For most of Sunday afternoon’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, it looked like the Jays and their fans would have to be satisfied with taking two of three from the weekend set. After all that wouldn’t be too disappointing as Toronto did clinch their first trip to the postseason. But a 4-1 Tampa lead, with the Jays’ bats, is never considered an insurmountable deficit.
Sure enough, four runs over the
last four innings, and solid bullpen work was just the recipe for another Blue
Jays’ victory, their 90th of the season. It’s the first time the
team has hit the 90 win mark since their 1993 World Championship season.
It was the long ball that got
the Jays back into the game in the bottom of the sixth. After a one-out walk by
Edwin Encarnacion, first baseman Justin Smoak hammered a 3-2 pitch over the
wall in right for a two-run home run to trim the Tampa lead to 4-3.
A Kevin Pillar double with two
out in the eighth scored pinch runner Dalton Pompey to tie the score at four
and it was MVP candidate Josh Donaldson who launched a home run ball to left in
the bottom of the ninth to walk off the Rays.
After an average start by Mark
Buehrle, the Jays’ bullpen shut down the Rays for the final three innings. Liam
Hendriks, Alex Sanchez and Brett Cecil (who picked up the win) were only
touched for one Tampa hit (that was given up by Hendriks.)
Combine this win with the 5-3
squeaker on Friday night and the 10-8 slugfest on Saturday (high-lighted by two
home runs by Jose Bautista), and it all translated into a Blue Jays’ sweep on
the final home series of the regular season. The Yankees, who took three out of
four from the Chicago White Sox, dropped a half-game over the weekend and now
sit four games out. Both teams have seven games left to play, leaving the Jays’
magic number at four.
They now hit the road for four
games against the Baltimore Orioles and three against Tampa to finish the
regular season. The Yankees have four at home against the Boston Red Sox then
head to Baltimore for three.
Division Races:
Clinches, Magic Numbers and What’s Ahead
American League East: As I mentioned,
the Jays have clinched at least the top Wild Card seed and have a magic number
of four to clinch the division. The Yankees currently hold down the top Wild
Card spot and have a magic number of three to clinch their spot in the
postseason.
AL Central: The Kansas City Royals have
already clinched the central and are fighting with Toronto to secure the top
spot overall in the American League and with it, home field advantage
throughout the playoffs. The Minnesota Twins are in a tight race with the Los
Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins for the final wild card spot. They currently
sit 1 ½ games behind the Houston Astros.
AL West: The Texas Rangers are in first
place, but only 2 ½ ahead of Houston after the Astros took the final two games
of the weekend set between the two. Texas magic number to clinch the division
is five. The Astros hold the second wild card spot, but only have a half-game
ahead of the Angels.
National League East: The New York Mets
have already won the east and will likely play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the
NLDS. All that’s left is to determine who will have home field advantage.
NL West: The Dodgers lost on Sunday,
but have a six game lead over the San Francisco Giants and a magic number of
two.
NL Central: The Cardinals, Pirates and
Cubs have all assured themselves of a place in the postseason. The Cards are
currently in first, but only three games ahead of the streaking Pirates. The
Cubs are faltering slightly and cannot catch St. Louis (7 ½ games behind). They
will likely have to be satisfied with the second wild card. The Cards magic
number to clinch the central over Pittsburgh is five.
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