A deep, deep dive into pen sets stage for walk-off

The view from Deep Left Field on Wednesday’s Blue JaysYankees game:

The Blue Jays’ dramatic 5-4 walk-off win over the Yankees probably wouldn’t have happened without the stalwart work of three of the lesser lights in the Toronto bullpen.

Trent Thornton, Anthony Castro (making his Blue Jays debut) and Rafael Dolis combined for five shutout innings, allowing one hit in relief of T.J. Zeuch, who was called upon to make an emergency start when Ross Stripling couldn’t get loose before the game.

With Julian Merryweather on the injured list with an oblique issue, with David Phelps unavailable after getting drilled in the back by a line drive Tuesday night and with Jordan Romano having struggled later in that game, it was down to the relievers whose numbers tend not to get called in tight games.

Thornton came on with the Jays down a run and kept it there. Castro followed and threw two hitless innings with the game tied and Dolis tossed a perfect ninth, setting the stage for Bo Bichette’s home run heroics. á Costly mistakes: The Jays needed the strong bullpen work because they shot themselves in the foot a couple of times earlier, once on defence and once on the bases.

With one out and a runner on first in the fourth, Gleyber Torres hit a high fly to deep right field. Josh Palacios, still in his first week in the big leagues but with plenty of action at TD Ballpark in Dunedin under his belt, went back on the ball but appeared to give up, thinking it was going to be a home run or hit high off the wall. It fell harmlessly on the warning track and what should have been an out wound up being a double. The Yankees took advantage of the gift, taking the lead when Giovanny Urshela lined a two-out, two-run single.

With two out in the bottom of the fifth, the Jays were given a gift when Aaron Judge overran Cavan Biggio’s sinking liner to right and had to chase it back toward the wall, but they refused to accept it.

Biggio raced around the bases but, instead of pulling up at third with the free triple, he rounded the base, anticipating the throw from the outfield would be relayed home. It wasn’t. Biggio found himself in a rundown between third and the plate, and was easily tagged out.

The Jays had a serious issue with TOOTBLANs (Thrown Out On The Bases Like A Nincompoop) last season, losing 26 runners on the bases unnecessarily, including 10 over a one-week span. Biggio’s gaffe was their third so far this season in a dozen games, a much better pace than 2020.