Blue Jays’ manager Schneider defends pulling Gausman before epic bullpen collapse

It’s a game that will forever live in Toronto Blue Jays history.

But not for the way any Blue Jays fans would’ve liked.

Carrying an 8-1 lead into the top of the 6th inning, Toronto starter Kevin Gausman likely thought he was well on his way to a big playoff win that would even the American League Wild Card series 1-1 against the Seattle Mariners and set up a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday.

Gausman got two of the necessary three outs to get out of the sixth inning, but was pulled by Jays manager John Schneider with two runners on base, and having thrown 95 pitches on the day.

With reliever Tim Mayza coming into the game, Toronto still had plenty of breathing room, and a seven-run cushion to work with.

But approximately two hours later, Schneider, the Blue Jays, and their fans were left stunned after the largest postseason collapse in team history, as they fell 10-9 to the Mariners and are now eliminated from postseason contention.

There were a lot of “weird moments” as Gausman put it, including a three-run homer by Carlos Santana off Mayza to put the Mariners within three runs of Toronto, but most notably a three-run double from J.P. Crawford in the eighth inning following a collision of Toronto’s Bo Bichette and George Springer that even evened the game up at 9-9.

And while some might expect Schneider to admit he pulled his starter a bit too soon given the outcome of the game, he’s at peace with it… for now.

“Gausman was outstanding I think. There’s always going to be times where I can sit here for about six months and second guess myself… but right now I don’t,” Schneider said of pulling Gausman.” You trust the guys that got you here. You trust your entire roster. And today, you know, we didn’t get it done. And that sucks right now.”

Schneider also seemed to be alright with his specific reliever choice in Mayza, who gave up just the lone hit on the day in the Santana homer, but also allowed a run to score via a wild pitch. Three of Gausman’s four earned runs on the day came with Mayza on the mound.

“Timmy Mayza is a tough guy to get underneath and hit the ball out of the ballpark, especially like that,” Schneider added.

Gausman added that it was a challenge to watch the game unfold from the dugout.

“It’s just heartbreaking for us to watch,” he said. “[It] sucks when you you’re out of the game and you don’t have a any more say in it, right? So you’re essentially just watching and hoping.”

But his words about not having any more say in it didn’t appear to be a shot at his manager.

Despite walking off the field with a seven-run lead, Gausman still felt he didn’t quite get the job finished the way he would’ve liked.

“I got two outs,” Gausman said of his sixth inning. “But if I could have just been a little bit better earlier in the game,  maybe I have more pitches to kind of work with. It’s on me and it’s frustrating going into the offseason, you know, with ‘what if?’ [on my mind].  Obviously, hindsight is 20/20.”

Like his teammates, a clearly affected Gausman was full of clichés and, well, disbelief in his postgame media availability.

“That’s baseball, right? Sometimes things don’t go the way you plan and it’s really sad… when you go home because there’s a lot of really talented baseball players in there. Just a great group of guys,” Gausman said.

Gausman wasn’t the only one sharing words of wisdom in his postgame presser, with Schneider echoing his comments.

“The postseason is great and the postseason sucks because at some point, if you’re not the last team standing you have the rip the Band-Aid off and your season is over,” Schneider added.

Seattle will advance to play the Houston Astros in the American League Divisonal Series, which kicks off on Tuesday in Texas. And for the Jays? Well, uh, we’ll see them back in Toronto in April.