The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers were tied with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Shohei Ohtani was coming to the plate as the potential winning run with the bases empty.
The Blue Jays intentionally walked him.
And somehow, it made sense.
UPDATE: The Blue Jays did it again in the bottom of the 11th with two outs and no one on base.
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Why did the Blue Jays intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani?
The Blue Jays decided they'd rather let Ohtani have first (and risk a steal of second) than pitch to him and risk a home run.
Ohtani was already 4-for-4 with two home runs and two doubles, so it seemed a fair proposition.
Once Ohtani was on first, Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman attempted one pickoff.
Then, Ohtani took off to steal second on the first pitch home.
Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk threw a perfect toss down to second, and Ohtani couldn't stay on second base through his slide. He was tagged out.
In a weird way, the gamble didn't work out. Ohtani hadn't homered, and he wasn't even on base anymore, and the Dodgers would have to try and win without him unless their order got back around to him in extra innings.
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