In the immediate aftermath, the Rangers said it was hard to fathom such a great season coming to an end, but they also recognized that the Blue Jays were a very good, tough team and entirely worthy of their placement in the upcoming AL Championship Series.
"That's baseball," said Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, who homered in the loss. "In baseball, things happen, and you never know. We won the first two games, and we lost the next three games. That's baseball.
"We played a great team. Probably better than us."
Rangers manager Jeff Banister spoke of some of the little things that the Blue Jays did in Game 5 to come out ahead, particularly a play in the third inning, when Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus was caught stealing third base for the final out of the inning by Toronto catcher Russell Martin.