#15: Jays Win Second A.L. East Title,
1989
Baltimore Orioles (3) at Toronto Blue
Jays (4)
Saturday, September 30, 1989
SkyDome
After
the Toronto Blue Jays had suffered a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on July
5th, they fell ten games behind the A.L. East-leading Orioles. They
were seven games below .500 at 38-45 and looked like they would be just an
on-looker for the rest of the season. However, a three-game sweep of Detroit at
Tiger Stadium on the week-end before the All-Star Game, got the team rolling
and they would close the gap to Baltimore rather quickly. In fact, they took
sole possession of first place on September 1st, and never
relinquished the lead.
On
September 29, they started a three-game series with the second place Orioles on
the final weekend of the season. Going into the first game, Toronto held a
one-game lead, meaning they would have to win two of the three games to clinch
the division. In the first game, they walked off the Orioles in the 11th
inning when centre fielder Lloyd Moseby, hit a line-drive into the gap with the
bases loaded, scoring right-fielder Junior Felix giving Toronto a 2-1 win.
They
were now two games ahead with two to play. Jimmy Key would start on the mound
for Toronto while Baltimore would counter with a little-known pitcher named
Dave Johnson, who found out only a few hours before the game that he would
start.
The
Jays would hit the scoreboard during their first trip to the plate. Moseby led
off with a walk and would move to third on ground outs by left-fielder Mookie
Wilson and first baseman Fred McGriff. Designated hitter, George Bell, came to
the plate and showing how much of a clutch hitter he always was, singled to
right field to drive in Moseby: Toronto-1, Baltimore-0.
After
a scoreless second, the Orioles would plate two in the top of the third to take
a 2-1 lead. With one out, Phil Bradley would get an infield hit (replays showed
he may have been out). One out later, Cal Ripken doubled, scoring Bradley. A
single by Randy Milligan allowed Ripken to dent the dish and give the O’s the
lead.
Baltimore
added a third run in the fourth, when another infield single by Bradley scored
Mike Devereaux and the Orioles had a 3-1 lead. Key was done after the fourth
inning, replaced by long-reliever Frank Wills. Meanwhile, Johnson was pitching
a gem for Baltimore. After surrendering the first inning run, he retired the
Jays in order in the second, third, fourth and sixth, while allowing only one
hit in the fifth and a walk in the seventh.
Wills,
in relief, pitched magnificently out of the pen for Toronto, giving up only one
hit in the four innings he pitched after taking over for Key. As the Blue Jays
came to bat in the bottom of the eighth, they were still down 3-1, but were
about to take advantage of a tiring Johnson.
Second
baseman, Nelson Liriano, led off with a walk. Manny Lee, pinch hitting for
Felix, also walked, with outfielder Rob Ducey pinch-running for Lee. Johnson
was removed from the game and was replaced by Ken Hickey. The first batter
Hickey faced, Moseby, dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt (one of only 19 sac
bunts on the year by Toronto) to put runners on second and third with only one
out.
Mookie
Wilson singled to left scoring Liriano and moving Ducey (the game-tying run) to
third. American League home run-champion, Fred McGriff, came to the plate. But
McGriff had been slumping all of September. Despite winning the home run title,
he had not hit one since September 3rd. He came through this time,
however, with a solid base hit into right field. Ducey scored to tie the game
at three and Wilson, who had been running on the pitch made it to third.
The
go-ahead run was now at third, with still only one out and Bell coming to the
plate. On the second pitch of the at bat, Bell lifted a high fly ball to deep
right field that was caught by Steve Finley. But Mookie, tagging on the play,
easily scored, giving Toronto a 4-3 lead and putting them three defensive outs
away from a trip to the postseason.
For
the ninth, they turned to closer Tom Henke, who had been the pitcher of record
and picked up the win the night before. The first hitter, Mickey Tettleton,
struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch. Up next was Joe Orsulak, who grounded out to
third baseman, Kelly Gruber.
Needing
only one out to go, Henke faced pinch-hitter Larry Sheets. Henke got ahead in
the count 1-2 and then threw Sheets a forkball that started in the middle of
the plate. As Sheets started his swing, the bottom dropped out of the pitch and
missed Sheets’ bat. The Jays had won the game, 4-3, and with it their second
division title. Frank Wills picked up the win after yielding only one hit in
his four innings of work.
It
was a remarkable comeback in the game and for the entire season. Of the six
division titles that the team has won in their history, the deficit overcome in
1989 was larger than any gap that had faced them in the other five seasons
(although 2015’s eight-game comeback to win by six was impressive as well).
Although
Toronto would lose to the powerful Oakland A’s in five games in the American
League Championship Series, it was still a year to remember. And for many Jays’
players (Bell, Moseby, Mookie, Liriano, Ducey, catcher Ernie Whitt) it was
their last hurrah as they would all be gone before the Jays’ next postseason
appearance in 1991.
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