Jays Have To Take Advantage Of Softer July Schedule

July 10, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; National League infielder Jose Altuve (27) of the Houston Astros forces out American League catcher Joe Mauer (7) of the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning of the 2012 All Star Game at Kauffman Stadium. The National League won 8-0. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports via USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays went 17-9 in June.

The Jays 17-9 June was the first time they’ve had a winning June since 2007!

That great record has carried them all the way from 5th place in the AL East to drum roll please…….5th place in the AL East.

You start a month 23-32 in the AL East you can bet your rare end you’re not making up much ground after just one month.

But the Jays good play in June wasn’t for nothing as there at least somewhat within striking distance of a wild card spot now.

They just need another good month in July.

That would not only give them a good overall record but every August series won’t be do or die which would really be freaking pleasant since every series has felt that way since the end of April.

And boy do the Jays have the right schedule to have a good July record!

Teams so bad that if the Jays don’t sweep them you’ll be burning everything you own that would give away you being a Jays fan.

No the month certainly doesn’t start off easy with 4 home games against the Tigers.

But then the Jays play the Twins. Oh the Twins.

Jesse Crain the White Sox reliever has more strikeouts than almost any member of their starting rotation. Let that sink in.

Now that you’ve done that you won’t be surprised to know their last in all of baseball in pitching. There also just 17th in hitting.

The Jays also get to play the Dodgers at home from the 22nd to the 24th. If the Jays play against the other 2 NL West teams at home is any indication the Dodgers should be no problem.

The Dodgers are just 5 games under 500 now but with the talent on that team it might be a different story by then.

They also have 2 starters you may have heard of named Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. If the Jays run into them it may not be so easy.

But their offense is 29th in baseball. And wishful thinking would suggest the Jays would have at least one newly acquired starter in the rotation by then with the trade deadline only a week away at that point.

In the last weekend of month the Jays host a FOUR game series with the Astros. The Astros lost 107 games last season. They’ve already lost 53 games this season. They could actually be worse when the Jays see them because they could have traded some of their best players before the trade deadline as a part of their rebuild.

The Jays played only 4 games in total against teams with losing records in June. 2 against the Padres (first game was in May) and 2 against the White Sox (3rd game of the series was rained out) and still had a 17-9 record in the month.

With the schedule in July having a lot more soft spots there’s no reason why the Jays shouldn’t be able to have another great month and legitimately get into a playoff race.