Bat Flip

Bottom of the 7th in yesterday's Rangers - Blue Jays game.  Joey Bautista has just hit a 452 foot three run tater to break a tie.  Watch the look on his face and then the bat toss.  This has to be the #1 bat flip of all-time.   You can watch it here.

The context made it even bigger.  The whole seventh inning was just crazy.  The Blue Jays, playing at home in the fifth and deciding game of the series, were in the playoffs for the first time since 1993.  They had just tied in the game in the bottom of the 6th with Edwin Encarnacion's monster 457 foot shot off Cole Hamels who had been dominating up till that point.

In the top of the 7th, with a Rangers runner on third, two outs and two strikes on the batter, a freak play occurred when catcher Russell Martin's return throw to the pitcher glanced off batter Sing Soo Choo's hand or bat allowing the runner on third to score and give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.  The fans, upset with the umpire's ruling on the unusual play pelted the field with garbage causing a temporary suspension of play.

And then things got really weird.

In the bottom of the 7th, Rangers infielders botched three routine plays on the first three batters to allow the Jays to load the bases, the first time in post season history there were three errors on three consecutive plays.  The last one occurred when the Jays bunted with men on first and second and Rangers third baseman, Adrian Beltre made a terrific play to field the bunt and fire to third where the runner would have been out except Elvis Andrus dropped the throw.

After a force out at the plate, Josh Donaldson got jammed and hit a weak pop to very short center field which should have been an easy play for the second baseman who instead let it drop for a hit, allowing the runner on third to score and tie the game.

That brought Bautista to the plate who hit the homer to make it 6-3 an incredible dramatic high point in an emotionally intense game.  And that didn't end the craziness.  Once again, Jays fans pelted the field with debris causing a game delay and when Encarnacion implored them to stop, the Rangers pitcher, Dyson, mistakenly thought he was inciting the crowd and confronted him causing the benches to clear as players from both teams came out onto to the field, as did the police.  And there was another bench clearing incident at the end of the inning.