Toronto had come from behind against Seattle and were closing in on a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series, ahead by a run in the seventh inning when George Springer was hit by a pitch on the right kneecap and forced from the game.
Brendon Little then allowed Cal Raleigh’s tying homer leading off the eighth, Seranthony Dominguez gave up Eugenio Suarez’s grand slam later in the inning and the Mariners won 6-2 on Friday to move within a victory of their first World Series.
“We’re right where we want to be,” Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement said. “That was our goal coming here, get back to Toronto. Obviously, we wanted this game to go a little different, but we’re in a great spot. We’ve got a chance, that’s all we need.”
Photo: EPA
Springer fell to the ground when hit by a 95.6mph pitch from Bryan Woo. The veteran designated hitter stayed down in the batter’s box while manager John Schneider and Drew MacDonald of the team’s athletic training staff came out from the dugout. Springer walked gingerly toward first, attempted to run a few steps, then walked off and was replaced by pinch-runner Joey Loperfido.
Schneider said Springer has a bruised knee, but X-rays did show a break. Springer would have more tests after the team returns to Toronto ahead of Game 6 in the best-of-seven series on tonight.
“George is about as tough as they come,” Schneider said. “I think he’ll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday. So we’ll see how he is.”
Springer was booed loudly by the Seattle crowd each time he came to the plate, a reaction to his days with the 2017 Houston Astros, who were caught illegally stealing signs during that championship season. Jeers continued as Springer was on the ground and turned to cheers as he left the field.
“I know this is an awesome atmosphere to play in,” Schneider said, “and it’s really, really cool to play here, and I think the fans that were booing him should take a look in the mirror and understand what kind of player he is and — I’ll stop there, because when a guy gets hit in the knee and is in obvious pain and you have 40,000 people cheering, not the right thing to do.”
Springer’s teammates were also upset.
“I don’t know how you boo somebody who’s down on the ground hurt,” Clement said. “I don’t understand that. I’ve had a lot of respect for all of the Mariners fans, especially the ones that I’ve kind of talked to throughout the series, they’ve been awesome, but that’s a tough moment. That’s pretty classless.”
Springer’s run-scoring double in the fifth gave him six straight games with an extra-base hit. The 36-year-old, a four-time All-Star, is hitting .256 with three home runs and five doubles this postseason.
Trying to reach the World Series for the first time since its second straight title in 1993, Toronto had won the first two games in Seattle to even the series.
“Tough loss, obviously, to lose the way we did, but these guys are resilient,” said Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings. “We’ve been the best team in baseball at home, so we feel pretty good about our chances. The crowd’s going to be on our side, as opposed to the last couple of games. So we definitely look forward to see Rogers Centre packed and ready to go.”
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