Welcome to the first of our
25-part series on the best games in Blue Jays’ history. With thousands of games
to choose from, how is it possible to rank the top 25 games? Well, we looked at
a variety of factors and chose accordingly. The top 25 list may not have been
the most exciting games in history (although some of them are) but we also have
to look at relevance and importance in the history of the franchise. These are
significant games that have helped define the Toronto Blue Jays franchise over
the past 40 years.
As always, I welcome your
comments to the email address below. Enjoy.
#25: Jays clinch A.L. East title,
2015
Toronto Blue Jays (15) at Baltimore
Orioles (2)
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Now,
I know what you’re thinking: how can a game with a final score of 15-2 be
considered one of the best in franchise history? Well, as I mentioned,
excitement of the game is only a portion of what we looked at, and while this
game turned into a laugher, the significance is highly important.
This is the game in
which the Jays clinched the American League East Division for the first time
since 1993. A brilliant final two months of the season finished off a
second-half for the ages as the Jays turned an eight-game deficit into winning
the division by six and finishing the season with 93 victories, the most since
their 95-win season of 1993.
Toronto had already
clinched a play-off spot by virtue of its 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays four
games earlier, but with a Wild Card game a sudden-death affair, securing the
division was paramount.
The Jays had Marcus
Stroman on the mound, in only his fourth start of the season after coming back
from knee surgery sooner than expected. Miguel Gonzalez countered for the
Orioles, who were finishing off a rather disappointing 2015 season after
winning the division a year earlier.
After a scoreless first
inning, Toronto struck for two in the second. Designated hitter, Edwin
Encarnacion, led off the inning with a walk and one out later, he scored on a
double by catcher Russell Martin. An RBI single up the middle by shortstop Ryan
Goins scored Martin making the score 2-0.
That lead was upped to
4-0 in the fourth. With two out and two runners on, left-fielder Ben Revere
singled to centre scoring Goins. After a walk to third baseman Josh Donaldson
loaded the bases, another walk—to right-fielder Jose Bautista—scored second
baseman, Darwin Barney.
In the fifth, the lead
was doubled. With two on and two out, Barney grounded the ball to the pitcher.
Two errors later, both runners and Barney had crossed the plate making the
score 7-0. Back-to-back doubles by Revere and Donaldson increased the lead to
8-0.
The score became 10-0
in the seventh when Encarnacion smacked a two-run home run with Donaldson on
base. Stroman’s shutout bid came to an end when he yielded a solo homer to
Steve Pearce, but the Jays put an exclamation mark on the regular season with a
five-run top of the ninth inning. Bautista homered with one out. After
Encarnacion singled, Justin Smoak hit a two-run shot. Later in the inning, both
centre fielder Kevin Pillar and Barney had RBI singles to make the score 15-1.
Baltimore scored their
second run of the game in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI triple by catcher
Steve Clevenger off of Toronto reliever LaTroy Hawkins, but Hawkins rebounded
with two consecutive strike outs to end the game and clinch the division.
It was the sixth
division title in team history, but as I mentioned earlier, the first in 22
years. The impact it had on the franchise and its fan base cannot be
understated. In a matter of months, the Jays went from playing in front of an
overage of 20,000 to having the Rogers Centre sold out every game. The 2015
Jays made baseball relevant in Toronto once again and raised the level of expectations.
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