Article content

TORONTO – In the quiet of the clubhouse after the game, 31 minutes after the Toronto Blue Jays had sprinted from the dugout en masse in explosive celebration, Jose Reyes took his spot in the centre of the room, television lights dancing off a diamond stud in his ear.

[np_storybar title=”Blue Jays sweep Astros after Chris Colabello hits walkoff, two-run single” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-sweep-houston-astros-after-chris-colabello-hits-walk-off-two-run-single”][/np_storybar]

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Toronto Blue Jays appeared destined to win 'crazy' game after Houston Astros misplayed routine pop fly Back to video

“This is baseball, man,” he said. “In baseball, a lot of crazy stuff happens.”

Crazy, incidentally, is perhaps the most technical term available to describe the events of late Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Nobody could remember them unfolding as they did in the bottom of the ninth, when an unlikely spark led to an unusual play and, finally, to a Toronto player running for his life into shallow left field.

It all began when manager John Gibbons, facing a 6-4 deficit against the Houston Astros, called for a pinch-hitter. The hitter was Munenori Kawasaki, whose offensive production this season made the decision feel like a last gamble of the damned. Instead, he slapped a double down the left-field line.

He scored when Reyes, the next batter, singled. Reyes stole second base two batters later, which set the stage for the “crazy” he would later reference. He was drifting off that base when Jose Bautista lifted a high pop fly into the infield. Bautista, who had already hit two home runs in the game, began a dejected trot to first base, awaiting the easy catch, which would have left the Toronto rally clinging to its final out of the game.

Instead, the ball drifted back toward second base. Reyes ran back, too, standing on the base and ducking for cover as the ball descended. Houston second baseman Jose Altuve backed away as shortstop Jonathan Villar tracked the ball. With Reyes crouched down and Villar looking skyward, Villar stumbled into the Toronto player, and the ball safely glanced off his glove.