The Blue Jays left California with a 5-4 mark over nine games in nine days, but the final stop was the one that stung. Toronto dropped a 2-0 decision to the Athletics on Wednesday, and what looked like a decent road trip still ended with a missed chance to gain ground in the American League Wild Card chase.
At 73-74, Toronto is sitting one game behind the final Wild Card spot. That matters even more because the stretch that just wrapped included series against Cleveland, Kansas City and West Sacramento, and the Blue Jays had a four-game winning streak mixed in. Still, with the last two series coming against two of the weaker teams in the AL, the sense is that Toronto could have and should have squeezed out at least one more win.
“It was a frustrating way to end the otherwise pretty good road trip,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters after the game.
The offense never found a rhythm against an Athletics bullpen day. Toronto managed only six hits, struck out nine times and went 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position. The Blue Jays had a couple of chances to break through, but the key swings never landed.
Vladimir Guerreo Jr. was right in the middle of one of those moments. In the top of the fifth, with runners on the corners, one out and Toronto trailing 2-0, he jumped at the first pitch and rolled into a 1-4-3 double play to kill the inning. Later, in the top of the eighth, he sent a high drive deep to left field, only to see it caught at the warning track.
Schneider was asked about Guerrero's struggles in those spots and said, "In every situation, not just him, everyone, when you have some traffic out there, it's just getting a good pitch to hit. I think that no one wants to do that more than Vlad. And a lot of times, him or anyone, it's kind of waiting for a pitch you can do a little bit more with.”
The frustrating part for Toronto is that the standings are so tight this late in the year that every lost chance gets magnified. The Blue Jays would have been tied with the Guardians had they found one more win on this trip. Instead, they’re still chasing, though they did at least get a break from an unlikely source on Wednesday.
Baltimore, also hanging around the Wild Card picture, hammered Cleveland with an eight-run third inning on the way to a 9-5 victory. The Orioles improved to 71-76 and moved to three games back of the final Wild Card position, even with a 3-7 record in their last 10.
That Orioles win prevented the Guardians from moving two games ahead of Toronto. It also kept the Blue Jays from falling any further behind in a race that remains crowded with 15 games left to play.
Toronto did earn an important tiebreaker edge over Cleveland by winning the season series, which would matter if the teams finish with identical records after 162 games. But Wednesday’s loss to Oakland was still a wasted opening, and it also kept the Texas Rangers in the mix at 72-74, even after Texas fell 3-2 to the Seattle Mariners.
Thursday, Sept. 10, is mostly quiet around the Wild Card race, with Texas and Seattle the only teams still finishing up their three-game set. Then the calendar flips into a weekend that brings fresh chances for Toronto to make up ground, while the scoreboard watching continues.
The Blue Jays open a three-game series against the Orioles at Rogers Centre on Friday, Sept. 11. Meanwhile, the Guardians head to Minnesota for three games, and the Rangers are in Arizona.
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