By: Stephen Rausa
The stadium remained silent, as it had been throughout the season.
Traumatized were the Rogers Centre patrons. First of all, in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card series, the Toronto Blue Jays had lost a seven-run lead. However, the three-run game-tying double by the Seattle Mariners had other disastrous repercussions.
Bo Bichette and George Springer were both injured and lying on the ground, folded over. Springer was lying flat on his back, still, with Bichette curled into a ball with his hands over his head. Bichette eventually stood up as the medical cart carrying Springer emerged.
As they raced in opposite directions to catch a shallow fly ball, Bichette toward center and Springer toward the infield, the collision was an afterthought for both defenders. Bichette hit a diving Springer in the neck at full speed, knocking them both to the ground as the ball dropped and the bases cleared.
Manager John Schneider said, “I think it was the play in the eighth inning that fell in center that probably changed the momentum, for sure,” “Reliving it and mapping it out.”
The Blue Jays center fielder, clearly distraught from what appeared to be a head injury, waved his right arm to encourage the sold-out crowd to continue cheering as the cart moved Springer towards the gate in left field.
The dome’s energy changed from one of worry to one of rage from that point on. With the score still tied, Jordan Romano got the final out of that awful eighth inning. After dropping Game 1 and giving up the lead in Game 2, Toronto found itself back in the middle of a game that could decide the outcome.
The current core of the Blue Jays is no stranger to difficulties. This year, there were a few bad periods and a new managers. Three-quarters of the season away from home and the heartbreak of missing the postseason by one game were the consequences of last year. Every player on this Blue Jays roster who was returning came into 2022 with a burning desire to avoid going through that again.
“In this game, you take punches in the face, and you just hope those punches lead you to want to get better and just fine-tune some things so that it doesn’t happen again,” says the player.
As the MLB postseason drags on without the Blue Jays, that is the only message they can focus on.