It ain’t over ’til it’s over
(3) Blue Jays overcome 1st inning 7-0 deficit against Phillies (8/20/20)
This offensive burst from the Blue Jays was different from the Yankees one above, in that the Jays were down by seven runs in the 1st inning this time. The fact that this was a 7-inning game as part of a doubleheader made this climb even steeper.
Furthermore, this win came during a turning point in the Blue Jays’ season. After teetering around .500 for the first few weeks of 2020, the Jays went on an explosive win streak, winning six in a row for the first time since 2016. The aforementioned comeback was the 5th game of this win streak, making the ride even more of a high for Jays fans at the time.
On that hot summer day in late August, Trent Thornton and Jacob Waguespack combined for seven runs in the first inning and it looked like one of those games that you’d turn off right away. Again… in came the circling wagons. For the remaining 6.0 innings, the Jays bullpen would allow just one run while the Blue Jays would score nine, resulting in a 9-8 victory. It began with a (i) Teoscar Hernandez 2-run shot in the bottom half of the first, followed by a (ii) 7-run, 6th inning that featured a Gurriel Jr. 3-run homer and a Tellez solo blast.
This was probably the most exciting week of Blue Jays baseball (up to that point) since their 2016 playoff run and it gave Blue Jays fans an idea of just how good this young core could be on a consistent basis.