Blue Jays Open Series in Cleveland Chasing Wild-Card Spot
Toronto arrives 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the American League's final playoff berth after sweeping Seattle.
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The Standings Gap
The Toronto Blue Jays begin a nine-game road trip in Cleveland tonight with a series against the Guardians, the team directly ahead of them in the American League wild-card race.
Cleveland holds a 1 1/2 game lead over Toronto for the third and final wild-card spot, the last of the three at-large playoff places in the American League. TSN lists the Guardians at 69-68.
CP24 reports that Cleveland also has one game in hand, with 25 games left in its regular-season schedule. TSN adds that the Baltimore Orioles sit between the two clubs at 68-69, a game behind the Guardians.
Recent Form
Toronto arrives on a three-game winning streak after sweeping the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, outscoring them 19-4 across the series according to CP24.
The Guardians have gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. They lost two of three to the Kansas City Royals in their most recent series but closed it out with an 11-1 win on Sunday.
TSN describes Seattle as the season's biggest underachiever, ahead of Toronto, and notes that several teams remain within reach of the third wild-card place.
Pitching Matchups
TSN reports that Cleveland will start its ace Gavin Williams on Tuesday against Blue Jays right-hander Spencer Arrighetti. Williams is 12-7 with a 3.98 earned run average and has 204 strikeouts in 156 innings, though he has given up 27 home runs, 17 of them solo shots.
Dylan Cease is scheduled to pitch Wednesday for Toronto against Joey Cantillo, with Jose Soriano set for Thursday. Cleveland's Thursday starter has not been announced.
TSN notes the Guardians are the only team currently above .500 left on Toronto's schedule. After Cleveland, the Blue Jays face Kansas City and then the Athletics.
What Toronto Needs
TSN calculates that winning every remaining series would leave the Blue Jays 16-8 over their final 24 games, finishing at 84-78, a record it says would very likely mean a playoff berth.
The same analysis says 82 or 83 wins would still give Toronto a good chance, while cautioning that the team has not played at that level this season. The stated concern is the starting pitching beyond Cease and Soriano.
How the series ends is not yet known. The reports published before first pitch do not include results.
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