Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants Do Something That Hasn't Been Done in More Than 60 Years This Week

The Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants won games this week thanks to game-ending pickoffs, accomplishing something that hasn't been done in more than 60 years.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants Do Something That Hasn't Been Done in More Than 60 Years This Week
Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants Do Something That Hasn't Been Done in More Than 60 Years This Week /
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On Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3.

On Wednesday, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1.

What do these wins have in common?

Nothing, other than they are tied together by some very unique baseball history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Tuesday: Giants win on game-ending pickoff 

Wednesday: Blue Jays win on game-ending pickoff 

this was the 1st time in at least the expansion era (since 1961) that games ended on a successful pickoff attempt on consecutive days 

h/t@EliasSports

That's pretty incredible, huh? The Giants game ended on a back-pick from the catcher to first while the Blue Jays game ended as Erik Swanson picked off the runner at first from the mound.

It's a terrible way to lose the game, especially if you were the Diamondbacks in that Tuesday game. Arizona is battling directly with San Francisco in the National League playoff race and can ill-afford to giving up games on the bases. They only lost by one run.

Entering play on Thursday, the Blue Jays are 60-49 on the season and in sole possession of the third and final wild card spot in the American League.

The Giants are 60-49 and in sole possession of the first wild card spot in the National League.

Both teams have teams gaining on them, though. The Giants hold a one game lead over the Phillies while the Blue Jays hold a 2.5 game lead over the Red Sox, who are the first team on the outside looking in in the AL.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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