It was on this day in 1983 that
the Toronto Blue Jays suffered the humiliating indignity of having three
runners picked off of first base in the same inning. In a late August game at
Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, both teams were still in the thick of the
division race. The Milwaukee Brewers were in first place, followed by the
Orioles who were a half-game out. The Jays were tied with the Tigers for third,
only 1 ½ back.
Both teams scored a run on a
sacrifice fly in the third and the Jays would add to their total when they
scored on an error in the fifth and another sac fly in the eighth. Toronto held
a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the ninth but, as was usually the case in
1983, not having a legitimate closer in the bullpen cost Toronto the lead. The
Orioles scored two runs forcing extra innings. If the bullpen had held the
lead, the embarrassment that would be the tenth would have never happened.
Designated hitter Cliff Johnson
led off the inning and he put the Jays ahead 4-3 with a solo shot. Next up was
left-fielder Bobby Bonnell and he singled to centre field. Baltimore closer,
Tippy Martinez, came out of the Orioles bullpen to keep the Jays from scoring
any more runs. Bonnell, eager to steal second, took off as Martinez started his
throw to first. Eddie Murray, playing first base for Baltimore, ran down
Bonnell and tagged him out. One.
Dave Collins then reached first
on a walk. He took too big a lead and when Martinez threw over to first base,
Collins was too far away from the bag and he was picked off. Two.
First baseman Willie Upshaw then
got an infield hit to keep a potential rally going. Again, Upshaw strayed off
first base, Martinez threw over, Upshaw couldn’t make it back in time. Three.
Embarrassing.
Still, the Jays had a 4-3 lead
going into the bottom of the tenth. Joey McLaughlin, Toronto’s closer (ahem)
was on the hill. He promptly gave up a game-tying home run to Cal Ripken. After
a walk, a ground out and an intentional walk, McLaughlin was replaced by Randy
Moffatt. After Moffatt struck out the first batter he faced, he surrendered a
game-winning three-run home run to Lenny Sakata. Baltimore won the game 7-4.
The Orioles would surge ahead to
capture the division title, while the Jays would slump back into fourth place
and finish nine games behind Baltimore.
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