TORONTO -- Travis Shaw had made a terrific stop down the third-base line, and the Red Sox were ready to go to extra innings of what had already been a wild Saturday afternoon of baseball against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
All that needed to happen was for the ball to land safely in the first baseman's mitt of Hanley Ramirez.
But as Ramirez tried to make the scoop, the ball skidded by him, and Russell Martin roared home for a 10-9 win by the Blue Jays over the Red Sox.
"It was a tremendous play by Shaw. I just wasn't able to finish it," said Ramirez. "Unfortunately we ended up losing the game."
It is the type of play Ramirez has made many times during a transition to first base that has gone better than almost anyone expected.
"Ball down the line, Travis gives him a throw and we've seen Hanley catch that ball a number of times," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "I think if we have a chance to replay that, he probably makes that play routinely. Went off the glove. From my vantage point, I don't know that it short-hopped him. Unfortunate situation at a key moment."
Devon Travis was credited with an infield hit, but he would have been out if the transfer from Shaw to Ramirez had been clean.
"As soon as I let it go, I thought he was out," said Shaw. "And it just kind of skipped away. Travis gets down the line pretty good. That's a long throw. Felt like I did all that I could. Just unfortunately it didn't work."
Ramirez suspects his mistake was not keeping his head down long enough to look the ball into the glove.
The Red Sox, to a man, stood by Ramirez after the game.
"That's a tough play," said Dustin Pedroia. "Travis made a great play, the throw is going into the runner. It's a tough play for any first baseman, I don't care how many games you've played over at first base. I've seen that done by Gold Glovers and everybody. It's not the reason why we lost the game."
In fact, after trailing, 3-0, in the third inning, the Red Sox had roared to an 8-4 lead with six outs left in the game.

But there were misfires by relievers Tommy Layne, Junichi Tazawa and Craig Kimbrel, and a couple of misplays by catcher Christian Vazquez.
"In some key spots, we gave an extra 90 feet when otherwise we would have not," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "An additional 90 feet at that point and time of the game is the difference."
Meanwhile, Ramirez was already looking forward to a chance for redemption in Sunday's series finale.
"It's a long season," Ramirez said. "It's not going to be the last time it's going to happen on the field. Hopefully I come back tomorrow, and I've got to make it."