Blue Jays' John Schneider: 'Bang-bang play' on final out vs. Red Sox 'nobody's fault'

The Toronto Blue Jays' Canada Day game is always a spectacle, and the Jays came painfully close to making this year's national holiday a special one.

Down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and runners on second and third, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepped up to the plate for his first career at-bat against Boston Red Sox legendary closer Kenley Jansen.

Guerrero Jr. singled off Jansen, lifting the sold-out Rogers Centre crowd to its feet as George Springer and Bo Bichette rounded the bases on their way home.

The problem, however, was that the ball landed in right field, where the Red Sox' best defensive outfielder was stationed in Alex Verdugo. Verdugo put his canon of a throwing arm on display as he launched the ball to home plate, where catcher Connor Wong tagged Bichette to record the final out and secure Boston's one-run win.

Replays of the final out showed Bichette hesitate and slow down midway between third base and home, and ultimately coming home way too late.

Questions were immediately raised over whether this was third base coach Luis Rivera's error, or if the Jays' shortstop ignored the stop sign in favour of an aggressive play. Bichette admitted he was surprised not to see the stop sign go up as he approached third.

“I knew the situation. If we could score the run I needed to be aggressive and get there, but I also knew the ball was hit to their best thrower," he told reporters post-game. "I kind of assumed I’d be stopped, but I didn’t really see anything.”

Jays manager John Schneider revealed that the call was for Bichette to stop, but understands why his young star made the decision to try for home and tie the game.

"Could Bo have picked [Rivera] up a little bit earlier? Yeah, sure. You want to be aggressive, but at the same time, you don’t want to make the last out at the plate," Schneider told the media after the loss. “It’s a bang-bang play. It’s really nobody’s fault.”

Toronto will look to avoid a series sweep when they host Boston at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon.