Dyson: I want to face Bautista every time

If there's one player in the league Sam Dyson shouldn't want to face, it's Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista.

It was Bautista, of course, who essentially posterized Dyson when he eliminated Texas in Game 5 of last year's American League Division Series with a dramatic game-winning homer - an epic blast that was followed by arguably the most famous bat flip in MLB history. The fallout triggered critical comments from Dyson, who said that "Jose needs to calm that down," and "respect the game a little more."

So, it comes with some surprise that shortly after Bautista and Dyson rekindled their rivalry in Toronto on Monday - even if it was anticlimactic - the Rangers right-hander took the high road in describing the showdown.

"Good for you guys to see me face him, I don't know," Dyson told reporters, according to MLB's Alykhan Ravjiani. "I'd like to face him every time. It's all about the competition. He's going to win sometimes, I'm going to win sometimes. He hit the ball hard to right field, it went right to a guy. That's part of the game. Sometimes it goes over the fence, sometimes it falls for a double. That's all part it."

With runners on first and second and nobody out in the eighth, and the Rangers clinging to a 2-1 lead, Dyson ended the four-pitch at-bat by inducing a line out from Bautista to stall Toronto's rally.

When asked what he was thinking during the high-intensity at-bat, the Tampa-native played coy.

"I was trying to think if the Lightning were playing or not."