Ex-Yankee delivering clutch blow for Blue Jays makes Buck Martinez rant even sweeter

Earlier this month, Isiah-Kiner Falefa was facing a reality where he was watching two, possibly three, of his former teams play playoff baseball while he was searching for a job. The former Ranger, Yankee and Blue Jay was placed on waivers by the Pirates at the end of August. The 30-year-old utility infielder entered baseball limbo hoping one of the other 29 teams would pick him up.

One of his former teams did - as the Blue Jays selected him off waivers and placed him on their 40-man roster. On Tuesday, he delivered one of the biggest hits for the Blue Jays this season when he hit a game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to even the Blue Jays' game 3-3 against the Astros. From potentially watching the pennant chase from the couch, to being thrust right into the middle of it and coming up clutch just speaks to the wildness of baseball.

Ex-Yankee delivering clutch blow for Blue Jays makes Buck Martinez rant even sweeter

His other former team, the one chasing the Blue Jays in the AL East standings, the Yankees could have used a big hit from Kiner-Falefa in their 12-2 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday night. More importantly, they could have used his glove. The Yankees, as they often do, made some errors in the field leading to a mess of a seventh inning in which the Tigers scored nine runs.

It was an inning that did not go unnoticed by Blue Jays commentary team Dan Schultz and Buck Martinez with Martinez really making his feelings known about how he perceives the Bronx Bombers this season.

Martinez profoundly stated, "The Yankees, they're not a good team. I don't care what their record is. They have a lot of wild pitches. They make a lot of mistakes in the field. They don't run the bases very well." It's a hot take, but not unwarranted as Martinez finished by stating, "Unless they hit home runs they can't win games."

While it hasn't exactly been THAT straightforward this season, Martinez isn't far off. The Yankees are 80-64 this year (going into Wednesday's game) and have smashed 245 home runs this year, the most in the league by a long shot - 32 ahead of the next best team - which has helped them get a league leading 751 runs. But they also make a lot of mistakes at the worst times and the game seems to unravel quickly for them when those mistakes happen.

Those comments from Martinez on Tuesday night were well timed as a few innings later the former Yankee, Kiner-Falefa, delivered a hit that diminished the Yankees AL East chances just a little bit further.