Today in Blue Jays History: The Coghlan Leap

Five Years Ago

This was a weird game from the announcement of the starting lineup. First, Russell Martin was in the starting line as the third baseman (he hadn’t started a game at third since 2013). And then, in the 11th inning, noted pinch-hitter Marcus Stroman doubled and scored what turned out to be the winning run. Either of those things could have been the big story of the game, but there was this (watch the video, did he touch third?):

Which spawned a t-shirt:

From BreakingT

I would have bought a t-shirt of the Stroman double. It was huge. The game went to extra innings. Roberto Osuna had a blown save in the ninth. In the 11th, after a line out from Ryan Goins, Stroman pinch hit for Jason Gilli. Later, Steve Pearce hit into an error, shortstop Aledmys Dias threw wide of first on an easy ground ball, and Marcus scored from second.

If you want the build-up:

Tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh, Chris Coghlan walked to start the inning. Then Kevin Pillar hit a long fly ball to right field that bounced off of the wall. Coghlan, rounding third and heading for home, was clearly behind the throw. He was going to be out. But he leap over the catcher and

Jays of the Day: Kevin Pillar (.351 WPA, 1 for 5, but an important 1), Jose Bautista (.284, 2 for 6), Marcus Stroman (.117 as a batter, 1 for 1, double), Ryan Tepera (.202, 1 inning, save), Jason Grilli (.139, 1 clean inning, 3 k), Joe Smith (1 inning) and Marco Estrada (6 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned, 9 strikeouts).

Coghlan had a .042 WPA (he only had the one plate appearance, a walk), but he deserves the JoD because of the entertainment value, and importance, of the leap.

Steve Pearce had a .249 WPA but that was because of a Jedd Gyorko error which allowed Stroman to score the winning run.

Suckage: Roberto Osuna (-.298, blown save), Joe Biagini (-.282, also a blown save), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (-.127, 0 for 4, 2 k), and Kendrys Morales (-.125, 0 for 5).