David Price Blue Jays 2015
Lefty David Price takes the mound as Toronto tries to stave off elimination against Kansas City in Friday night's Game 6. Getty Images

If there was ever a time for lefty ace David Price to silence critics of his poor postseason performances, it would be Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Down 3-2 in the series, the Blue Jays held off Kansas City’s celebration for a second straight trip to the World Series with Wednesday’s 7-1 Game 5 victory, highlighted by Marco Estrada’s three-hit gem over 7 2/3 innings.

But with the series turning back to the Royals home turf and a raucous home crowd hungry for a party, Price now has the ball and guns for the first postseason win of his career after falling short in the first seven attempts. It's a curious situation for a five-time All-Star with a career 3.09 earned-run average and 104 wins over his career.

The 30-year-old owns a poor 5.44 ERA in the postseason and became the first pitcher to lose the first seven playoff starts of his career in league history when he coughed up five earned runs over 6 2/3innings in Game 2 of the series.

Price’s search for redemption does however run into the wall that his Royals starter Yordana Ventura, who hasn’t performed spectacularly well for Kansas City in his eight career postseason appearances but the team has gone 7-1 with the Dominicans star on the mound.

Ventura last went 5 1/3 innings in Game 2, allowing only three earned runs, and he would’ve picked up the victory had he held on through the seventh inning when Kansas City staged a five-run rally in the 6-3 win.

But Toronto’s lineup roared back to life in Game 5 after they were held to a playoff-low two runs in Game 4. In particular, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has driven in seven runs over the last four games, including three in Game 5, and he’s making far better contact than the ALDS against Texas when he notched only two hits.

Start Time: 8:07 p.m. ET

TV Channel: Fox Sports 1

Live Online: Fox Sports Go