KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Blue Jays pitcher David Price is not surprised by teammate Jose Bautista’s power at the plate.

From his days in Tampa and Detroit, Price knows firsthand how difficult it is to get the best of the Toronto slugger, whose three-run blast lifted the Jays to a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in their American League Division Series decider.

“He’s tough,” Price said prior to Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. “He’s always on the fastball and that’s what the best hitters do. They’re always on it.

“It’s extremely tough to throw a fastball by that guy, especially late in the count whenever you’ve shown him a couple. He might take some funny swings on some breaking balls, but that lets you know where he’s at in his head.

“There’s a saying in baseball, you can’t sneak cheese past a rat. He does a really good job with that. That’s what all the best hitters in baseball do, they sit on a fastball and they react to a breaking ball. He does a really good job with that.

Prince then paused.

“I’m not calling Bautista a rat, OK,” he said, drawing laughs.

Bautista is 16-for-49 in his career against Price with five home runs and 11 RBI.