Jordan Romano of the Toronto Blue Jays walks back to the dugout after being relieved against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning in game two of the American League Wild Card Series at Rogers Centre on Oct. 8, 2022.MARK BLINCH/Getty Images
It was an epic collapse that Blue Jays fans may bemoan and scrutinize for years.
Early in Saturday’s contest, the Toronto Blue Jays had a commanding 8-1 lead in Game 2, looking confident to force a decisive third game in their wild-card series.
Yet a few hours later, the underdog Seattle Mariners were dancing on Toronto’s field after handing the highly favoured Jays one of the most gut-wrenching losses in franchise history.
The Mariners notched the biggest road comeback in MLB post-season history, winning 10-9 in an intense game that lasted over four hours and included a game-changing collision between Bo Bichette and George Springer in the outfield.
Seattle – a team making its first playoff appearance in 21 years – will advance to the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros.
The Jays clubhouse was quiet, with many players and coaches embracing in end-of-season hugs after sky-high hopes for a deep playoff run with a talent-rich team have evaporated.
Toronto’s playoff run is over after just two days. A best-of-three wild card series can be so unforgiving.
“It just really sucks that we have to go home,” said Jays starter Kevin Gausman. “Because there’s a lot of really talented baseball players in there.”
In Game 1, the Mariners feasted on a few bad pitches by Toronto ace Alek Manoah in his first inning of playoff baseball, and jumped out to a fast lead the Jays would not overcome. Canada’s team ran into a red-hot pitcher in Luis Castillo and they got beat 4-0, forced to fight for their playoff lives on Saturday.
The Jays faced their old teammate Robbie Ray, who won the AL Cy Young Award while pitching for Toronto last year. In his first appearance at the Rogers Centre since his departure, the 30-year-old left-hander pitched just over three innings on Saturday, giving up six hits and four runs against four strikeouts.
He was pitching against the guy the Jays signed to replace Ray – Gausman, who got off to a hot start, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning, helped along by a leaping catch by Bichette, then alone at the wall by Springer.
The Jays got hot bats early. Alejandro Kirk provided the first Jays hit of the game in the second, a double into the left field corner. Next at the plate, Teoscar Hernandez cracked a homer to give the Jays a fast 2-0 lead and became the first to put on the new special postseason edition homerun jacket. The crowd of 47,156 made Rogers Centre thunderous.
In the third, Santiago Espinal doubled in his first game back from an oblique injury, and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to bring him home. Hernandez crushed his second homer – a solo shot – in the fourth.
But the Mariners began to heat up at the plate in the fifth. Gausman allowed two hits that inning, including a double by Carlos Santana that rocked off the wall. A sacrifice fly by Jarred Kelenic scored Frazier. Gausman limited the damage to just one run.
The Mariners crumbled in a dramatic fifth inning that saw the Jays score four runs. They let the Jays load the bases by intentionally walking Guerrero Jr. and bringing up Kirk. Then Seattle reliever Paul Sewald threw an errant pitch that sailed off the top of his catcher’s glove, and Espinal stole home. Sewald lost control of his fastball and hit Hernandez in the shoulder, putting him on base. Matt Chapman crushed a sac fly to score Guerrero Jr. Then Danny Jansen scored Kirk on his line drive double to right.
When Seattle swapped out Sewald with Diego Castillo, his first pitch was a slider that hit Toronto’s Whit Merrifield flush in the helmet. The Jays cautiously removed Merrifield from the game, and he was steaming. It was just the start of the drama.
The Seattle Mariners celebrate after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays on Oct. 8, 2022.MARK BLINCH/Getty Images
Gausman pitched into the sixth inning, and the Jays pulled him after he loaded the bases (having allowed five hits against seven strikeouts and charged with four runs). They brought in Tim Mayza, and within four pitches, the vibe of Rogers Centre went from rowdy and jubilant to sombre and concerned. Mayza threw a wild pitch that scored one Mariner, then a slider that Santana blistered for a three-run homer. Suddenly, Toronto’s comfy 8-1 lead narrowed into an uncomfortable 8-5 one.
The Jays soothed their fans’ worries a little in the seventh when Danny Jansen clubbed an RBI single to score Hernandez. But the Mariners were not rolling over.
Toronto reliever Anthony Bass gave up another run. With two runners on, and zero out, in the eight inning Toronto had a 9-6 lead and called for their star closer Jordan Romano to get them the six outs needed to save the season.
Romano put another runner on before Seattle’s hottest batter of the day came to the plate – Santana. Every Jays fan in the stadium was on their feet, blue rally towels waving. Romano worked him and struck him out. Then he struck out Dylan Moore as well.
But then came the most dramatic play in this wild contest.
Seattle’s J.P. Crawford looped a flyball into shallow middle field and Bichette and Springer both sprinted after the same ball, the shortstop and the centre fielder colliding violently as the ball dropped between them. Three Seattle runs scored to tie the game 9-9. Medical staff dashed out to tend to the injured Blue Jays, and every Blue Jay on the field scrambled out in concern to look on the injured players as they lay on the turf.
Bichette clutched his arm but stayed in the game. Springer was helped onto a cart, looking pained and watery-eyed as he left the field. The stadium was silent, fans clutching their heads and staring on in disbelief.
“He’s doing okay. He’s going to be evaluated for a couple of different things,” said Schneider of Springer after the game. “He said some nice things to his teammates just now, so we’ll know more in the next couple of days.”
Romano collected himself and earned the third strikeout.
Bichette got in base with a walk in the eighth and stole second, then got stranded at third.
Romano, back on the mound for the ninth, gave up Seattle’s go-ahead run. Adam Cimber got Jays out of it, and the Jays headed to the plate in the ninth needing one run to keep their season alive.
Four Toronto batters came up in that do-or-die inning, and only Matt Chapman got on by, via a walk. Hernandez grounded out, Jansen struck out, and Raimel Tapia lined out to the field. All that scoring they did earlier in the day just dried up.
“Baseball sucks sometimes, and this group will be back in the exact same spot very, very soon,” said Jays interim manager John Schneider. “As much as it sucks right now, it will make that group better.”
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina‘s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.
Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.
Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.
They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
Alabama twin bill
Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.
The 6-foot-1 guard was named a second-team AP All-America after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He was the first Division I player in 31 years to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a single season while breaking the Alabama single-season record with 26 games with at least 20 points.
Sears worked out for NBA scouts during the offseason before deciding to return to Alabama, earning the Crimson Tide a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25.
“I saw the team that we had and I wanted to be a part of it, and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said.
Across the state at rival Auburn, Broome made a quick decision about his future, announcing in April that he would be back for a fifth season.
The 6-10 forward was a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55% from the floor. With an eye on an NBA future, Broome worked hard on his perimeter shooting during the offseason and his return earned Auburn a No. 11 preseason ranking.
“My main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship, to make it as far as I can in March Madness,” Broome said. “When a team shines, everyone shines individually.”
Along Tobacco Road
Like Sears, Davis has similar aspirations after opting to return for his fifth season at North Carolina.
The 6-foot guard was an AP All-American last season and the ACC player of the year after averaging 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Davis enters this year within reach of former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record.
“I know there’s more work to be done,” Davis said. “I know my jersey’s not going up until I leave. So there’s some more records to break and some more work to be done. I’m satisfied but I’m not satisfied, if that makes sense.”
Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players. He’s part of a stellar recruiting class that has No. 7 Duke eyeing a deep March run.
Big 12 duo
Dickinson was the biggest move in the transfer portal last spring after leaving Michigan for Kansas. The 7-2 center lived up to the billing, averaging 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds while leading the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Tournament.
Love’s decision to return for a second season at No. 10 Arizona has ratcheted up expectations in the desert for the Big 12 rival of Kansas.
The athletic 6-4 guard had a high-scoring career at North Carolina and continued it after transferring to Arizona last season. He was the Pac-12 player of the year and a third-team All-American after averaging 18 points per game and making 92 3-pointers.
Love tested the NBA waters this summer before deciding to return.
“He’s had a very successful college career thus far,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it.”
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of Cleveland‘s season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Sunday against Cincinnati, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Watson will soon undergo surgery, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the results of imaging tests taken on his leg.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year.
The 29-year-old Watson went down without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson collapsed to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
As he laid on the ground, there was cheering by some Cleveland fans, leading to some of Watson’s teammates criticizing that behavior during the team’s fifth straight loss.
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s divisive stay with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million in 2022. The deal came amid Watson being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions. He settled civil lawsuits in all but one of those cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games with the Browns and then made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
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