The Toronto Blue Jays are making their late push look a lot more real.
On Thursday, they beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 and wrapped up a series win that carries serious weight in the American League wild-card race. Toronto has now won five of its last six and sits one game below .500, a clear sign that the club is finally playing the kind of baseball fans have been waiting on all season.
The Blue Jays have been just as sharp since the calendar flipped to August. They’re 19-12 since August 1, and manager John Schneider pointed to last year’s postseason experience as part of the reason the team believes it can handle the pressure now.
"The mentality, going back to that Seattle series [in the ALCS] when we were coming home down 3-2," Schneider said, per Keegan Matheson of mlb.com. "We just had to win tomorrow.
We had to win the next day and figure it out. That's the mentality right now."
Thursday’s win did more than just add another mark in the standings. It also gave Toronto the season tiebreaker over Cleveland after the Blue Jays took four of the six head-to-head meetings. In a race this tight, that’s no small thing.
Right now, Toronto is a half-game behind Cleveland for the final wild-card spot, and the math is simple: two straight wins would lift the Blue Jays above .500 for the first time since April.
The chase doesn’t stop with the Guardians. Baltimore and Texas are also in the mix.
Toronto holds a 4-3 edge over the Orioles with six games left between them, but the Blue Jays will lose the season series to the Rangers despite still having three games left against Texas. Minnesota and Seattle are hanging around too, though both teams are running out of time to make a real push.
At this point, the race looks like it will come down to Toronto, Cleveland, Baltimore, Texas, and the Houston Astros, who currently lead the A.L. West.
And when a playoff race gets this crowded, the stars have to deliver. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hasn’t had the season many expected, but he came through when Toronto needed him. On Wednesday, he crushed a three-run homer and finished with five RBIs.
He kept contributing on Thursday, drawing a walk and driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays need that version of Guerrero Jr. down the stretch, and this series may have been a sign that he’s starting to find it.
There’s still a long way to go between Thursday and September 27, but Toronto just made a major move in the right direction.
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Woods Richardson chose free agency after Toronto let him go, and now the Mariners will see if they can get something back from a pitcher whose talent has kept him on the move even as the results have lagged. It is a reminder of how quickly a promising arm can slip into roster churn, and why a stint in Tacoma can still matter for a player trying to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Opener Carries One Big Question For Returning Veteran
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For Toronto, the appeal is straightforward: Taillon has already given the club two solid outings, posting a 3.38 ERA, and any healthy reinforcement matters this time of year. The bigger question is not whether he can help the rotation in the short term, but how the Blue Jays manage his workload as they try to balance immediate results with a pitcher they have every reason to protect. [Read more 🡒]