The Toronto Blue Jays’ chances of winning the AL East Division are getting closer and closer.
The Blue Jays were able to defeat the Baltimore Orioles by a decisive 11-2 victory on Sunday, resulting in them sweeping their divisional opponent by a 3-0 final.
The Jays now have one four-in-a-row heading into a four-game series, which will begin against the Tampa Rays on Monday night. They are also four games ahead of the New York Yankees for the division lead.
As for the Yankees, they were unable to sweep the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, falling by a 6-4 final, an outcome that helps the Blue Jays in a big way. All of a sudden, their magic number to clinch the AL East is down to single digits.
Toronto’s ability to clinch the division is based not only on their wins, but also the Yankees’ losses. With the latter’s loss last night, the Blue Jays’ magic number is down to just nine heading into Monday’s series against the Rays.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the Jays’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now down to just five. That will be determined by their wins, as well as the Cleveland Guardians’ losses. The latter sits 2.5 games back of a wild-card spot with a record of 78-71. The Jays, meanwhile, boast a record of 87-62.
Current wild-card standings (mlb.com)
A playoff spot for the Blue Jays is all but guaranteed at this point, and the path to winning the division is very well within reach. Both they and the Yankees have 13 games remaining in the season, and the Jays hold the tiebreaker, should they wind up ending with the same number of wins.
In other words, this upcoming four-game series versus the 73-76 Rays is a crucial one when it comes to capturing their first division title since 2015.
Adding to the fun is that Monday’s game will see Trey Yesavage, the Jays’ top prospect and the 25th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, making the first start of his MLB career. The 22-year-old has made six appearances for Triple-A Buffalo this season (four starts), posting a 3.63 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.
Monday’s game is set to get underway at 7:35 p.m. EDT.
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