The Toronto Blue Jays are refusing to die in the 2021 MLB playoff race.
The Jays have been one of the best teams in baseball in the second half of the season, and they’re making an extremely admirable push to try to steal a Wild Card bid in the American League.
They’ve also helped their cause this week by beating the New York Yankees in three straight games.
They’ll look to make it four straight tonight.
Going into this four-game series, everyone knew that there were massive implications on the line.
A four-game sweep is always a lofty expectation, but that’s what Jays fans were hoping for.
And that’s what they might get.
Toronto Has Pulled To Within 1.5 Games Of New York In The Wild Card Race
Toronto’s huge week so far has done wonders for the team’s Wild Card positioning.
At the moment, the Blue Jays are 1.5 games back of the Yankees for the final playoff spot in the AL.
The @BlueJays get their 7th straight win to pull within 1.5 games of a wildcard spot! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KvjlpX8tq1
— theScore (@theScore) September 9, 2021
That’s a very reasonable deficit to work with, and with the way the team is playing, folks shouldn’t be surprised if Toronto ends up in the postseason.
Tonight’s game could end up having massive ramifications.
Let’s talk about it.
Jose Berrios Will Look To Carry The Blue Jays To A Sweep Tonight
The Blue Jays traded for Jose Berrios for games like these.
Toronto gave up a massive haul at the deadline for the righty, and a lot of folks didn’t like the deal.
But if Berrios pitches the Blue Jays to a win tonight, it’s going to be hard to remain critical of the trade, especially considering how good the 27-year-old has been in his other starts with Toronto.
José Berríos, Filthy Curveballs…and Sword. ⚔️
And pitching with 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TGVZs5ky1Z— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 1, 2021
If the Jays get a win tonight, they’ll pull to within a half-game of the Yankees in the Wild Card race.
That would make for an insane final few weeks of the regular season.
For the Yankees, it’ll be Nestor Cortes Jr. on the mound in the series finale.
He has been thrust into a starting role lately, and he has been up for the task.
The lefty has a 2.83 ERA over nine starts this season.
It should be a fantastic pitching matchup tonight.
It’s arguably the biggest game of the season so far for both teams.
The Yankees And Jays Will Meet For One More Series Before The Year Ends
It’s possible that the Blue Jays simply have the Yankees’ number this year.
That’s how things have seemed over the past few days, anyway.
If that’s the case, New York won’t be looking forward to the next time it has to play Toronto.
That will take place during the final week of the regular season.
It’ll be a three-game set, and it’ll take place north of the border.
There’s a very real chance that that series will determine how the American League playoff picture shakes out.
The atmosphere at Rogers Centre will likely be incredible for that series.
It’ll be a must-watch.
But for right now, the Blue Jays and Yankees are focused on tonight’s matchup.
It sure is a big one.
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