Their positioning immediately became a nonissue. The next person to touch the ball would be in the stands.

“I was trying to throw it down, trying to get a double play,” Jimenez said. “But it didn’t do anything. It didn’t sink.”

Jimenez said he was surprised Britton never got into the game.

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I guess we were waiting to get on top and score. He’s our best pitcher, and we couldn’t get him into the game. What can you do there?”

Showalter could have used Britton, and he said he was healthy. Showalter praised the other relievers, and emphasized that Jimenez had pitched well lately.

“We went for about four innings there trying to get to that spot,” Showalter said. “It looked like if he pitches a couple innings — if he can physically, then you’re assuming, which is a pretty good assumption with the way he’s pitched this year. Playing on the road has a little something to do with it, too. But we have some good options that have done a great job for us all year, and Zach’s one of those.”

Through three innings, neither pitcher worked from the stretch. Marcus Stroman retired the first nine Orioles, and Chris Tillman set down nine of his 10 hitters. The exception was a loud one: a homer by Jose Bautista, off an inside fastball in the second inning.

Bautista, of course, had homered in the last winner-take-all game here, in the division series with Texas last fall. He punctuated that blast with a bat flip that infuriated the Rangers, but dropped the bat at home this time. The crowd went wild, anyway.