That Rangers-Blue Jays 7th inning may be the craziest you'll ever see
The Blue Jays clinched a spot in the ALCS with a win in Game 5. Here's everything you need to know about that wild seventh inning.
Wednesday evening, the Blue Jays punched their ticket to the ALCS with a come-from-behind win over the Rangers (TOR 6, TEX 3). The final score hardly tells the story though. The game was crazy, especially the 53-minute (!) seventh inning.
Let's set the scene first: The Blue Jays had just tied the game 2-2 on Edwin Encarnacion's home run in the sixth. Both Marcus Stroman and Cole Hamels pitched well and completed six innings. Hamels even started the seventh.
Let's break down the craziness of that seventh inning.
1. Rangers take the lead on Martin's error.
First, the controversy. With Rougned Odor on third base, Russell Martin hit Shin-Soo Choo while throwing a ball back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez. Not intentionally, of course. It was a bit of a sloppy throw and it hit Choo either in the hand or bat or both. Here's the video:
Odor was called safe at home and that was 100 percent the right call. Choo did not intentionally interfere with the throw -- he was in the batter's box and going through his usual pre-pitch routine -- and the rules say the ball is live. (Here's our post explaining Rule 6.03.a, specifically.) It's no different than Odor scampering home if Sanchez drops the return throw from Martin, for example.
Anyway, that play gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Odor deserves credit for heads-up baserunning.
2. The Blue Jays protested the play and the Rogers Centre crowd went nuts.
Understandably, there were arguments on both sides following the Martin error. Rangers manager Jeff Banister initially argued because home plate ump Dale Scott incorrectly called it a dead ball. The umpires spoke and overturned the call. So then Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons argued. In fact, Gibbons protested the game.
Meanwhile, after the play was overturned and Odor was called safe, the crowd at Rogers Centre went nuts. They threw beer and bottles and cans and all sorts of other stuff onto the field. That's not good. Dangerous, also. Mothers were protecting their babies.
Jays players pleading with fans to stop throwing things on the field as mothers protect their kids. Stay classy, TO. pic.twitter.com/Ly5ObbHyZX
— ShannLeah (@ShannLeah) October 14, 2015
Between the arguments and the reviews and cleaning up the field, the total delay was 18 minutes. At the end of it all, Texas had a 3-2 lead between innings and were nine outs from the ALCS.
Also, Mark Buehrle was ejected for yelling from the dugout. Buehrle wasn't even on the ALDS roster.
3. Andrus kicks open the door for the Blue Jays.
I've seen a player make two errors in one inning before, but I can't ever remember seeing one player fail to make a play on three consecutive plays. That's exactly what Elvis Andrus did in the seventh inning.
First, Martin hit a ground ball to short. Andrus booted it.
Next, Ryan Goins hit a ground ball to first base. Andrus dropped the throw from Mitch Moreland, who was trying to start a 3-6-3 double play.
And finally, Kevin Pillar bunted. Adrian Beltre threw to third to get the lead runner, and Andrus dropped it.
Three plays and Andrus screwed them all up. All routine plays a major leaguer is supposed to make. I mean, on all three plays the ball hit him in the glove. All three! Thanks to Andrus, the Blue Jays had the bases loaded with no outs.
4. The Rangers get the first out but don't complete the 3-2-3 double play.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Ben Revere hit a chopper to Moreland at first, and Moreland threw to the plate for the force out. Catcher Chris Gimenez couldn't complete the 3-2-3 double play because pinch-runner Dalton Pompey kicked his feet out at the plate:
Banister argued Pompey came out of the baseline and slid into Gimenez -- a toned down version of the Chase Utley play, basically -- but that wasn't the case. The umpires reviewed the play and the call stood. Toronto still had the bases loaded with one out. That ended Hamels' night.
5. Donaldson ties the game with a bloop.
Josh Donaldson hit 41 home runs this season, but it was a bloop fielder's choice that tied the game 3-3. He hit a little flare that Odor played ... awkwardly. Rather than jog back and catch the ball, he took short, choppy steps and tried to back-track his way there. The ball fell in over his head. Here's the unembeddable video.
Like I said, that was very awkward. I have no idea what Odor, usually a fine fielder, was doing there. That was a very catchable ball. Given the situation and the enormity of the game, that's a must-catch. Getting a batter as good as Donaldson to pop up like that is a great outcome from the pitcher's point of view. Weird play by Odor.
6. Bautista gives the fans what they want.
The Rogers Centre crowd, which was subdued much of the game because of Hamels, was alive and well after Donaldson tied the game. The Blue Jays faithful then went totally bonkers when Jose Bautista hit a go-ahead three-run home run. Here's the video:
Here is the all-time great bat flip (bat chuck?):
Throwing it all the way to the #ALCS: http://t.co/NBTKKkJoS5 #ComeTogether pic.twitter.com/f2kjDcAuiV
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 14, 2015
And here is a crazy stat explaining how crazy that crazy home run actually was:
Bautista’s HR was only 11th go-ahead HR in 7th inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game -- and only 2nd with 2+ runners on base.
— Paul Casella (@paul_casella) October 14, 2015
Crazy indeed. The Blue Jays took a 6-3 lead. They were three outs from the ALCS.
7. Fans threw more stuff on the field and the benches cleared.
While Bautista was rounding the bases, the fans again threw stuff -- beer, bottles, etc. -- on the field, which, again, is bad. Don't do that.
Encarnacion stood next to the batter's box and waved his arms to try to get the crowd to stop throwing stuff. Sam Dyson, who just gave up the home run to Bautista, apparently misconstrued Encarnacion's message and starting barking. The benches cleared.
No punches were thrown or anything like that, but the benches did clear. Things were getting testy.
8. The benches then cleared again.
After order was restored, the inning continued, and eventually Dyson got the final out. For some reason he walked toward Troy Tulowitzki at home plate -- Tulo popped up to the catcher for the final out -- said something to him, and slapped him on the behind:
Tulowitzki did not appreciate the unsolicited butt slap. He had words with Dyson and again, the benches cleared. And again, no punches were thrown.
The bench-clearing incidents and the fans throwing stuff on the field put a bit of a damper on the inning, but otherwise this was ultra-exciting baseball. We had a wild play for the go-ahead run, three (!) errors, a monster home run ... that seventh inning had it all.
Baseball is just the best.
















