The Toronto Blue Jays were still in shock as John Schneider and his players sought to reflect on a remarkable defeat to the Seattle Mariners that ended their season.
Toronto, the fourth seed in the American League, had lost their Wild Card opener at home to the Mariners on Friday but appeared on course to level the series the following day.
The Blue Jays led 8-1 at the end of the fifth inning, with Seattle needing to become just the third team to overturn a seven-run deficit in a postseason game.
But that was exactly what they did, with four runs in each of the sixth and eighth innings to win 10-9 and advance to the ALDS.
"Baseball sucks sometimes, and this group will be back in the exact same spot very, very soon," Schneider said.
"Sometimes when you think you have an advantage, you don't win."
The interim Blue Jays manager gathered his thoughts more effectively than Teoscar Hernandez, whose two home runs proved in vain.
Hernandez is only the third Blue Jay to hit two homers in a single postseason game, although all three examples have now come in defeats that saw Toronto eliminated (also Jose Bautista vs the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 ALCS, Danny Jansen vs the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 Wild Card).
"Nothing goes through my mind," Hernandez said. "Every little thing that happened in the game, it's just incredible the way it happened.
"I mean, we were winning by seven runs. It sucks, but at the end, it's baseball, and we have to eat it, go home, think about it and get ready for next year."
While heartbreaking for the Blue Jays, the win continued the Mariners' Cinderella story, bringing playoff baseball back home to Seattle for the first time since 2001.
A 21-year postseason drought had been the longest such active run in any of the four major American sports.
"It's a credit to our players not quitting," said manager Scott Servais. "Just keep grinding through it.
"We've talked about doing the little things, just get on base, and that's what you saw. Nobody tried to hit a homer. It was just 'keep the line moving'. And all of a sudden, big things happen."
Milan 3-1 Hellas Verona: Leao double condemns visitors to Serie A relegation play-off
Milan signed off the Serie A season with a 3-1 victory as Rafael Leao's double condemned Hellas Verona to a relegation play-off with Spezia.
The Rossoneri wrapped up a frustrating campaign on a winning note at San Siro, with a late Leao brace enough to seal three points.
Milan had already secured Champions League football for another term but struggled at times against the visitors, who cancelled out Olivier Giroud's first-half penalty through Marco Faraoni's 72nd-minute strike.
Yet Leao struck in the 85th minute and again seven minutes later, leaving Verona to face a relegation decider with Spezia, who succumbed to a late 2-1 loss at Roma.
Udinese 0-1 Juventus: Chiesa strikes but Bianconeri miss out on top-six Serie A finish
Juventus missed the chance to finish sixth in Serie A despite Federico Chiesa's strike sealing a 1-0 victory over Udinese at Dacia Arena.
After Paulo Dybala's late penalty helped Roma to a 2-1 victory over Spezia, Massimiliano Allegri's side were unable to leapfrog the Giallorossi and were forced to settle for a seventh-place finish in the league.
Chiesa's second-half strike was the difference for Juve, who were deducted 10 points for violating financial rules earlier in a rollercoaster campaign, but they suffered their lowest finish in Serie A for 12 years.
Meanwhile, Udinese finished 12th in Serie A following their 10th defeat in 12 meetings with the Old Lady.
Udinese had lost their last three but went close after just four minutes when Beto somehow headed Florian Thauvin's cross over from inside the six-yard box.
Federico Chiesa’s deflected effort hit the side-netting before Juve saw a headed opportunity go begging as Leonardo Bonucci nodded against the crossbar from seven yards out following Arkadiusz Milik's flick-on.
Chiesa continued to cause Udinese problems down the left flank, yet the sides headed into half-time goalless after a profligate showing from both teams.
Juve squandered a great chance to break the deadlock just after the hour mark, Adrien Rabiot firing wide despite being found by Milik in acres of space inside the box.
But the visitors eventually opened the scoring in the 68th minute, Chiesa receiving the ball from Manuel Locatelli before bending a brilliant shot into the bottom-right corner.
Locatelli and Angel Di Maria went close to extending the advantage and though the single goal was enough, former Juve forward Dybala was to snatch sixth place for Roma from under his old club's nose.
Celta Vigo 2-1 Barcelona: Veiga double secures safety as Celestes stun champions
Gabri Veiga scored twice as Celta Vigo clinched survival with a surprise 2-1 win over champions Barcelona on a dramatic final day of the season in LaLiga.
Starting the game in 17th, Celta knew a victory would preserve their top-flight status, and Carlos Carvalhal's men took charge as Veiga struck either side of the break.
The 21-year-old drilled into the bottom-left corner to spark wild scenes at the Balaidos shortly before half-time, then saw a fortuitous 65th-minute cross sail in off the far post.
Celta clung on after Barca substitute Ansu Fati nodded home, clinching a 13th-placed finish as Real Valladolid went down, while Barca ended the campaign 10 points clear of runners-up Real Madrid.
Barca thought they had an 11th-minute lead when Franck Kessie latched onto a rebound to beat Ivan Villar, only for a VAR review to show the midfielder was offside.
Oscar Rodriguez skewed a first-time shot just wide as Celta went close, while Robert Lewandowski saw a curling effort clip the outside of Villar's left post.
The offside flag thwarted Rodriguez as he capitalised on Marc-Andre ter Stegen's error to flick home, but Celta did go ahead on the stroke of half-time when Veiga raced onto Haris Seferovic's pass to finish across goal.
With Barca struggling for momentum, Veiga put Celta 2-0 up when his mishit cross from the right swerved over substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena, clipping the woodwork before nestling in the back of the net.
Fati ensured a nervous finish by heading in Ousmane Dembele's cross 11 minutes from time, but Celta clung on to ensure another season of top-flight football.
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