While the Blue Jays had a dozen chances to win Game 3 against the Dodgers, fans are left wondering how a different outcome in the second inning might have changed things.

Given everything that happened on Monday night, it would be understandable if a handful of crucial plays were forgotten about when all was said and done, but I doubt Jays fans will forget what happened to kill that early rally in the second inning.

Bo Bichette reached base to lead things off, and it looked like momentum was brewing when Daulton Varsho took a high fastball for ball four. Except, home plate umpire Mark Wegner blew the call, something that became a common theme throughout the game, and called it strike two instead.

The pitch was so far out of the zone that Varsho (rightly) assumed he had been issued a free pass and started to take off his elbow guard. To the surprise of almost everyone, Wegner made a VERY delayed strike call, and everything changed from there. Varso hesitated for a moment and then threw his bat away to continue his free trip to first base. Unfortunately, the moment of confusion led to Bichette starting to jog down to second base as he assumed that a walk had taken place as well. As a result, the Dodgers picked up a crucial out on one of the most bizarre “pick off” plays you’ll ever see, especially in a game of this magnitude.

Before I jump all over the officials, I have to acknowledge the mistakes made by Bichette and Varsho here.

First of all, you can never assume anything in pro sports, especially in baseball, when human error can have far too great an impact on a game. Wegner’s call was undoubtedly wrong, but both Varsho and Bichette need to have a greater awareness of the situation. In their defence, I’m sure the volume of the fans at Dodger Stadium didn’t make that easy, but that’s all part of the postseason experience and something that needs to be overcome. While I understand why Bichette assumed Varsho had walked after he tossed his bat (and after seeing the blatantly obvious ball 4), that kind of mistake can’t happen.

But speaking of things that can’t happen, it’s truly disappointing to see another poor performance from the officiating crew on such a massive stage.

I’m not going to sit back and claim that the Blue Jays would have won Game 3 if not for the blown call in the second inning, but a mistake like that shifts the momentum of the game, and it killed what could have been a significant early rally. After the blunder by Wegner, Varsho managed to pick up a hit on a 3-2 pitch, and Alejandro Kirk followed with another, which would have led to an early lead for the Blue Jays had Bichette stayed on the base paths. I realize that dozens of variables contributed to the outcome of the game after that, but momentum is a huge factor in a playoff game like this, and the Blue Jays were robbed of taking control of it early in the contest.

At the end of the day, we could probably pick out a dozen different moments from that game that led to the Blue Jays falling into a 2-1 hole in the Fall Classic. Whether it was missed opportunities to cash in runners in scoring position, questionable decisions from John Schneider and the coaching staff, or mistakes from the umpire crew, the Blue Jays had more than enough chances to put this one away and simply couldn’t do it.

Still, I feel like this is a game that got away that Blue Jays fans could be talking about for years to come.

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