The Toronto Blue Jays’ season is over in the only way that really stings: not with a fight, but with another flat offensive night that sealed their fate.
Toronto was eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 23, after a 4-2 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore. The result shut the door on any chance of a postseason run and left the Blue Jays staring at the same problem that haunted them all year - they could hit, but they couldn’t finish.
The box score tells the story. The Blue Jays collected ten hits, yet went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Four of those hits went for extra bases, all doubles, but none of it translated into the kind of breakthrough inning Toronto needed. When Nathan Lukes struck out to end the game, that was that.
Max Scherzer, the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer, gave Toronto five innings and battled throughout, but he was tagged for four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven.
Baltimore did its damage with far less traffic on the bases. The Orioles managed only five hits, but one of them was the big swing: a two-run homer from Pete Alonso in the fifth inning.
That’s been the Blue Jays’ problem in a nutshell. They’ve spent the season creating chances and then letting them slip away. On a day when ten hits should have been enough to put real pressure on an opponent, Toronto again came up empty when it mattered most.
The season-long numbers back it up. With runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays posted a 92 wRC+, which ranked 28th in MLB, and a .313 on-base percentage that ranked 29th. They also hit just 34 home runs with runners in scoring position, tied for 27th in the league.
Their overall power output was just as thin. Of Toronto’s 149 home runs, 84 came with nobody on base. That total ranked dead last in baseball, tied with the LA Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers are headed to the postseason and, as the source article noted, might be one of the World Series favorites. They found a way to score despite limited power. Toronto never did.
The Blue Jays still have baseball left on the schedule. They are set to finish the second game of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader later on Sept. 23, then return home for three games against the Cincinnati Reds. After that comes a long winter, and a front office that will have to sort through exactly why this season fell apart.
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Blue Jays Season Just Became An Accountability Reckoning
The Blue Jays spent another afternoon staring at the same problem in a season that has slipped out of reach. Torontos 4-2 loss to the Orioles in the opener of a doubleheader officially pushed the club out of playoff contention, with Max Scherzer working five innings and allowing four earned runs as the lineup again came up short against a division opponent that had little trouble finishing the job.
At 77-81 with four games left, the focus in Toronto has shifted from October hopes to accountability and what comes next. Chris Bassitt got the win for Baltimore, and the Blue Jays now have to sort through a final stretch that will say as much about the organizations direction as any one game did. [Read more 🡒]