The box score will say that the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Miami Marlins, 7-6, on Saturday night in 12 innings. But one must look deeper to determine the significance of the victory for Toronto.<\/p>\n
On the road in Miami, Toronto took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. But the Blue Jays were unable to close the deal, and the Marlins tied the game, sending the contest into extra innings. <\/p>\n
What followed next was a three-inning battle for the Blue Jays to claim their 76th victory of the season, and along the way did something no Major League team had ever done before.<\/p>\n
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Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
According to OptaStats on X<\/a> (formerly Twitter), with Saturday’s victory, the Blue Jays became the only Major League team in the modern era, since 1901, to blow a lead in the ninth, the 10th and the 11th innings and still win the game. <\/p>\n The Marlins tied the game with an RBI single by Javier Sanoja, which scored Derek Hill to make it a 4-4 game. That sent the game into the 10th inning, when each gets a ghost runner at second base to start the inning. <\/p>\n In the 10th, the Blue Jays scored Bo Bichette<\/a> on Ty France\u2019s sacrifice fly to take a 5-4 lead. But the remainder of the order stranded Tyler Heineman at third base, who got on base earlier in the inning. Toronto<\/a> couldn\u2019t hold the lead. The Marlins\u2019 Jakob Marsee doubled, scoring Otto Lopez to tie the game back up at 5-5. <\/p>\n In the 11th, Toronto took the lead again. This time, an Andres Gimenez single brought home Myles Straw, giving the Blue Jays a 6-5 lead. But, like Heineman, Gimenez was left stranded on base. Miami answered again, and it was Sanoja that did the honors again. His RBI single scored Hill to the game once again, this time at 6-6. <\/p>\n