“Dumbest challenge ever seen!” - Fans roast Blue Jays after Andres Gimenez’s errant throw drills Mariners’ Eugenio Suarez on dugout steps

The Seattle Mariners' three-run rally in the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game of the ALCS on Monday started with an intriguing sequence of play.

Mariners slugger Randy Arozarena grounded a pitch from Trey Yesavage towards Blue Jays shortstop Andres Gimenez. While Arozarena sprinted to first, Gimenez's spinning attempt at first flew towards the Mariners dugout.

Arozarena moved to second as the ball was deemed out of play. However, the Blue Jays challenged the call as the throw hit Mariners' Eugenio Suarez, sitting on the dugout steps. The call was upheld and Seattle ended up scoring three runs after the play.

Fans reacted to the Blue Jays' peculiar challenge in the fifth inning.

"Dumbest challenge I have ever seen."

"Then Schneider proceeded to get mad when the call wasnt overturned. He just seems like a toxic person to head a ball club."

"Seems like a great way to lose your challenge huh. Grasping straws already."

"That would have been the dumbest overturn in history--regardless of what the technical rule even is."

"Dumb challenge. Someone that doesnt know baseball would think this is a bad throw and it is self-explanatory. End of story. Move on."

Blue Jays manager John Schneider explained reason behind peculiar challenge

Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealed that the challenge came after a miscommunication with crew chief Alfonso Marquez. Schneider said in a mid game conversation with Ken Rosenthal:

“I just said, hey, if it hit (Suárez before it entered the dugout), does (Arozarena) go back to first? And he said yes, so I challenged. And then afterward, they said if they deemed it was going to go into the dugout anyway, the call’s going to stand. So just a little bit of miscommunication there, I guess, with me and Phonzo.”

Seattle took a 6-3 lead in the fifth inning after a three-run homer from Jorge Polanco. The Blue Jays failed to recover as the Mariners scored another three runs in the seventh inning to claim a 10-3 win and take a 2-0 lead in the championship series.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash