Blue Jays AL East Recap: A tight race brewing

Each week, Jays Journal will take a look at the bigger picture of the AL East to help frame not only where the Blue Jays are in the standings, but why they are there.

Baltimore Orioles: 63-47
Toronto Blue Jays: 63-49
Boston Red Sox: 60-50
New York Yankees: 56-55
Tampa Bay Rays: 45-65

The Toronto Blue Jays managed to hold on to sole possession of second place, and the highest Wild Card seed, despite struggling for offense all week. The Blue Jays were able to win a four-game set against the Astros to start the week, only to drop the weekend set against the Kansas City Royals.

The Blue Jays are now a game behind the Orioles for first and two games ahead of the Red Sox for second. Despite coming off a four-game win streak the Blue Jays were only able to muster 17 runs all week, an average of less than three a game.

Toronto’s offence was not the only part of the Blue Jays team that struggled, they also received relatively poor starts from Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman to end the week, and the bullpen faltered on multiple occasions. Jays newcomer Fransico Liriano was very strong in his debut, despite not getting the win. The Jays will look for a revival against division foe the Tampa Bay Rays to start the week.

Final Takeaway:

Despite struggling at times, the Blue Jays have entrenched themselves in the thick of the AL East, better yet they’ve outplayed the Boston Red Sox into second place. If the Blue Jays can find the offensive spark they had before the All-Star break, they could easily take command of the division down the stretch run.

Next: Looking at the Orioles and Red Sox atop the division