Cursed homer history comes back to bite Toronto Blue Jays again

Oct 8, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners during game two of the Wild Card series for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners during game two of the Wild Card series for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays were eliminated from the postseason on Saturday night, with the surprising Seattle Mariners posting the second of two wins in Toronto to knock one of the preseason World Series favorites out in the Wild Card round.

Down 8-1 after the fifth inning, the Seattle Mariners stormed back with four runs each in the sixth and eighth innings, and Adam Frazier’s ninth-inning RBI double proved to be the difference in completing the largest road comeback win in postseason history. The Mariners now move on to the ALDS against the top-seeded Houston Astros, a series that begins on Tuesday in Houston.

One of the reasons the Toronto Blue Jays held a big lead early was a pair of home runs from Teoscar Hernandez. His two-run, second-inning homer put the Blue Jays on the board, and his solo shot in the fourth extended Toronto’s lead to 4-0.

While those Teoscar Hernandez home runs might have been good for the Toronto Blue Jays, postseason history eventually caught up with them

On Saturday, Hernandez became the third Blue Jays players to hit a pair of homers in a single postseason game. The previous two were by José Bautista in Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals and Danny Jansen in Game 2 of the 2020 AL Wild Card against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It’s a small, prestigious club … but it also has a dark side to it.

That’s right. Toronto has been cursed with elimination when it has had a player hit a pair of home runs in the postseason. That curse continued on Saturday as Seattle made history and Toronto started planning for 2023.