Late-inning blown leads by the Rockies and Blue Jays top bad beats from the past week in sports

The long six-month wait for the return of football has come: the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets will kick off preseason in the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, meaning the NFL is officially back.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, the baseball schedule is hitting its pivotal point as two months of the regular season remain, along with a month and a half of the WNBA regular season left as well.

As action for both leagues heats up with the postseason around the corner, late-inning blown leads and backdoor covers will only continue to break the hearts of bettors across the sports landscape. Here’s a look at the worst betting beats from the past week.

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The Toronto Blue Jays (+125 ML) and Minnesota Twins (-121 ML) each held a four-run late-inning lead on Tuesday. Both had a 99% chance to cover before disaster struck.

Earlier in the night, the Twins, with starting pitcher Pablo Lopez striking down eight batters and allowing just two runs, held a 6-2 lead heading into the eighth before things quickly fell apart from their bullpen. The Mariners scored four runs, capped off by a Julio Rodriguez two-run homer to tie the game. Seattle scored three more runs in the top of the ninth to win it 9-7.

Out on the west coast, the Blue Jays we well on their way to closing out their game after scoring three runs in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 7-3. With reliever Erik Swanson on for the save, the Dodgers rallied, tying the game on an infield single that scored two runs. Los Angeles ended the game on a double from James Outman to win 8-7 in the 10th.

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It doesn’t get much worse than losing two games in a row in a similar fashion.

The Rockies, after winning the series opener on Monday, blew multi-run leads on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. As small underdogs in both games, Colorado squandered a 5-2 lead on Tuesday in the eighth, capped off by Nationals first baseman Joey Meneses’ three-run go-ahead homer to give Washington a 6-5 win.

The next day, with the Rockies (+125 ML) up 4-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, with a 98% chance of covering, blew a late lead again, with the Nationals rallying for a walk-off win as CJ Abrams’ single capped off a four-run inning in their 5-4 win.

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The Las Vegas Aces are well primed to win their second straight WNBA title, with by far the best record in the WNBA (23-2) and the overwhelming favorite to win it all, but they aren’t immune to bad beats.

The Chicago Sky entered their game against the Aces on Tuesday as 14.5-point underdogs, 8.5 point underdogs on the first half line, led by North Philly native Kahleah Copper. Coincidentally, it was Copper, who not only kept the Sky afloat all game with a career high 37-points, but also helped Chicago backdoor Las Vegas on the betting line.

With the Aces leading by 10 with less than 40 seconds left in the first half, Copper took a missed Jackie Young layup and turned it into a three-pointer, cutting Las Vegas’ lead to seven. Chelsea Gray missed a jumper with one second left, allowing the Sky to cover the first-half line (+7.5).

Then, late in the game, with the Aces ballooning their lead to 16 points with less than 90 seconds left, Copper finished off her career-high outburst with an layup, plus the foul to convert a three-point play, and a Marina Mabrey three-pointer cut the lead to 10 with a minute remaining. The Aces added just two more points and won 107-95, failing to cover their 14.5-point spread.