11 runs in G1 win, ALL 11 runs in 7th of G2 rout

BALTIMORE -- The Blue Jays stumbled into the seventh and final inning on Saturday night at Camden Yards hitless, on the verge of a disappointing loss to a team with the worst record in the American League. Then, they put together one of the best innings in franchise history.

With 11 runs and 11 hits, the Blue Jays tied two franchise records for a single inning en route to the 11-2 win in Game 2 of their doubleheader against the Orioles. This was just the fourth time the Blue Jays had plated 11 in the same inning -- the first time since 2007 -- and they did it amid the sky-high stakes of the AL Wild Card race.

• Box score

“I’m going to quote Jack Buck. 'I don’t believe what I just saw,'” said manager Charlie Montoyo.

That’s from the 1988 World Series, following Kirk Gibson’s famous pinch-hit home run to win Game 1. Montoyo’s only regret following Saturday’s wins were that he forgot to pack his T-shirt that reads “We Don’t Quit” across the front. It would have paired perfectly, he felt, with his postgame message.

“I never thought in my life that I’d have to quote Jack Buck,” Montoyo continued after the 11-10 and 11-2 wins, “because I’ve never seen it and I’ve been in the game for a long time. I’ve never seen a doubleheader like this, with comebacks like that, scoring that many runs.”

With the Red Sox and Yankees also coming back for wins, the Blue Jays’ two wins Saturday tie them with the Yankees for the second Wild Card spot and leave them just one game back of the Red Sox for the top spot. From Boston to Oakland and Seattle, though, five teams are separated by just three games.

• Wild Card standings

Entering the seventh inning down 1-0, the Blue Jays looked lifeless at the plate. Orioles starter Keegan Akin had found a way to silence their bats, once again, despite coming in with a 7.00 ERA. But then Toronto started to chip, chip, chip away, sending 16 batters to the plate.

It started with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. -- who else? -- lining a single to the opposite field for the Blue Jays' first hit and setting up a home run off the bat of Bo Bichette for the go-ahead runs. If that’s all Toronto had done in the seventh, this would have been a great win of its own, giving the Blue Jays a pair of wins on Saturday. It was just the beginning, though.

Alejandro Kirk homered, a two-run shot to right field, then Marcus Semien stepped in and launched his 39th home run of the season to bring in three more. Teoscar Hernández got in on the action next, ripping a line-drive homer over the wall in left-center field. The Blue Jays kept spilling out of the dugout over and over again, a combination of exhaustion and disbelief in their 14th inning of the day.

“I think this might be a first for me in my career. That was wild,” said George Springer. “The at-bats by Vladdy and Bo obviously are that whole inning. I just think it was one of those things where it just got contagious and you just saw quality at-bat after quality at-bat.”

Thomas Hatch, making a spot start in Game 2, was sitting in the cold tub when the Blue Jays came to the plate in the seventh. When they started hitting, his superstitious side took over and he decided to stay in the cold tub. Never has a lineup been so hot that it nearly froze its pitcher.

Along with being just the second time in franchise history the Blue Jays had 11 hits in one inning (1984), it was also just the second time they’d hit four home runs, which was first done on Aug. 17, 2001. This was a historic inning regardless of when it happened, but coming when it did on Saturday, at the last moment, with the weight of the Wild Card race on the Blue Jays, it was mesmerizing to watch. In a season quickly adding remember-when moments to look back on if this whole thing leads to October, this night stands at the top.

The late win also overshadowed what we saw in Game 1 of the doubleheader, another comeback win where the Blue Jays scored 11 runs, just spaced out a little more evenly. Springer was the hero in that one, hitting a two-run home run with two outs in the seventh to put the Blue Jays in front. With these two comeback wins, the Blue Jays became the first team in MLB history to hit a go-ahead home run while trailing in the final inning of both games in a doubleheader.

Playing their best baseball of the year at the best possible time, this Blue Jays team is finally showing us the full might of their potential. Most nights, something will fail along the way, but with a lineup capable of making history on any given night, it’s impossible to count out these Blue Jays.