Facing elimination, the Toronto Blue Jays jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the fifth inning of Game 2 of their American League Wild Card series against the Seattle Mariners.
Before they could even let the sure victory sink in, the lead was cut to 8-5 the next inning. Four innings later, their season was over. The Blue Jays lost the game 10-9.
It was an epic postseason collapse, one not seen since 2008 — and only one other time before that had a team blown a seven-run lead in the playoffs. For those who bet on Toronto to win, which was pretty much everybody, it was an all-time bad beat.
80% of money was on the Blue Jays -170.
This was only the third time EVER that a team rallied from 7+ runs down in the playoffs.
All-time bad beat. 🤮
— John Ewing 🦁 (@johnewing) October 9, 2022
The Mariners become the 3rd team ever to come back from a 7-run deficit in a postseason game, joining;
– 2008 ALCS Game 5: Red Sox trail Rays 7-0 before coming back to win 8-7
– 1929 World Series Game 4: Philadelphia Athletics trail Cubs 8-0 before coming back to win 10-8 pic.twitter.com/DwTsjM46Bs
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 9, 2022
Toronto had a win probability of 99%! And 80% of moneyline bettors at BetMGM picked the Jays to win, which looked promising when starting pitcher Kevin Gausman was pulled to a standing ovation.
Then the bullpen proceeded to meltdown, and a season that started with so much promise for Toronto ended in severe disappointment. This one is going to sting for a long time.
