Getty Image / Jon Blacker
Heading into today’s matchup with the Baltimore Orioles, the Toronto Blue Jays found themselves sitting at the bottom of the MLB’s toughest division.
They unfortunately didn’t do much to help themselves out in that regard today.
They had their ace, Alek Manoah, on the mound, but didn’t give him much run support early in the game.
Once they finally started scoring, they made a costly mistake.
The Orioles were up to bat with 2 outs in the 6th inning in a game that was tied at 2 when Blue Jays manager John Schneider decided to visit the mound.
Unfortunately, it seems he didn’t realize that it was his second time paying Manoah a visit, which meant that he would need to make a call to the bullpen.
The Blue Jays were forced to remove Alek Manoah from the game because John Schneider did not realize it was the second mound visit pic.twitter.com/e5eK64ZeaZ
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 20, 2023
The Blue Jays would actually go on to take the lead after this mistake, scoring once in the bottom of the inning and then adding another pair of runs in the 7th.
Unfortunately, the bullpen let them down in the 8th. They allowed 3 runs in the top of the 8th inning and the game eventually went to extra innings.
The Orioles scored in the top of the 10th to take the lead and the Blue Jays weren’t able to answer back.
The Blue Jays now hold a 25-21 record, which would be fine in most divisions, but they are unfortunately stuck in the same division as the Tampa Bay Rays, who were absolutely on fire to start the year.
As a result of this loss, the Toronto Blue Jays will need a win tomorrow to avoid getting swept at home by the Orioles.
They’ll have to hope they can avoid any more of these blunders if they’re going to get that win.