The Athletics also hoped to continue their success on offense; in 1991, the team had scored a respectable 760 runs (the fifth-highest total in the AL).
Rickey Henderson stole 48 bases, Mike Bordick hit exactly .300, and José Canseco slugged another 22 home runs.
Canseco was famously traded to the Texas Rangers, mid-game, on August 31; the Athletics received outfielder Rubén Sierra, reliever Jeff Russell, and starter Bobby Witt.
Infielders Other Batters Manager Coaches Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg.
The A's put up a three-spot against Morris in the second inning, as Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach hit back-to-back home runs.
However, Oakland took the lead right back in the top of the ninth, when Harold Baines led off the inning with a solo home run.
A's closer Dennis Eckersley then shut down the Jays in the bottom half of the inning to preserve a 4-3 victory and give the Athletics a 1-0 lead in the series.
In the bottom of the fifth, however, Toronto's Kelly Gruber hit a two-run home run off Moore to give the Jays the lead.
The A's avoided a shutout in the top of the ninth, when Rubén Sierra tripled and scored on a single by Baines, but that was all they could muster against Toronto closer Tom Henke.
Toronto struck in the second, when Winfield reached on an error by Athletics' third baseman Carney Lansford, moved to third on a wild pitch by Darling, and scored on a single by Candy Maldonado.
However, the very next inning, Maldonado hit a solo homer of his own, and after Oakland manager Tony La Russa gave Darling the hook in the seventh, the Jays added two unearned runs due to an error by Lance Blankenship and a triple by Lee, making it a 5-2 game.
However, the Athletics came back in a big way with a five-run third and tacked on another run in the sixth when Sierra doubled Rickey Henderson home, giving Oakland a seemingly secure 6-1 advantage.
Roberto Alomar was up next, and he hit a high drive to right field that disappeared behind the wall for a game-tying two-run home run.
Toronto managed only one more run in the seventh when White singled Gruber home, and Stewart went the distance as the Athletics took a 6-2 victory and cut the Jays' advantage in the series to 3-2.