With two swings, the Blue Jays delivered an absolute gut-punch to the A's on Wednesday night.
Justin Smoak hit a two-run game-tying homer off Santiago Casilla in the ninth. On the next pitch, Kendrys Morales swatted a walk-off shot to give Toronto a stunning 3-2 victory at the Rogers Center.
That once again denied A's manager Bob Melvin his 1,000th career victory, which the A's seemed poised to celebrate. Rookie Paul Blackburn also had a much-deserved victory snatched away from him after he threw seven scoreless innings.
Oakland has dropped three straight north of the border since giving Melvin career win No. 999. A lack of offense doomed them in the first two games of this four-game series, and they got precious little scoring Wedesnday. But Marcus Semien's two-run homer in the fifth seemed to be all the offense they would need, and the A's took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Blake Treinen handled the eighth to get the ball to Casilla, who's had a turbulent ride as the A's closer after signing a two-year deal to return to Oakland in the offseason. Wednesday's meltdown accounted for his sixth blown save. He entered the night tied for third for most blown saves in the American League.
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The A's are short on late-inning options after recently trading Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to the Washington Nationals.
