BRING ON THE YANKEES
One win separates Jays from wild card with Yankees on deck
George Springer celebrates his fifth-inning home run with Blue Jays teammate Marcus Semien during Toronto’s 5-2 win over the Twins on Sunday. Next up: A three-game series with the New York Yankees — beginning Tuesday at the Rogers Centre — that could go a long way toward deciding the Jays’ playoff fate.
MINNEAPOLIS—If there’s one thing the Blue Jays made clear this weekend at Target Field, it’s that they’re not going down without a fight.
After dropping the first pair of games of a crucial series against the Minnesota Twins, they bounced right back by taking the next two. Now it’s time to bring on the New York Yankees in a series that begins Tuesday at the Rogers Centre and could decide whether the year ends in disappointment or continues with a wild-card game.
NEXT: TUESDAY VS. YANKEES
The standings indicate otherwise — because they’re still not that close to being officially eliminated — but make no mistake about it, the last two were must-win games for the Jays. The front office knew it, the coaching staff knew it and players had been admitting as much on the record.
Losing either of those to the Twins would have meant the Jays likely would have needed to win all of their remaining six to have any shot at the post-season. Instead, they enter Monday’s off-day trailing the Red Sox by a single game for the second wild card, after Boston’s 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday night.
A series win over New York is still required, but a three-game sweep might not be necessary, even though it’s obviously the preferred outcome. Two or three games back with six to play would have been an uphill battle. Trailing by one seems a lot more manageable, and gives the Jays some margin for error the rest of the way.
They don’t have to be perfect over the final week, but they’ll have to be
6
Games remaining, all at home: vs. Yankees (3, starting Tuesday) and Orioles (3, starting Friday) 87-69
Record for Danny Jansen and the Jays heading into final week of the regular season
to it.
The two wins in Minnesota were essential and the upcoming games against the Yankees, a team the Jays have gone 10-6 against this season, will come as part of the biggest series of the year.
“It’s massive to win these two games, split, after the first two tough losses. It’s huge,” said Jays catcher Danny Jansen, who hit a three-run homer in the top of the second to give the Jays a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish. “To go back, 30,000 fans in Toronto, finishing our last six games at home, it’s massive.”
On Saturday, the Jays turned to ace Robbie Ray to snap a mini three-game losing streak, and the following day it was Alek Manoah who kept the ball rolling. The 23-year-old had never pitched above low-A ball prior to this year, but he gave the appearance of a seasoned veteran in his second-to-last outing of the season.
Manoah opened by allowing the first two Twins batters to reach base and, after a sacrifice bunt, there were two men in scoring position with one out. Considering the stakes, a lot of pitchers with Manoah’s lack of experience would have crumbled under the pressure. He managed to bounce back with relative ease, striking out the next two to escape the inning unscathed. Talk about poise.
Jansen’s three-run shot followed in the top of the second, and just like that the Jays went from a team on the ropes to one that is riding high again in advance of a series against their division rivals.
Manoah pitched into the sixth, allowing just two earned runs on five hits while striking out eight and departed with a 4-2 lead.
The bullpen took it the rest of way, including 1 1 ⁄ scoreless 3 innings from closer Jordan Romano, who picked up his 21st save of the year. George Springer also homered, his second in as many days, as he continues to bounce back from a lengthy cold spell.
“Every time I take the mound, in my head, it’s a mustclose win game,” said Manoah, who improved to 8-2 with a 3.35 ERA in the win. “Showing up every day, competing as hard as we can, staying in that routine and staying within myself is the biggest thing.”
The Jays have been counted out so many times this season that it’s almost hard to keep track. The possibility of the post-season certainly didn’t look promising a month ago when the Jays were 9 1 ⁄ back of 2 the Yankees and 6 1 ⁄ behind 2 the Red Sox.
A run of 16 wins in 20 games to open September then made it seem like the post-season was inevitable until the hiccup in Minneapolis caused the landscape to change once again. It has been a wild ride over the last several weeks, and one the Jays seem intent on seeing through right until the very end.
The Jays have two series remaining, against the Yankees and last-place Orioles. After a stop in Toronto, the Yankees close out the year against a first-place Rays team that will be setting itself up for the
American League Division Series, while the Red Sox have the easiest path of all with matchups against Baltimore and Washington.
After the 2-2 series with the Twins, the Jays can no longer be considered clear-cut favourites to win a wild-card spot, but with the standings this tight it remains anyone’s game.
“I’ve been feeling like that since we came from the west coast,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said of the must-win atmosphere.
“It’s been like that. It’s funny, but we just have to win.
“I’m so proud of this team, to be where we are right now. People were talking about pressure, pressure. We’ve been doing that for more than a month, trying to win games every day. I’m proud of this team and I’m looking forward to going home.”
One game back with six to play. This is what September baseball is all about, and by the end of the week we’ll know exactly what this young Jays squad is made of.