoenfield Air Max Wholesale Free Shipping . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. Cheap Nike Air Max Free Shipping . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. http://www.airmaxfreeshipping.com/ . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Air Max Wholesale China Free Shipping . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Cheap Air Max Shoes With Free Shipping .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. NEW YORK -- Northwestern came into the Legends Classic off a last-second loss to Butler.It didnt seem to bother the Wildcats as they beat No. 22 Texas 77-58 on Monday night.Im really proud of my guys tonight. We had a very tough loss Wednesday in Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler, Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. Teams can go two separate ways after a loss like that. You can go on a little bit of a tailspin or you can rally together and come out fighting. There was never a doubt in my mind that our guys were going to keep fighting. We came in confident, yet very respectful of Texas. We knew it was going to take a great effort to beat a team like that. I thought a lot of guys played well.Bryant McIntosh had 20 points and five assists in the convincing win that propelled the Wildcats (3-1) into a championship showdown against Notre Dame, which beat Colorado 89-81, on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.McIntosh turned the ball over that led to Butlers buzzer-beater.I thought right after the Butler game, I knew we wouldnt go into a tailspin just because we didnt feel sorry for ourselves, McIntosh said. We were upset that we lost a game that we thought we could win. Thats a difference with this team than on the other teams Ive been on since being here. If we lost a close game, we felt sorry for ourselves where this team were hungry. We think were good and I thought tonight we played exceptionally well.Northwestern opened the game with an 11-0 run and closed the first half on a 9-0 spurt to take a 34-26 lead.The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-1 run to go up by 17 points and the Longhorns (3-1) were never closer than 14 points the rest of the way.Scottie Lindsey had 16 points and Dererk Pardon had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern which took advantage of an out-of-synch Texas offense for the easy win.We came in to win, Collins said. We have the utmost respect for Texas, just like we did at Butler the other night. I just think theres a mindset with these guys. I think we believe were good. I believe we can play with these teams, not only play with them but beat them.Tavin Maack scored 18 points for the Longhorns, who finished with 14 turnovers and just seven assists.dddddddddddd Texas didnt help itself at the free throw line going 13 for 27.I thought Northwestern did a great job of starting the game with aggressiveness and got off to that big lead, Texas coach Shaka Smart said. Our guys responded really well and battled back and took the lead but obviously from there, Northwestern was just a much better team tonight.Northwestern, which shot 48.2 percent (27 for 56), led by as many as 20 points as nine of the 10 players who saw time scored.Texas, which came into the game averaging 82 points per game, shot 37.3 percent (19 for 51) and were outrebounded 40-31.I was a little bit concerned this morning because sometimes you can feel when guys get in the bright lights, you can tell theyre playing a little bit away from what really goes into it, Smart said. Its natural. I think we were a step off with a lot of things we know how to do.BIG PICTURE:Texas: The Longhorns allowed opponents to shoot 21.8 percent from 3-point range in their first three games. Northwestern was 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc. ... Six Texas players were averaging double figures entering the game and only Mack reached that against the Wildcats.Northwestern: Vic Law came into the game shooting 76.8 percent (11 of 14) from 3-point range including eight in a row at one stretch. He went 1 for 2 Monday. ... Law was the Wildcats leading scorer at 20.3 points per game. He had just nine against Texas.BIRTHDAY WISH:McIntosh celebrated his birthday Sunday by heading to the famed Rucker Park with his godfather to shoot baskets.RARE MEETING:Northwestern leads the all-time series 2-1. The last time the teams met was in 1974, a 63-59 Texas victory. The first meeting was a 73-71 Northwestern victory in 1965.UP NEXT:Texas: will play Colorado for third place in the Legends Classic.Northwestern: will play Notre Dame in the championship game of the Legends Classic. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '