And so the magic number falls to two. This win brings the Jays to 92-68. The Yankees also won, keeping them in a tie for firs that the Jays win based on their head to head record. The Red Sox’ victory over the Tigers guarantees them either the second wildcard, or, if Detroit takes the next two and Cleveland wins at least once, the third, while as I write this the Mariners are in the process of losing to the Dodgers. If that holds, the AL East victor is guaranteed the top seed in the American League and we have these scenarios for the weekend:
- Jays wins + Yankees losses >= 2: Jays are the 1 seed in the AL and get a bye through the wildcard round to play the winner of the wildcard series that will pit either Cleveland or Detroit, the AL Central winner, against one of Boston, Detroit, Cleveland or Houston as the third wildcard.
- Jays wins +Yankees losses < 2: Jays are the first wildcard, most likely hosting Boston but possibly Detroit for a three game Wildcard series. The winner gets to go to Seattle for the Division Series.
Really they should just simplify things for themselves by winning out, IMO.
It looked, briefly, like we might have a shootout on our hands. George Springer lead off the bottom of the first with a line double, and Nathan Lukes brought him home to stake the Jays to an early 1-0 lead. The Rays struck back in the second, with back to back homers by Junior Caminero (his 45th, making him just the fifth player in history to reach that output by age 22, joining Vlad, Eddie Mathews, Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Bench) and Jonathan Aranda. A Daulton Varsho double and an Ernie Clement single evened it back up at two in the bottom half of the inning.
That proved to be most of the offense for the night, though. Shane Bieber and Adrian Houser traded scoreless third and fourth innings. Bieber was again clean in the fifth, but in the bottom half a Springer single and a Lukes homer saddled Houser with two more earned and the loss. It was an effective if unspectacular outing for Bieber in the end. He was lifted to begin the sixth, going five innings with two earned on five hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.
Mason Fluharty did a great job preserving the lead, pitching two innings of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Tommy Nance got two outs in the eighth but allowed a base runner and was pulled. Brendon little was wild, throwing a wild pitch and issuing a walk, but managed to get a fly out to escape with Toronto’s two run advantage intact.
It was a somewhat sweaty ninth inning, as has unfortunately often been the case for Jeff Hoffman. he walked the leadoff man, then issued another free pass with one away. A fielder’s choice put men on the corners with two out, and then Chandler Simpson stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Hoffman did get Yandy Diaz to ground out, though, and so secured the save.
Jays of the Day: Mason Fluharty (0.133), Nathan Lukes (0.270)
Less So: Nobody earns the bad award, though Vlad (1-5, with a key double play to prevent a big inning in the second) comes close
Trey Yesavage (0-0, 5.00) will make his third career start tomorrow, looking to replicate his electric debut (which came against the Rays) rather than his less successful outing last time in Kansas City. He’ll get a rematch against flame throwing, rec specs wearing swingman Joe Boyle (1-3, 4.40), who out-dueled him in that debut by tossing 6.0 innings of shutout ball. First pitch is slated for 3:07pm ET.
