Blue Jays erase six-run deficit vs. A’s after two outs in eighth; hit walk-off homer in ninth

The Oakland Athletics had a six-run lead with two outs in the eighth inning. The Toronto Blue Jays ended up winning the game, 11-10. It was quite the scene at Rogers Centre. 

The A’s took a 4-2 lead in the fifth, 6-2 in the sixth and 8-2 in the seventh. It appeared to be in hand. Reliever Lou Trivino took over for starter Sean Manaea and after issuing a leadoff walk, recorded two outs. The A’s were just four outs away from a win with a six-run lead. It should’ve been relatively easy. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended the game with a single that plated the runner. Bo Bichette was hit with a pitch. Teoscar Hernandez drew a walk. Alejandro Kirk walked to cut it to 8-4 and bring Lourdes Gurriel to the plate as the tying run. 

And … BOOM. 

As incredible as this was, it wasn’t the peak of the game. 

In the top of the ninth, the A’s struck right back. Mark Canha came through with a two-run homer down the left field line that was just barely fair. 

Any so-called momentum the A’s had from that shot was short lived. Things felt deflated when Breyvic Valera got on base to lead off the ninth with a seeing-eye blooper down the left field line. The nine-hole hitter finding a way on base with that, now making way for George Springer and Marcus Semien, just felt like a doomsday scenario. Sure enough, Springer doubled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. 

And then Semien did the rest. 

Amazing. What a game. As one could imagine, the win probability chart is pretty interesting. The A’s were between 98 and 100 percent in the seventh and eighth innings until the Guerrero single. After the grand slam, the Blue Jays took a 53 percent chance to lead. The A’s were up to 58 percent after a Matt Olson single in the ninth. Then Matt Chapman struck out and it went to 57 percent in favor of the Jays. Then the Canha homer sent the A’s odds to 92 percent. And then everything unraveled. 

It turned out to be a really rough night for the A’s. Starling Marte had to leave the game after getting hit in the head with a pitch. And now this crushing loss paired with the Red Sox winning their game means the A’s fall to three games back of the second AL wild card. The Blue Jays hold steady at five games back. 

The two teams square off again in Toronto at 3:07 p.m. ET on Saturday.