Blue Jays left to reflect after collapse against Mariners ends brief playoff appearance

As far as gut-punch playoff losses go, this one hurt more than most for the Toronto Blue Jays.

With a seven-run lead and support from a boisterous sellout crowd, a Game 2 victory seemed like a virtual lock in their wild-card series against Seattle.

The Mariners had other plans. They completed an improbable comeback with a pair of four-run innings before taking the lead in the ninth for a stunning 10-9 win.

Instead of planning for a decisive Game 3 on Sunday at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the Blue Jays were left to ruminate on a crushing defeat that ended their post-season.

"We fought and we battled," said Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano. "It just wasn't good enough."

Two key moments stood out in Saturday's collapse.

Tim Mayza relieved starter Kevin Gausman in the sixth inning and gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Santana.

A couple innings later, J.P. Crawford lifted a blooper off Romano into shallow centre field. Toronto outfielder George Springer and shortstop Bo Bichette collided on the play and three runs came across.

Springer was taken off the field on a golf cart while Bichette stayed in the game. Manager John Schneider said Springer was "doing OK" but didn't provide injury specifics.

Toronto was swept from the wild-card round for the second time in three years.

The Blue Jays won 92 games over the regular season and seemed to be peaking for the playoffs.

Toronto went 22-11 down the stretch to clinch the top wild-card seed and home-field advantage in the first round.

The Blue Jays could only tip their cap to hot starter Luis Castillo in a 4-0 shutout loss in Friday's Game 1. The Jays' bats came alive in Game 2, but the Mariners answered as the Toronto bullpen hiccupped.

Seattle became the third team in MLB history to