One bad call may have changed the entire Blue Jays postseason fortunes

Sometimes, a bad call could affect the outcome of an out, an inning, and potentially the entire baseball game. In other cases, a horrendous call could even ultimately affect the entire postseason fortunes for an MLB team. That might have just happened for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners.

With rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage coming off a start for the ages in his MLB Playoff debut against the New York Yankees in the ALDS, he had the house rocking at Rogers Centre ready for another scintillating performance to help get the Jays back into the series against the Mariners.

The game started exactly as everyone envisioned, with Yesavage jumping out to a two-strike count on Seattle’s leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena. Blue Jays fans all sensed another dominating outing was coming for the 22-year-old pitcher and was going to give him all the motivation to do so with their jubilant cheering.

After a close low-strike pitch that was called a ball, what came next could potentially be the turning point for the entire postseason for Toronto.

One bad call may have changed the entire Blue Jays postseason fortunes

Yesavage threw a perfect slider to catch the outer edge of the plate. That pitch should have rung up Arozarena for the strikeout. Rogers Centre erupted, catcher Alejandro Kirk and Yesavage started to celebrate and even Arozarena began to head back to the Mariners dugout. Everyone knew it was a strike. Everyone, apparently, except for home plate umpire Doug Eddings who said, not-so-fast. Eddings would call it a ball, surprising even Arozarena as he was granted another chance at the plate.

That sudden shift of momentum ultimately changed the plate appearance, inning, game and potentially the entire series for Toronto in a blink of an eye. Yesavage would go on to hit Arozarena to put him on. That was followed by a walk to Blue Jays killer Cal Raleigh, who previously homered in Game 1 of the ALCS, putting two runners on and added intense pressure to the rookie pitcher.

Next thing you know, Julio Rodríguez launches a three-run homer, sapping all the energy from the Jays and giving it all to the Mariners in the process.

For the record, Eddings would end up missing a whopping 24 calls throughout Game 2, with some of the key "highlights" shown in the clip below. But perhaps none of the other 23 was as important as the one from that fateful first inning for the Jays.

With Toronto and their fans in total shock, Seattle would ride that confidence and momentum to a resounding 10-3 win in Game 2. All of that stemming from a bad call by Eddings in the very first inning. Just as they say, in a game of inches, the Blue Jays had to suffer the consequences dearly.

Who knows if without Arozarena getting on base, Yesavage could have challenged Raleigh instead of walking him. And he definitely would be able to focus on Rodríguez and not give him a meatball down the middle resulting from the worries with runners on base and being rattled from missed calls. A clean inning would have kept his unhittable vibes that might have lasted for the rest of the game.

As a result, the Blue Jays are now faced with the daunting task down 2-0 in the ALCS to go on the road, needing to take at least two of three from the Mariners to still have a chance to extend the series back home.