Even in defeat, Blue Jays take value from eight-run comeback

After two nights in Sahlen Field, their previously moribund offense is showing plenty of signs of life.

The Jays mashed all around the park with seven home runs and wiped out an 8-0 deficit Wednesday night. But it all went for naught as Magnueris Sierra's two-run single snapped a tie and sent the Miami Marlins on their way to a positively wacky 14-11, 10-inning victory over Toronto.

Going into the extra frame tied at 11, Toronto reliever Rafael Dolis was his own worst enemy. With a designated runner at second, leadoff man Jon Berti bunted and the ball rolled harmlessly past third baseman Brandon Drury and Dolis for a single. Then Dolis threw a pickoff throw wide of first. 

Sierra looped the game-winning hit to right-center field. First baseman Jesus Aguilar added an RBI single to right for insurance to give him a four-RBI night.

How odd a game was this? According to Stats Inc, the Jays are the first team in MLB history to have at least 18 hits and seven home runs in a game and still lose. In addition, Toronto's Bo Bichette became the first shortstop in the modern era to reach base safely six times, hit a home run and steal two bases in the same game. Bichette had four singles and a home run in his first five at-bats and then walked in the 10th.

It was a game that started with all the focus on Nate Pearson. Lucky for the Jays' stud right-hander, his hideous outing became a footnote. Pearson had nothing, flat-out abandoning his fastball in the third inning while giving up seven runs as the Marlins exploded to their eight-run lead.

This looked like one of those learn-a-lesson nights for the young Blue Jays. Their starter blew up, their defense struggled around the diamond, including two errors from first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and their baserunning braincramps continued.

But their bats, largely silent for the first 14 games of the season, got super heated on a humid night in Buffalo after the early deficit mushroomed.

"We've had a number of bad innings this year and it hit a tipping point for all of us," said Bichette. "We finally said, 'Enough is enough and let's go play ball.' "

They certainly did. 

The Blue Jays had never homered in five consecutive innings in a game in their 44-season history. They went deep in six straight at-bats in this game. The Jays were blasting balls into the left-field net that protects Oak Street in a way that would have made Bisons legend Jeff Manto proud.

Manto, the only modern-era Buffalo player to have his number retired, used to love hitting here. He called home runs into the 60-foot net "unforced errors," using the tennis term to call out a mistake by an opposing pitcher.

The Marlins made plenty of them.

Toronto hit four two-run shots in a game for the first time since 2015 and they did it in consecutive innings as Teoscar Hernandez, Rowdy Tellez, Travis Shaw and Danny Jansen went deep in innings 3 through 6. Bichette said Hernandez's 466-foot drive was a wakeup call.

"After that one, it felt like 'OK, let's keep on chipping away. Keep on chipping away,'" Bichette said. "Obviously, it didn't end the way we wanted, but I think everybody is happy with that kind of effort."

Guerrero went opposite field to deep right-center in the seventh to make it 11-9. In the eighth, Bichette blasted the second pitch he saw into the net and Shaw hit his second of the night to right to go back-to-back and get the Jays even at 11.

On the day the Bills gave coach Sean McDermott a contract extension, how did the Blue Jays' Twitter feed describe the madness?

"It was 8-0 (embarrassed emoji). Then, we circled the wagons (smiling sunglasses)."

It was 8-0...😳Then, we circled the wagons 😎 pic.twitter.com/tjcvGyxKya

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 13, 2020

Bichette was 5 for 5, getting five hits for the first time in his career and becoming the youngest player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. According to ESPN, the 22-year-old also became the youngest shortstop in the big leagues with a five-hit game that included a home run since Cal Ripken did it as a 21-year-old for Baltimore in 1982.

Things you need to know: - Bo has FIVE hits- We've homered in SIX straight innings- This ball may NEVER land 😱 pic.twitter.com/XB6XFCdT5K

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 13, 2020

"We just hit the ball well tonight," Bichette said. "I don’t think this park is doing us any favors, When I was here, it wasn’t necessarily a hitters’ park. I think every ball we hit would have been out (of the park) anywhere."

"It's the kind of ballpark one day it can be a hitter's ballpark. Next day can be a pitcher's ballpark," said Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. "Today there was no wind. For big-league hitters, you don't make pitches, it seems like the ball flies pretty good."

In a game that stretched 4 hours, 20 minutes, the teams combined for 32 hits (18 by the Blue Jays). There were 16 pitchers used, nine by Miami.

Pearson's fastball was exploding in the first inning, hitting 100 mph on one pitch and 98 on several others. But by the third inning, just four of his final 16 pitches were fastballs. Pearson retired the first two batters but walked Corey Dickerson. It was a sign of trouble. Matt Joyce singled and Brian Anderson's three-run homer to left put Pearson in a quick hole he could never climb out of.

"Today was really terrible. I expect better out of myself," Pearson said. "I'll go back to the drawing board and figure out what's causing my fastball command and overall command to be so bad and we'll get back to work."

The Jays' top pitching prospect has no decisions in his first three outings in the big leagues. His earned-run average ballooned to 5.11 after he gave up seven runs (four earned) in his 2 1/3 innings while walking four.