One swing of the bat can break your heart. A walk with the bases loaded can crush it.
And sometimes you get by with a little help from your bullpen friends.
Long before Game 1 of the American League division series was in the 10-1 bag, before four-run explosions from the Blue Jays in both the seventh and eighth innings, this first post-season meeting between Toronto and the New York Yankees was an edge-of-your-seat thing, if the edge of your seat was a stropped razor blade.
Starter Kevin Gausman had been rolling along, la-dee-dah pretty much, notably buzz-sawing through the top of the order with a four-pitch third inning and looking very much like the guy ranked second in the majors on first-pitch strike percentage. His fastball and splitter were clicking.
Then came a sixth innin