George Springer and New York Yankees players celebrating (Photos via Sportsnet and YES Network)
Furious baseball fans think that MLB “rigged” the Toronto Blue Jays-Boston Red Sox game on Tuesday night to help out the New York Yankees, following two controversial calls against George Springer.

The Blue Jays entered Tuesday’s action with a two-game lead on the Yankees for first in the AL East, but it’s essentially a three-game lead with Toronto holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Toronto lost 4-1 to the visiting Red Sox, while the Yankees rallied with two runs in the ninth inning to beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3. Thus, the Jays’ lead in the division is down to just two games.

George Springer was the center of two questionable calls by the umpires in the bottom half of the second inning. The Jays were trailing 1-0 and had the bases loaded with two outs and their top hitter at the plate.

Springer (and most of the Jays fans at the Rogers Centre) thought he hit a fair ball down the third base line. The third base ump called it foul, even though replays clearly show it was a fair ball. Unfortunately for the Jays, such a call is not reviewable:

George Springer then struck out on a ball that appeared well outside the strike zone. This time, the usually-cheerful slugger couldn’t hide his frustrations:

Toronto would tie it up in the fourth inning, but Boston plated three more runs in the sixth en route to the 4-1 victory.

Angry MLB Fans Accuse League Of “Rigging” AL East Race For Jays After Two Calls Against George Springer

George Springer (Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
With those two game-changing calls going against Springer and costing the Jays, unhappy fans took their anger out on Major League Baseball with wild “rigged” accusations.

“The MLB is rigging the AL East for the Yankees, unreal,” wrote a fan.

“Varsho phantom “no catch” the other night. Now this tonight – Springer clear fair ball with bases loaded and the next pitch Doug Eddings rings him up with a ball a few inches off the plate 🤡 Yeah the league really is trying to have the Yankees win the AL East,” wrote another.

“@MLB HOW DO YOU SPELL “RIGGED?” 3 BLATANT “MISED” CALLS AGAINST THE JAYS IN LESS THAN A WEEK? WHY EVEN PLAY THE GAMES?? EMBARRASSING AND BY FAR THE MOST CORRUPT OF THE 4 MAJOR NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS. THE FIX IS IN…AGAIN!!,” said a fan.

“go watch the umps in the jays game tonight and tell me it’s not rigged . 3rd blown call by the umps against the jays the last 10 days . Coincidence?” asked a user.

“Rob Manfred is rigging the division race in favor of the Yankees no doubt. Have you seen the inexplicable controversial calls against the Jays lately?” a fan asked.

“Tell Rob Manfred that he did a great job at fixing the game tonight in favour of the Yankees. Though he could’ve done a better job at hiding the fact he’s rigging it,” said another.

After the game, Toronto manager John Schneider told reporters, “It’s a fair ball,” and that the missed call “sucks”, per Sportsnet. Schneider stressed that he, George Springer and the Jays’ review team thought it was clearly a fair ball.

At any rate, the Jays have to put it behind them and focus on getting back in the win column tonight. They’ve now lost four of their last five games, with their high-powered offense and dependable rotation all slumping mightily at a pivotal time.

Maybe Tuesday’s game brings different results if they call Springer’s hit a fair ball, but the Jays only have themselves to blame for letting the division race get this close when it appeared to be locked up just last week.