Three years ago, the Toronto Blue Jays scored the most runs in a game in franchise history.
On July 22, 2022, the Blue Jays hammered the Boston Red Sox 28-5, one of the most entertaining games in recent history for the team. Things started normally enough, as the Blue Jays scored their first run thanks to a groundout by Bo Bichette. In the second inning, Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run, giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead after two innings.
The top of the third is where the game started to get crazy. With the bases loaded, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-RBI single to make it 5-0, followed by a Santiago Espinal single to make it 6-0. Then, it happened.
With the bases loaded, Raimel Tapia hit a first pitch into the outfield. Thinking it was out, he didn’t run out of the gate, but Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran lost it in the lights, and it landed behind him. Tapia not only cleared the bases but was able to score an inside-the-park grand slam, a rare feat.
Raimel Tapia pulled off an inside-the-park grand slam 👏 pic.twitter.com/08XfsJktd7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 23, 2022
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The Blue Jays added four runs in the top of the fourth, as Teoscar Hernández hit a solo home run, followed by Danny Jansen’s three-run blast. In the bottom half of the inning, the Red Sox added three runs to make it 14-3.
And then the Blue Jays put up 11 runs in the top of the fifth. Gurriel Jr. had two separate plate appearances in the inning, driving in runs in each of those innings. Chapman, Jansen, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Tapia, and Hernández each drove in at least one run in this inning.
In the top of the sixth, Jansen hit his second home run of the game, a two-run blast to make it a 27-3 game. The Red Sox got one back in the bottom half of the sixth, as Christian Vázquez hit a solo blast to bring them to within 23. Former Blue Jay Rob Refsynder hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Jays restored their 23-run lead thanks to an RBI single from Chapman. They won 28-5.
Since the 1900 season, the Blue Jays’ 28 runs are the fifth-most in a game for a single team. They fell just shy of matching the record set in 2007 when the Texas Rangers put up 30 runs on the Baltimore Orioles.
Other notable events on July 22
Those aforementioned Rangers thumped the Blue Jays on July 22, 2011, as the Jays lost 12-2.
In 2005, the Blue Jays traded utility player John McDonald to the Detroit Tigers for cash. It was his first season with the team, and he was slashing .290/.340/.323 with no home runs in 106 plate appearances. Later that season, the Jays purchased him from the Tigers.
McDonald spent parts of the next six seasons with the Blue Jays. In his seven total seasons with the Jays from 2005 until 2011, McDonald slashed .243/.278/.340 with 17 home runs in 1,453 plate appearances.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.