Blue Jays allow player to pull off ultra-rare Rickey Henderson feat

The Toronto Blue Jays know that chasing a postseason spot is never easy. After all, this requires so much concentration, knowing that every win or loss matters in the grand scheme of things. On Monday, they began a three-game set against the Athletics, a series they should be heavily favored in. But in MLB, nothing is a given.

At the time of writing, the Blue Jays are down by one run, 5-4, to the Athletics in the bottom of the seventh inning. One Athletics player has had his way with the Blue Jays all evening long, with leadoff man Henry Bolte putting on quite a show in front of their home fans.

Bolte has had an excellent read on starting pitcher Dylan Cease all night. The Athletics outfielder walked in his first two plate appearances against Cease, and then promptly stole three total bases during those two times he reached base. He then followed his menacing ways on the basepaths with a home run in the fifth to give them a 5-1 lead over the Blue Jays.

In so doing, Bolte became the first player in A’s franchise history to record a home run and at least three stolen bases in a single game since Rickey Henderson, who last accomplished the feat back on October 5, 1991, as per Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Henderson, MLB’s all-time leader in stolen bases, accomplished this sort of game four times during his 25-year career. According to baseball researcher Ryan M. Spaeder, no one else in MLB history even has three such games.

Cease did not do a good job of controlling the basepaths for the Blue Jays in his five innings on the mound. Not only did he allow Bolte to steal three bases, he also allowed Zack Gelof to steal two bases of his own. This was a substandard start for the Blue Jays ace, who allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits and two walks, requiring 94 pitches to get through five innings.

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