Their get-togethers produced two iconic moments of the past two seasons – the bat flip and the right-cross – and fans cannot wait to see what the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers have in store this time.

The Blue Jays made sure that the matchup everybody was secretly yearning to see became a reality late Tuesday night thanks to Edwin Encarnacion, who may be soft spoken but carries a big stick.

Encarnacion delivered the dramatic game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning, which lifted Toronto to a stirring 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League wild-card game at Rogers Centre.

Encarnacion ensured that the Blue Jays advanced to the AL Division Series against the Rangers in a highly anticipated rematch of last season's electric playoff encounter.

You'll recall Toronto survived that stirring encounter, 3-2, after dropping the first two games at home.

The first two games of this year's best-of-five series begin Thursday afternoon in Texas. The Jays will start right-hander Marco Estrada against lefty Cole Hamels.

The teams have also revealed their pitching plans through the first four games should the series go that far.

J.A. Happ, Toronto's 20-game winner, will square up against Yu Darvish in Game 2 with Aaron Sanchez getting the ball for Sunday's game in Toronto against Colby Lewis.

Should the series go to a Game 4, it will be Marcus Stroman for the Blue Jays against Martin Perez.

Toronto manager John Gibbons also told reporters on Wednesday that closer Roberto Osuna, who left Tuesday's game with a right shoulder ailment, is feeling better but is not certain if he will be available to pitch in the opener against the Rangers.

Baseball fans not living under a rock the past year or so still vividly recall the details of last October's playoff encounter between the two rivals, which ended in a tense Game 5 showdown at Rogers Centre.

That was when Jose Bautista became the toast of Canada, and the scourge of Texas, when he clubbed the series-winning home run that was capped off by the defiant bat flip that became seared in the minds of the Rangers.

Payback was extracted this past May in the final meeting of the regular season when Bautista was hit with a pitch thrown by Matt Bush.

A little bit later in the inning, Bautista slid hard into second base and was then clocked in the kisser by Texas infielder Rougned Odor as the two approached one another to discuss the matter.

Dugouts emptied and suspensions were handed out and now you have the two sides getting up close and personal once again with everybody wondering if cooler heads can or will prevail.

For the record, the players believe all the ill will is passé with the main combatants, Bautista and Odor, clearly dreading even having to speak to it now.

"I don't like it," Odor bluntly informed the Dallas Morning News late last week after acknowledging that the past discord would likely be a focal point among the fans and the media if the Blue Jays and Rangers hooked up again.

"I don't like the questions," Odor continued. "It puts me in a bad spot, but it's part of the game and the job and I understand it."

Odor then played the diplomatic card when asked if his team was relishing a rematch against the Blue Jays.

"If we play against Toronto, it's good," Odor said. "If not, that's okay. We are just going to keep going and doing the same thing we do every day."

Bautista, in the aftermath of Tuesday's win over Baltimore, was equally cautious in his comments about having to play the Rangers.

"We're just looking to put them away," Bautista said. "We've got to win some ball games. The offence has been streaky so hopefully we can get on a roll."

The Toronto rightfielder said he was "very excited" to be facing the Rangers again.

"Any opponent I would have been excited but with them we have a little bit of history, not only last year in the playoffs but this season too," he said.

Hamels said Wednesday that he believes there is too much at stake for players to be seeking some sort of frontier justice in the series.

"I know from this team, I don't think there's any other focus than going out and trying to win a ballgame and trying to advance," Hamels said.

"I don't want to speak for the Blue Jays, but I think their main goal, too, is to win a World Series. I mean that's ultimately the goal. Both of us did not make the World Series last year. And that is the goal, to go to the World Series and win it."

The Rangers rolled into the postseason having captured first place for the second successive year in the West division while finishing with the best record overall in the AL at 95-67.

But the Blue Jays, who concluded the regular season with a mark of 89-73, took four of seven games from the Rangers this season, outscoring Texas 36-21.

Toronto was one of only five teams this season to post a winning record over Texas.

While the Rangers clinched a playoff spot with relative ease on Sept. 23, the Blue Jays had to scratch and claw right until the end, not punching their ticket until Sunday on the final day of the regular season.

It was put to Bautista that having played through all that adversity over the final week of the season might actually benefit the Blue Jays heading into a tough playoff battle.

"I don't necessarily think adversity, but having played can't-lose games the last week, definitely," he said. "Hopefully that's going to maintain and that keeps us our edge a little bit above what Texas has been like. They've been just kind of hanging out; they clinched early.

"And they haven't been playing those types of ball games with a lot of pressure and can't-lose games. And we have. So hopefully we get that momentum and keep it and just take it to the next series."

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