CLEVELAND — Five wins in their last six games. A series win over the team they’re chasing in the standings. Big swings from their franchise player.
The Toronto Blue Jays are right back in it now, one game under .500 and only 0.5 games behind the Guardians in the American League wild-card race after winning 6-3 Thursday to take two of three in a high-stakes series at Progressive Field.
“It feels incredible,” said starter Jose Soriano. “We’ve been fighting for that.”
The win also gives the 70-71 Blue Jays a tiebreaker advantage over Cleveland should the two teams end up with identical records after 162 games. Under .500 or not, the Blue Jays are on the cusp of the playoffs.
“It doesn’t matter where we are,” said Nathan Lukes. “We need to win regardless. Even if we were leading the AL. It just doesn’t matter. Just win.”
“It’s all about trying to win every game,” added manager John Schneider. “Wherever we end up record-wise, we want to end up in the post-season. So, however that comes to being, great.”
Without a pair of big swings from Lukes and some shutdown relief work, this win wouldn’t have been possible. Lukes drove in two runs with a pair of doubles while the bullpen combined for 4.1 scoreless innings on a hot and humid day in Cleveland.
All things considered it’s been quite a month for the Blue Jays. At the August 3 trade deadline, they moved veterans like Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and Jeff Hoffman, acknowledging that 2026 likely wasn’t their year.
Exactly one month later, the Blue Jays are as well positioned as they’ve been all season. There’s still work to do, of course, so pressure will follow them to Kansas City and Sacramento while their road trip continues. But there are reasons for optimism as they head west.
First and most importantly, they’re winning again. They’ve followed up a 17-11 August with a 2-1 start to September. From here, they’ll have chances to build more momentum with series against two of the American League’s three worst teams.
Beyond the wins, some key Blue Jays are playing better with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leading the way. After a three-hit, five-RBI game Wednesday, he had a walk and a sacrifice fly in Thursday’s win. The swings are looking better lately with loud contact that could transform this lineup if it lasts.
Speaking outside the visiting clubhouse after the series, Guerrero Jr. said his double Wednesday and sacrifice fly Thursday felt as good as his latest home run — maybe even better. And beyond his own performance, he said he’s doing his best to lead his younger teammates.
“We’re all human beings,” Guerrero Jr. said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “There’s a lot of ups and downs and obviously this year has not been my year or the year I wanted. But I talk (to have) good communication with the coaching staff and players.
“Basically just tell them ‘hey, it’s not going my way right now, but stay with me. Stay with me. I’m going to continue to keep working hard and at the end I’ll be there for you guys.'”
Some reinforcements are coming, too. First, it’ll be Jameson Taillon starting Friday against the Royals but Trey Yesavage is set to pitch off a mound soon, keeping him in play for the end of the season. That pitching depth can help the Blue Jays withstand games like this, where Soriano allowed three runs while covering just 4.2 innings.
It’s even possible some offensive help could be coming with Anthony Santander progressing closer to a triple-A rehab stint as soon as next week — though it wouldn’t be prudent to assume anything of him just yet.
In the meantime, they’ll continue relying on the likes of Lukes, who felt his swings improved as the series progressed.
“The first day here, nothing was working for me,” Lukes said. “Then I got lucky and got a hit off of position player. Then today, I was able to see the ball better and get some hits.”
Of course there will be challenges, too. Guerrero Jr. must find ways to sustain this — something he’s struggled to do five months into the 2026 season. And even if he’s hitting again, this offence ranks bottom three in MLB in runs, home runs and on-base percentage.
Plus, with Taillon and Spencer Arrighetti covering two of their five rotation spots, there’s still significant uncertainty in the Toronto rotation as both pitchers spent time on the injured list last month.
And as well as they’ve played, the Blue Jays are still below .500 and out of the playoffs, all of which means there’s still work to be done, still only so many losses to play with.
But in a weak American League, the Blue Jays are a team to be reckoned with again. All that stands between them and October baseball is a few more weeks like this – if only they can keep it rolling.
“In baseball, you don’t get that many opportunities,” Guerrero Jr. said. “But when you have one, you’ve got to take advantage of it. And that’s who we are. We’ve been taking advantage of those little opportunities and they’ve been working good for us.”