Mid-season trades sometimes work out, but sometimes they do not. 

Well, on Sunday night, the Toronto Blue Jays were sure glad they traded for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline.

Tulowitzki blasted a 3-run home run that gave the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning and also drew a run-scoring walk that allowed them to cruise to a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers and stave off elimination for at least one more night. 

Down 2-0 in the ALDS to the Rangers, the Blue Jays sent veteran Marco Estrada to the mound and Estrada responded with 6.1 innings of 1-run ball while being supported by Tulowitzki's 4-RBI day. 

Both Estrada and Rangers' starter Martin Perez started off well, both hurling two perfect innings before Toronto broke through in the third inning with a run-scoring double play by Ryan Goins. 

They struck again in the fourth inning when Josh Donaldson doubled to start the inning. Perez induced a fly-out before intentionally walking Edwin Encarnacion. After another walk to Chris Colabello, Troy Tulowitzki worked a five-pitch walk to score Donaldson and give Toronto a 2-0 lead.

The score remained 2-0 until the sixth inning when two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. A double play didn't score any runs but put runners on second and third for Tulowitzki who worked a full count before driving the ball over the left-field fence for a 5-0 Toronto lead. 

Texas finally mounted a threat against Estrada in the seventh inning after managing just three hits over the first six innings. Consecutive one-out singles by Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton induced a call to the bullpen, but Andrus scored on a ground-out by Rougned Odor for the Rangers' lone run of the night. 

It was all Texas could do though as they went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings and Toronto secured the 5-1 victory to stay alive in the MLB Playoffs. 

Offensively, the Blue Jays were led by Tulowitzki and Donaldson, both of whom recorded multi-hit days. Estrada picked up the win and Aaron Loupe, Mark Lowe, and Roberto Osuna closed out the victory for Toronto.

Texas was led by Josh Hamilton who picked up two hits and Hanser Alberto who collected their only extra-base hit of the night. Perez took the loss with five innings of four-run ball.  

Toronto needs another win tomorrow night veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to the mound to keep their dreams of a World Series title alive. Dickey is 8-1 since the All-Star Break with a 2.80 ERA but has not started in the playoffs before. The Rangers will counter with Derek Holland who is unbeaten in his postseason career but also gave up three home runs to Toronto when he faced the Blue Jays in August.