Toronto Star Classroom Connection

Dropped throw proves costly

Here are the things you should know about the Blue Jays' 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Rogers Centre:

GREGOR CHISHOLM BASEBALL COLUMNIST

The dropped throw

The Twins were threatening with runners on second and third in the top of the 10th inning when Michael Taylor hit a low fly ball to left field. Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers had to scramble back to third to tag up, which presented Whit Merrifield with a perfect opportunity to make a play at the plate.

Merrifield made a strong one-hop throw that arrived in plenty of time, but Alejandro Kirk had the ball bounce off his glove as the go-ahead run scored.

Missed opportunity

Santiago Espinal led off the bottom of the ninth inning by getting hit with a pitch, and George Springer then followed with his second double of the game to put runners on second and third with nobody out. With the score tied, a win was easily within the Jays’ grasp.

But Kirk grounded out against a drawn-in infield, Bo Bichette struck out and Brandon Belt lined out to end the threat. The Jays stranded two more runners in the 10th inning as their average with runners in scoring position dropped to .236, which ranks 24th in the majors.

The pinch hit

Springer was initially held out of the starting lineup to rest but he was pressed into action as a pinchhitter during the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and a man on first, he sent a deep fly ball to the gap in left-centre field. Espinal scored to tie the game 2-2 and Springer eventually ended up on third following a throw home.

Springer now has four extra-base hits in nine games this month as he continues to slowly turn his season around following a rough start to the year.

SPORTS

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2023-06-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

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