Blue Jays forced to remove starting pitcher due to embarrassing mistake

The AL East has been a bloodbath this season, with every team currently sitting over .500. Battles between divisional opponents have been must watch baseball. Especially with quality pitching matchups, as Alek Manoah headed to the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.

Baltimore was in town but disaster struck in the sixth inning. Manoah was in the midst of a quality start before being removed for an embarrassing mistake. Toronto accidentally took two mound visits in the same inning, forcing the Blue Jays to take Manoah out of the game.

Nobody understood what was happening until the umpire came over to explain. The look on everyone’s faces when the realization hit was funny to watch. In what was meant to be just a mound visit to discuss strategy, Manoah found his start earlier than planned.

You can watch the full moment of Manoah leaving the game and making his way back to the dugout below.

The Blue Jays were forced to remove Alek Manoah from the game because John Schneider did not realize it was the second mound visit pic.twitter.com/e5eK64ZeaZ

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 20, 2023

Manoah’s final stat line was another good outing for the Blue Jays’ ace after just 85 pitches. He threw 5.2 innings, giving up six hits, two earned runs, and one walk. Five strikeouts capped off what would have been a solid day at the office under normal circumstances.

“There was just some silence,” Manoah said on the situation. “I had known (Blue Jays pitching coach) Pete Walker had come out there. When he started asking. me if I wanted to stay in the game, I was like ‘well maybe Pete didn’t come out here?’ I wasn’t sure.”

Tim Mayza came in relief for Manoah, just throwing three pitches to get out of the inning. No overall damage was done from the Blue Jays’ mistake. At the very least, it’s a good learning experience for the coaching staff.

Unfortunately, Toronto wound up on the losing end, dropping the game in extra innings. They still sit in last place of the AL East, despite being four games over .500. For a franchise looking to make the playoffs this year, losing these type of games to Baltimore hurts.

Manoah was not able to fully help out but will get another opportunity over the next few days. His next start is scheduled for Thursday against the first place Tampa Bay Rays. Everyone will be hoping he can get past the six inning mark and will be super aware of how many mound visits have taken place.