TORONTO — George Springer slammed his bat to the ground then screamed while lifting his arms up and down as he headed back to the home dugout. After rushing down the steps, Springer slammed his helmet several times on the bat shelf in what was a rare display of heightened emotion from the veteran.
He’d just struck out to end the second inning and the scene of a livid Springer underscored the importance of Tuesday’s game at Rogers Centre. October baseball is just days away and the stakes are high.
The Toronto Blue Jays threatened during that pivotal second frame but couldn’t score in what turned out to be a 4-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in front of an amped up crowd of 42,927 that added to the feeling of a post-season atmosphere inside the dome.
The Yankees came back late to defeat the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, meaning the Blue Jays’ lead in the AL East shrank to just one game over New York. Additionally, the third-place Red Sox pulled to within four games of Toronto.
That fateful second saw the Blue Jays, trailing 1-0 at that point, load the bases against Boston starter Lucas Giolito with the help of an error by Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story.
That set up a dramatic, two-out at-bat for Springer.
The designated hitter ripped a 2-1 changeup down the third-base line that looked fair but was ruled foul by umpire Scott Barry. Springer was clearly surprised by the call, putting his hands on his head as he walked back to the batter’s box after sprinting down the line.
Then, when he struck out on the next pitch — a sinker from Giolito that was clearly outside the zone — Springer’s frustration poured out, forcing manager John Schneider to rush out of the dugout to make sure his leadoff man didn’t get tossed.
If Springer’s hit was ruled fair, the Blue Jays take the lead and perhaps the game’s outcome is different. Instead, the call didn’t go his way and he was ironically punched out on a day when MLB announced it would deploy the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) next season.
The Blue Jays managed to tie the game in the fourth when Nathan Lukes doubled and came around to score on Andres Gimenez’s force out. Gimenez reached third on Springer’s single to centre that a diving Ceddanne Rafaela couldn’t handle, but hit the brakes while rounding third as he was given the stop sign by third base coach Carlos Febles. Giolito then struck out Daulton Varsho as the Blue Jays again failed to plate the go-ahead run.
Kevin Gausman, who entered the day having allowed a total of three runs over his past four starts (0.90 ERA), kept the Blue Jays in the contest, but the Red Sox tagged the starter for three runs in the sixth that effectively decided the game.
Nathaniel Lowe’s single to right put Boston up 2-0 and the visitors added two more on a Carlos Narvaez double to the right-centre field gap. That chased Gausman from the outing.
In total, the right-hander allowed four runs on nine hits over 5.2 innings, walking one and striking out seven.
Less than an hour before first pitch, the Blue Jays announced that Anthony Santander was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and would be active for the game, Ty France was placed on the 10-day IL with left oblique inflammation, and, shockingly, right-hander Alek Manoah was designated for assignment.
The 27-year-old Manoah had been working his way back from hybrid Tommy John surgery and had posted a 2.97 ERA across seven outings and 33.1 innings with triple-A Buffalo.
