ARLINGTON, Texas -- Derek Holland likes to have a good time and make folks laugh with his Harry Caray and Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonations.
Even his recent Wild Thing haircut from the movie "Major League" was good for a few chuckles before Holland opted for a buzz cut because he had grown weary of fans making his hair a point of emphasis anytime he had a poor start.
Well, there was nothing funny about Holland’s start Monday afternoon in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
Holland never gave the Texas Rangers a chance to win the game, serving up three homers before he’d been through the Toronto Blue Jays' lineup once.
Final score: Toronto 8, Texas 4.
“My number was called and I didn’t do my job,” Holland said. “You live up in the zone and these guys will kill it. I’m better when I pitch down, and I’m crappy when I pitch up. It’s like I was serving up BP [batting practice].”
The ALDS is tied at 2-2, with Game 5 on Wednesday in Toronto as the Rangers attempt to avoid being only the third team to lose a best-of-five series after winning the first two games on the road.
Teams that lose the first two games of a best-of-five series at home are 2-27. The only two teams to rally from being down 2-0 after two home games are the 2001 Yankees and the 2012 Giants against Cincinnati.
The Rangers will send Cole Hamels to the mound for Game 5.
The left-hander is everything Holland aspires to be as a pitcher, a dude known for his big-game prowess. Hamels, the 2008 World Series MVP, pitched a complete-game three-hitter in Game 162 to beat the Los Angeles Angels and clinch the AL West title for the Rangers.
In Game 2 of this series, Hamels allowed two earned runs in seven innings and the Rangers eventually won 6-4 in 14 innings. The Rangers have won 10 consecutive games Hamels has started, so they remain confident about their ability to win this series.
“He’s our ace and he’s our ace for a reason, and he showed it on the last day of the season,” Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “He’s the guy you want on the mound in this situation. Hopefully, we’ll celebrate Wednesday night.”
More important, the Rangers know Hamels will figure out a way to grind through the start and compete whether he has his good stuff or not.
Holland has yet to master that element of pitching. He felt great warming up in the bullpen, but once the game started he couldn't locate his fastball against the American League’s best hitting club.
Five pitches into the game, Toronto led 2-0. Eleven pitches later, first baseman Chris Colabello homered to right, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Kevin Pillar hit a one-out homer in the second inning to give Toronto a 4-0 lead just 25 pitches into the game. At that point, manager Jeff Banister made a rare trip to the mound instead of pitching coach Mike Maddux.
His words of encouragement and a suggestion for a mechanical adjustment fell on deaf ears.
“Everything Derek was throwing was running back toward the middle of the plate,” Banister said. “The sinker, the change-up, the backdoor breaking ball were all running back toward the middle of the plate.
“When you center-cut pitches, you wind up getting hurt. That was part of the conversation as I went out to talk to him. I tried to get him to make an adjustment. I tried to find a way to reset him so he could start making some better pitches.”
Holland walked Josh Donaldson to start the third inning and Jose Bautista banged a double off the left-field wall. This time, Banister walked out to the mound to replace Holland.
Toronto hit three homers off Holland in an August start, but he still lasted six innings and allowed just four runs.
“I made an adjustment and got the ball back down in that start,” Holland said, “but here I wasn’t able to get the ball down. Obviously, in a playoff game like this, give credit to Banny for taking me out because I wasn’t doing my job and he needed to move on to the next guy.”