Cliff Pennington of the Toronto Blue Jays is safe at first base under the tag of Daniel Castro of the Atlanta BravesKevin C. Cox/Getty Images
One out, runners at second and third in a tie ballgame in the bottom of the ninth inning, and reliever Aaron Sanchez on the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays.
To some, the strategy against the Atlanta Braves might have been to issue an intentional walk to Andrelton Simmons to set up the potential double play that could have taken the Blue Jays off the hook.
But on a Tuesday night here at Turner Stadium, where the mighty Blue Jays offence was more myth than magic, Toronto manager John Gibbon opted to have Sanchez challenge Simmons.
All Simmons did was drive a first-pitch Sanchez fastball through the right side into right field that cashed the go-ahead run from third, a walk-off winner in a 3-2 Atlanta victory.
The victory, Atlanta's first in a three-game set against Toronto, snapped an embarassing franchise-worst 12-game home losing skid.
And for the Blue Jays, who were upended 5-0 by the New York Yankees on Sunday in the final of their otherwise highly successful four-game set at Yankee Stadium, it marked the first time in a month they have suffered consecutive losses.
"I wasn't going to walk him," Gibbons said, when asked after the game if he considered issuing Simmons a free pass and then perhaps even going with a five-man infield to cut down the chances of a winning single creeping through.
"I like, with Sanchey [Sanchez] on the mound, he's a ground ball machine, especially against righthanders," Gibbons continued. "The last couple of games he's been in and out of the zone a little bit. We haven't run the five-man infield yet. We didn't do it tonight.
"But the guy hit the ball on the ground, just found a hole. That's the way it goes."
The end result, instead of the first-placed Blue Jays administering a spanking to one of the worst teams in Major League baseball, they wound up taking an uppercut to the chin.
The only fortunate thing on a night where the major league's top offensive unit struggled to get five hits in the game was that the New York Yankees were also upended, 6-3, by the Tampa Bay Rays.
That means that Toronto's lead atop the American League East standing remains at three games with 18 left to go in the regular season standing.
The game marked the return to the mound of Toronto veteran Mark Buehrle, who missed his last start after receiving cortisone shot to his bothersome left shoulder.
Buehrle started slow but seemed to be gathering steam before he was yanked after five innings with the Braves leading 2-1, having surrendered both of the Atlanta runs – one earned – off six hits.
Afterwards, the normally media-friendly veteran abruptly cut off the post-game interview after just two questions.
"I felt good," Buehrle said, a sentiment he repeated on a couple of occasions. "I think that's all it pretty much comes down to."