VIDEO: Goins' lapse triggers 7th-inning collapse
The typically sure-handed Ryan Goins made a pair of questionable decisions defensively in a nightmare seventh inning for the Toronto Blue Jays.
After Blue Jays starter David Price cruised through the first six innings, retiring a franchise record 18 straight batters, things came unglued in the seventh.
Price induced a pop-up to shallow right field off the bat of Ben Zobrist that fell in for a base hit after Goins called off Jose Bautista, only to pull up at the last minute and watch the ball fall in front of him.
"You feel for the guy," Troy Tulowitzki said of Goins, according to Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling. "Obviously you're going to be shaken up. That's why you have good people around you, or at least you try to. I feel the same thing happened with Elvis Andrus in our series. You don't want to see that happen to anybody."
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
The Royals would follow with back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs, bringing Kendrys Morales to the plate. The designated hitter hit a potential double-play ground ball, but the Blue Jays were forced to settle for one out after Goins cut off shortstop Tulowitzki, resulting in the only play to be made at first base.
PRICE'S 7TH-INNING COLLAPSE
| Inning | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
The defensive miscues continued as the inning progressed. Now trailing by a run, Mike Moustakas singled to right field to score Eric Hosmer. Rather than throw the ball to second, Bautista launched a throw to the plate the missed wide, allowing Moustakas to advance into scoring position. He'd score the go-ahead run two batters later.
Kansas City would score five in the inning to take a 5-3 lead, chasing Price in the process.
"It was unfortunate," manager John Gibbons said about Price's seventh inning. "You really can't pitch a better game to that point, anyway. He did a hell of a job. Sometimes there's that one little crack, like I said, when you're on the road, can open up the floodgates. We saw that against the last game in Texas. He held them at check, he didn't break a sweat before that seventh inning. We did a hell of a job. Deserve better, that's for sure."