The Blue Jays get one more shot to make noise at Rogers Centre before the homestand ends, and the opponent couldn’t be more demanding. After taking three of four from the Boston Red Sox, Toronto turns right around and opens a three-game weekend set against the New York Yankees with the wild-card picture tightening around them.
Toronto enters the series two games behind the Detroit Tigers for the third and final American League wild-card spot, and this stretch is shaping up as another test inside the division. It’s also the second of four straight series against AL East teams for John Schneider’s club. After Sunday, the Blue Jays head to Tampa Bay for a series with the Rays, then go to Yankee Stadium next weekend before returning home.
Even after trading away Kevin Gausman and Dalton Varsho, the Blue Jays are still in the hunt. Now they’ll have to keep grinding through a matchup that brings some of the Yankees’ biggest arms into play.
Fri., Aug 14 • 7:15 PM EDT: Shane Bieber (3-2, 5.48 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (6-5, 3.35 ERA)
Sat., Aug 15 • 3:07 PM EDT: TBD vs. Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21 ERA)
Sun., Aug 16 • 1:37 PM EDT: Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.40 ERA) vs. Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69 ERA)
That Friday opener puts Bieber opposite Gerrit Cole, who has been up and down for New York this season while working his way back from injury. The Yankees are counting on the veteran to help steady a rotation that has been hit hard by injuries.
Saturday’s pitching picture for Toronto is still unresolved. The Blue Jays have not named an official starter, though the rotation spot would normally belong to newly acquired right-hander Jameson Taillon. He left his last outing against the Red Sox because of an injury.
Toronto does have a strong option lined up for the finale. Schneider is set to hand the ball to Dylan Cease on Sunday, and the 30-year-old has been sharp lately.
His most recent start, though, was a grind: against Boston on Tuesday night, he went five innings, allowed five hits and three runs, and saw the Red Sox work his pitch count up quickly. Toronto’s offense bailed him out by rallying from a 3-1 deficit, keeping him from taking his sixth loss.
The Blue Jays have already shown they can keep hanging around despite the deadline departures. If they can take another series from a division opponent here, they’ll stay very much in the mix as the wild-card race gets hotter through the back half of August and into September.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Suddenly Look Like A Team Nobody Wants To Face
Torontos roster looked far different after the club sent pitcher Kevin Gausman to the Cubs and center fielder Dalton Varsho to the Astros, then brought in right-hander Jose Soriano from the Angels and added Brett Bateman from Chicago. Those moves reshaped the group in a hurry, and the Blue Jays have responded by winning five straight series while steadily climbing back into the thick of the race.
The surge has put some real pressure on the teams ahead of them, especially with the standings tightening in the stretch run. Toronto has moved within 1.5 games of the third American League wild-card spot, and the mix of youth, new arrivals and established pieces has given the club a very different look than the one it carried earlier in the year. [Read more 🡒]
Myles Straw Is Giving The Blue Jays Life At The Perfect Time
Torontos outfield was supposed to look a lot different after the trade deadline shuffle, and the Blue Jays knew they were asking a lot of Myles Straw to help absorb the loss of Daulton Varsho. What they have gotten instead is a steady, timely presence who has fit right into a stretch where the club has been piling up wins and nudging itself back into the wild card conversation. The value has gone beyond just clean defense, too, with Straw finding ways to lengthen innings and keep Torontos lineup moving at a time when every little contribution matters.
The timing has been especially important because the Blue Jays still have ground to make up and are not operating with much margin for error. Straws recent run has given the team a lift on both sides of the ball, the kind of spark that can matter in August when standings start to harden and every series feels a little heavier. Toronto has bought itself a real chance to stay in the race, and Straw has become one of the reasons the optimism feels earned rather than forced. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Fans Have A New Reason To Root For Brett Bateman
Brett Bateman has already given Blue Jays fans a feel-good reason to keep an eye on him, even before his latest moment at the plate. Since arriving in Toronto, the outfielder has been a name worth following for more than his baseball rsum, and his recent first MLB hit only adds to the intrigue around a player whose story has already shown a remarkable amount of composure.
Long before that hit, Bateman helped save the life of Maddie Johnson in November 2020 when she collapsed from cardiac arrest at the University of Minnesota. He called 9-1-1 and assisted paramedics as Johnson was revived twice, a split-second response that became part of a much bigger survival story. For Blue Jays fans, it means there is now another layer to rooting for Bateman, one that goes well beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]