Tuesday night’s loss to the Boston Red Sox put the Toronto Blue Jays in a highly uncomfortable position.
The Blue Jays (90-67), who have lost five of their last six games, suddenly led the American League East by just one game at the conclusion of play on Tuesday, as the New York Yankees (89-68) walked off the Chicago White Sox. Toronto owns the tiebreaker, but New York owns the much easier schedule.
It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. The Blue Jays were five games clear of the Yankees entering last Wednesday. But Toronto has to act fast to pick itself up off the mat.
Manager John Schneider is looking to make sure his team doesn’t collapse under the pressure of the moment, and one message he’s sending to his players is not to feel sorry for themselves.
“We know it’s going to come down to the wire, and we’ll continue to stay focused on what we have to do rather than anyone else,” Schneider told reporters, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. We’ve got another tough pitcher tomorrow in (Garrett) Crochet, so you’ve got to come ready and not say ‘woe is me’ about anything. Every game is going to be important.”
Toronto and New York have both clinched their playoff berths, but Schneider is still focused on the division — and the first-round bye that is virtually guaranteed with winning it.
“I don’t really see it as a test. Yes, these games are really important, but I think that when you’ve done it quite a bit, it kind of becomes natural and you just keep doing it,” Schneider said. “We know we’ve got five games left and we’ve got a one-game cushion to try to win the division. I don’t want to say we’re playing with house money — we’re not — because the goal is to win the division.”
Toronto will send embattled future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to the mound on Wednesday, after he allowed seven earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning his last time out. Meanwhile, Crochet, Boston’s ace, will take the mound looking to get the Red Sox within arm’s reach of clinching their own playoff spot.
When you have the lead, as the Blue Jays do, there’s no time for scoreboard-watching. The Yankees are going to do what they’re going to do, but in reality, no one can prevent the Jays from winning a division title but themselves.
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