The Toronto Blue Jays could hardly have imagined this situation would come to pass, but it’s here, and they have to deal with it.
With only 12 games to go in the regular season, the Blue Jays held a five-game lead on the New York Yankees atop the American League East. But eight games later, that lead has completely evaporated, as the two teams concluded play on Wednesday night in a tie at the top of the division at 90-68.
Toronto still owns the tiebreaker, so it just has to match New York’s record for the final four games to secure a division title. But all of the momentum is suddenly on the Yankees’ side, and in their series against the Boston Red Sox this week, the Blue Jays have been allowing their frustration to show.
Superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. became the embodiment for the Blue Jays’ frustration on Wednesday night, when he was exasperated after a called third strike in the bottom of the seventh inning and got himself ejected by home-plate umpire Gabe Morales.
Following Toronto’s 7-1 defeat, Guerrero didn’t have much in he way of solutions other than Toronto needing to start turning L’s into W’s.
“We’ve just got to win games. Win games,” Guerrero said through a club interpreter, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “Obviously, we haven’t been playing like we were playing and we haven’t been hitting like we were hitting. We’ve got to get back to that and start winning games.”
Guerrero is a tone-setter for this offense, and his struggles at the plate have been a key reason for the slide. In Toronto’s last seven games, six of which have been losses, he’s 4-for-26 (.154) with one walk and one double, good for an OPS of just .377.
The Blue Jays conclude their three-game set with Boston on Thursday before taking on the Tampa Bay Rays for the final three home games of the season, and every loss from here on out is an opportunity for the Yankees to pounce.
Most of all, the Blue Jays need to stop feeling sorry for themselves, or aggrieved by the umpiring crew, and lock in on driving the baseball again. Do that, and they’ll still be in a decent spot.
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