'I Don't Believe What I Just Saw': Blue Jays Go Berserk in 7th Inning to Sweep Twin Bill

After being no-hit through six, Toronto ripped four homers and scored 11 runs in the seventh inning to sweep the twin bill versus the Orioles.

© Daniel Kucin Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

When you're hot, you're hot. 

After George Springer's heroic homer capped off an improbable seventh inning comeback in the first game of Saturday's twin bill, it seemed impossible Toronto could do something more remarkable. 

With an 11-2 win in the nightcap game, the Jays did. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke Orioles' starter Keegan Akin's no-hitter with a sharp single to leadoff the seventh, then Bo Bichette called game. 

BO! MY! GOODNESS! pic.twitter.com/wyKqlj0bQ6

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 12, 2021

The Jays' shortstop took Akin's changeup and roasted it into the Camden Yards seats in left field, flipping the script and turning a one-run deficit into a lead of equal value.

But with all that pent-up, hitless rage boiling for six full innings, Toronto wasn't about to stop there. Not even close. The club's offense absolutely unloaded in one of the most outrageous innings in Blue Jays history. 

"I think this might be a first for me in my career," Springer said. "That was wild. The at-bats by Vladdy and Bo, obviously, are that whole inning.

"I think it was one of those things where it just got contagious and you saw quality at-bat after quality at-bat."

Bichette's homer was just the tip of the iceberg, as the Blue Jays batted around, recorded a single-inning franchise-record-tying 11 hits—six in a row at one point—and finished the frame with 11 runs scored, tying another franchise record. 

"I'm going to quote [broadcaster] Jack Buck: I don't believe what I just saw," manager Charlie Montoyo said. "Because honestly, [after] what we did in the first game, I wasn't expecting that in the second game. There's no way."

Alejandro Kirk homered, Marcus Semien homered, Teoscar Hernández homered—heck, if the Blue Jays' mascot took a bat and walked to the plate he might've gone yard too. Bichette and Guerrero Jr. each had two hits in the seventh, before Breyvic Valera flied out to center for the second time to end the inning.

Make that an ELEVEN-run inning! @TeoscarH 😏 pic.twitter.com/Um8mkOcepU

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 12, 2021

"That's what this team does," Montoyo said. "We're never out. Their guy was doing an outstanding job in the second game getting people off balance. But we don't quit. Credit to all these guys."

All told, Baltimore used three different pitchers and Toronto sent 16 men to the plate in a half-inning that lasted over 32 minutes, which, for departed Blue Jays starter Thomas Hatch, felt like much longer. 

"I was actually in the cold tub," said Hatch, who left early with hamstring tightness. "And I stayed in the cold tub the whole inning. I had a kind of obstructed view, but I took one for the team, I guess. I didn't enjoy it, but it produced."

It was a perplexing day of Blue Jays baseball, where both games followed similar recipes: underperform for six innings, then go berserk in the game's final moments. The baseball gods have played cruel jokes on the Jays for large parts of the season, but now it appears Toronto has finally gained some favor.

With the sweep of the doubleheader, the Blue Jays have won 13 of their last 15 and remain tied with the Yankees—who also won Saturday—for the second AL wild-card spot. 

"This is a very resilient team and to get down early, but to keep scratching and clawing in every game is huge for us," Springer said. "Obviously every game counts, so this is a good day for us as a team, but it's onto tomorrow."