NOT IN THE CARDS Blue Jays take care of business but playoff push falls just short
Author of the article:
Rob Longley
Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays and teammates leave the field after defeating the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021 in Toronto. Photo by MARK BLINCH /GETTY IMAGES Article content All they wanted was a chance.
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Article contentA chance to take one of the best offences in baseball to a 163rd game and perhaps beyond.
A chance to prove that one of the more impressive turnarounds in club history was the real thing and worthy of competing against the top teams in the American League.
And most importantly, the Blue Jays wanted a chance to show why they believe they might just be one of the most talented teams in all of baseball right now.
With another awesome display of power, the Jays destructively took care of their business with a 12-4 win over the Orioles Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.
Then it all painfully fell apart thanks to incredibly dramatic victories from not one, but two of their American League East rivals, who each scored ninth-inning wins to slam the Jays season to a halt.
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Article contentFirst, it was the New York Yankees, scoring the only run of the ball game in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0.
Then it was the Boston Red Sox, down 5-1 at one point of the game, scoring three in the seventh and then riding a two-run Rafael Devers homer in the ninth to down the Nationals 7-5.
Just like that, 91 wins wasn’t enough for the Jays, who had surrendered control of their own destiny on their final road trip of the season.
Winning six of their final eight games left them a game behind the Red Sox and Yankees, who will play in the wild-card game on Tuesday.
The Jays came into this one looking to light it up on offence like they had done so many times this season, barraging the Orioles with four home runs,
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Article contentThey didn’t waste any time, either, with George Springer â€" signed for $150 million US in the off-season with the hope of having an influence in big October moments â€" led off the game with a homer.
Springer danced around the bases, turning the sellout crowd of 29,942 under the closed roof dome into a frenzy. It was nothing like the reaction to his sixth career Grand Slam in the third, which triggered the rout.
There was also a Vlad Guerrero Jr. bomb in the second â€" his 48th of the season and more from Marcus Semien â€" his 45th in the fifth inning.
With the Jays up 9-1 after the third, it was increasingly difficult to focus on what was happening between the Rogers Centre lines.
So when the Nationals went up 5-1 over the Red Sox over in D.C. and minutes later the Jays increased their lead to 11-2, the trip to Boston was looking extremely promising.
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Article content
George Springer Blue Jays drops his bat after hitting a grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning. GETTY IMAGES Coming into the weekend series held no guarantees for the Jays â€" especially when they had to rely on help from teams trying to knock off their playoff-bound division rivals.
The Rays tried to help, winning the first two against the Red Sox, but couldn’t hold the lead late in Sunday’s contest.
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While the season will ridiculously be seen as a failure by some, it was anything but.
With 91 wins, it was just the second time the Jays topped 90 since their World Series win in 1993. Furthermore, it’s an extremely promising move forward from the 95-loss campaign from two years ago, the last real MLB season.
SIMMONS SAYS: Blue Jays need to find a way to keep Semien in the fold 
Blue Jays destroy Orioles to take playoff push into final game of season 
Wild ride continues as Blue Jays take care of business with win over O's The wounds from this one may take some time to heal for manager Charlie Montoyo’s group, especially when so many of the early-season bullpen issues are dissected.
But a team that had to shuffle between Dunedin, Buffalo and finally Toronto for its home games made a torrid run to the wire only to come up just short.
The Jays certainly responded to playing in front of real home crowds since moving to the Rogers Centre on July 30 and compiling a 25-11 record at the downtown stadium since.
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