Springer's Heroics Steal Series Over Red Sox
All Jarren Duran could do was stare.
He took two steps back and watched the once-clinched game evaporate.
Seven innings of missed opportunity washed away with a single George Springer swing. Pumping his fists downward as he turned around third base and stomping home with the game-winning run, Springer brought the Blue Jays all the way back.
Toronto received just 3.2 innings from their starter, Hyun Jin Ryu, and the Sunday series finale seemed flubbed. The Blue Jays were four outs away from failing to win a series against the Red Sox all season. Vlad Guerrero Jr. instilled hope with a fifth-inning bangshot, a pair of seventh-inning RBI kept Toronto close, and the Springer blast sealed it.
Every strike in the ninth drew a cheer as Rogers Centre buzzed with the electricity of a stolen victory. Jordan Romano finished the outing with two strikeouts, handling the bottom of Boston’s order and handing the reeling Red Sox their ninth loss in the last 11 games.
LOOK AT THIS MAN #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/hHJhC3UHoM
— Dustin Saracini (@DustinSaracini) August 8, 2021
A series split against a 93-win pace team isn't disastrous, but the Red Sox were reeling — and they played like it. Boston tallied seven runs on Toronto’s lefty ace, knocked around 16 hits, and lost the game.
"After playing 18 games in 17 days, you go okay, we had a great homestand, alright, Boston’s going to win today," manager Charlie Montoyo said after the game. "No, not this team. They keep fighting, and this isn’t always going to happen, but we’re never going to quit. They’re never going to quit."
"That’s a T-shirt,” he laughed.
The Blue Jays were never buried. Down 7-2, Toronto's bullpen allowed just one additional run, the lineup chipped away, and Reese McGuire stepped to the plate as the tying run in the eighth. Fouling off four pitches and working the count full, McGuire took a ninth-pitch inside ball against one of the best closers in baseball. George Springer — the guy who hit the game-winning, three-run homer — called it the "at-bat of the game."
As Duran swung through Romano’s final pitch, the Rogers Centre — fatigued from the four-hour marathon — buzzed, celebrating Toronto’s third straight series win since returning to Canada.
"It felt like a playoff game," Montoyo said.
The Jays now begin four-straight series against non-playoff teams, but Sunday was a seized opportunity — the last time this month Toronto could beat a team they’re chasing for a spot in October.
Toronto’s playoff odds pivot every game, sometimes every inning. But stealing wins and chasing down the teams ahead are easy ways to push the number in the right direction.
"You never know what one game can do," Springer said.
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon