TORONTO (AP) — Addison Barger was thinking base hit off the bat — and he was going to score the tying run for Toronto in the ninth inning Friday night.
Then, in a flash, he got doubled off second and Game 6 was over. Just like that.
“I was being too aggressive,” Barger said after sending the World Series to a deciding Game 7 on Saturday.
Trailing by two in the ninth, Toronto put runners at second and third with nobody out when Barger’s ground-rule double off Roki Sasaki got lodged at the bottom of the fence in left-center.
Tyler Glasnow entered and quickly retired Ernie Clement on a popup. But the Blue Jays still had a good chance to rally — until Andrés Giménez hit a soft liner to left field that Kiké Hernández turned into a game-ending double play.
“I think everyone thought it was going to drop,” Toronto pitcher Kevin Gausman said.
Hernández caught the ball on the run in shallow left-center and fired to second base, where Miguel Rojas made a tough pick of a one-hop throw to double off Barger and end the game.
Barger initially broke toward third. He was surprised Hernández got to the ball and was able to catch it on a fly.
“I didn’t think it was going to travel that far, so it was kind of a bad read,” Barger said.
Toronto slugger George Springer, a cluch hitter throughout his postseason career, was left in the on-deck circle.
It was the first 7-4 game-ending double play in postseason history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“Wild way to finish it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s such a ‘tweener. He made a good play.”
Hernández decided to play even more shallow against Giménez than the scouting report suggested.
“Given the situation, really fast guy at second base, I was like, you know what? I’m going to play really, really shallow. If he hits it over my head, kudos to him. I feel like his pop is more to the pull side,” Hernández said.
“Somehow I was able to hear that the bat broke even with that crowd. The crazy thing is I had no idea where the ball was because it was in the lights the whole time. But given the situation in the game, the World Series on the line and how good I was hitting tonight, I was like, it’s going to hit me in the face — but I’m not stopping. I’m not pulling up. And at the very end, the ball came out of the lights and went into my glove.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts couldn’t believe it.
“That was crazy. I thought it was a bloop hit,” Betts said. “And then I saw Kiké running to catch it, and then I turned and looked at second and I saw he was halfway. I don’t know if Kiké actually heard, but I was screaming ‘Two! Two! Two!’ But Kiké’s instincts are so good, man. He probably saw the whole thing himself. He got it and threw it immediately. The best part of that play was Miggy. That was a sick catch.”
Los Angeles catcher Will Smith said Barger “got a little giddy and wanted to score the tying run”, but he also credited Rojas with “one heck of a pick.”
“That was awesome,” Smith said.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Hernández for getting a great jump on the ball, saying he’s one of the headiest players he’s ever been around.
“Heck of a baseball player, heck of a play,” Roberts said.
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