TORONTO – These September games of consequence are hard enough to win even without having to overcome misplays minor and major, not to mention the oxygen-sucking pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League home run record of 61 spotlighted beyond proportion.
Yet there the Toronto Blue Jays were Wednesday night, one win plus a Baltimore Orioles loss at Boston away from locking up a wild-card berth, fighting through more self-inflicted wounds, a dominant Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge’s milestone swing, tagged historic a touch too liberally.
The way it ended, an 8-3 New York Yankees victory that completed a series win a day after they clinched the American League East, left the Blue Jays hanging with a magic number of one thanks to Boston beating Baltimore 3-1.
Their clinch could come as early as Thursday afternoon, if Nate Eovaldi and the Red Sox can complete a three-game sweep of the Orioles and Mike Baumann on a Blue Jays off day. Otherwise, the celebrations will have to wait until Friday when Boston arrives for a three-game series.
Far more pertinent over the coming days is where they finish in the wild-card race, with the carrot of a home series should they maintain their hold on the top spot. Still, closing things out is no simple task, underlined by how the Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Orioles were all 5-5 in their past 10 games while the Seattle Mariners, despite the softest schedule of the bunch, were 3-7 heading into Wednesday’s action.
The Blue Jays remain 1.5 games up on the Rays for first in the wild-card race after Tampa lost 2-1 to Cleveland in 10 innings Wednesday night.
“You can kind of relate it to saying that anyone can get the last three outs in the ninth inning – no matter what, it’s just a different animal,” interim manager John Schneider said of playing meaningful September baseball. “When you’re so close to getting to where you want to get, yeah, there’s nerves and there’s excitement and all the stuff that goes into it. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing or you’re facing. You have to have a level of focus that is just unwavering in every game, on every pitch. If you can do that, you’re usually in a good spot. But it’s definitely a different atmosphere and it’s a different feeling when these games are going on, for sure.”
An electric Rogers Centre crowd of 37,008 took the ride with the Blue Jays on a Wednesday night that had post-season vibes and so many of the ills they’ve tried to avoid.
Mitch White’s first inning included walks to Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera to open the game that fueled a three-run rally. Immediately after they erased that early deficit with a three-run sixth that started when Danny Jansen’s solo shot broke up five perfect innings from Cole, Aaron Hicks opened the seventh with a single before Judge lined the eighth straight sinker he saw from Tim Mayza into the Blue Jays bullpen for a two-run shot destined for endless media loops. To compound matters, a wild pitch moved Oswald Peraza into scoring position and he scored on Harrison Bader’s base hit, which rolled under Jackie Bradley Jr.’s glove. Two more runs crossed in the ninth when Adam Cimber fielded a Bader comebacker and threw wildly to the plate where a sure out awaited.
That the mess came the day after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. accepted responsibility for a lazy out on the bases during Tuesday’s 5-2 loss that ended a rally is all the more maddening.
Schneider said before the game that “when we play clean and take care of things that should be taken care of, physical errors aside, we’re just as good as anybody in the league,” and then for a second straight night his team didn’t do the minimum needed.
The Yankees, fielding a B-lineup with Judge on top, bled White after the consecutive walks, getting a groundball RBI singles from Josh Donaldson and Peraza before a Marwin Gonzalez sacrifice fly made it 3-0 in the first.
Cole took the advantage and ran with it for five perfect frames until Jansen opened the sixth with his 14th homer of the season. Whit Merrifield followed with a single, Bradley walked and after George Springer lined out to right, Bo Bichette’s infield single made it a one-run game. A Cole balk led to a Guerrero sacrifice that fly tied it 3-3.
A Teoscar Hernandez smash to centre tracked down by Bader left Bichette at second to end the sixth and Judge’s moment, avoided the previous two nights with very careful pitching, followed. Mayza challenged him three times near the heart of the plate, with the third one leaving the yard at 117.4 m.p.h. and bouncing into the waiting arms of Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann.
The Yankees gathered to meet him outside the dugout after he circled the bases while an appreciative crowd stood and cheered, a second opposition celebration at the dome after the AL East title was won Tuesday.
With five losses in their past eight games, all against post-season contenders, the Blue Jays have been reminded time and again of how little margin there is against the best clubs. They aren’t the only ones feeling the heat, as after a 5-0 loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray said his Mariners need “to stop looking at the (out of town) scoreboard.”
“If it was my choice, we’d turn that thing off,” he said, as relayed by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. “Because we need to play our brand of baseball. We need to go out every day and try to win that day.”
