Blue Jays: Playing at home could be the playoff difference maker this week

The Toronto Blue Jays began the 2021 season playing their home games in both Dunedin, Florida and Buffalo, New York before eventually returning home to Toronto once the federal government gave the club the go-ahead to play North of the border. After playing all of their home games in Buffalo last year, it was a welcome sight to see the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre after almost two years abroad.

Some players never even set foot in the Rogers Centre while such as Joe Panik and Tyler Chatwood while southpaw Hyun Jin Ryu had never pitched in Toronto since signing his four-year deal back in the 2019/2020 off-season.

Returning to Toronto to start a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on July 30th, the Blue Jays have crafted a 21-9 record at the Rogers Centre this season. They have swept the Royals, Cleveland Indians, and Oakland Athletics since their return home and have pretty much packed the house for every home game. The Jays have scored 151 runs since returning to T.O. and currently lead the league in multiple offensive categories such as OPS (.792), slugging (.462), and home runs (248) and second in terms of hits (1394) and batting average (.265).

The upcoming series against the Yankees will be the biggest of the year for the Blue Jays and will be in front of the home crowd at the Rogers Centre.

This week the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles come to town to finish the campaign, with the Yankees currently sitting ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card standings while the Jays sit on the outside looking in. This series against the Bronx Bombers will be critical for the Jays playoff hopes and the club will need to win all three games if they want to try and secure a postseason spot and leave less up to the baseball gods and out of town scoreboards.

The Yankees have not played the Blue Jays in Toronto this season but the last time these two clubs faced each other was in New York earlier this month. The Jays swept the pinstripes through their four-game series when the club was on a torrid run that brought them back into the playoff hunt. The tides have now changed, as the Blue Jays are still having a great month but are currently riding a 5-5 streak while the Yankees are currently 7-3 in their last ten games, sweeping the Boston Red Sox and putting themselves atop the AL Wild Card.

Playing in front of a home crowd is always a bonus and considering the capacity was recently increased from 15,000 to 30,000 people (fans plus staff), the Rogers Centre should be rocking and the loudest it has been all year as the Blue Jays face their AL East rivals.

With this series arguably being the most important of the year given the playoff implications, Blue Jays fans should arrive in droves and supporting their team as they try and take back their stake in the Wild Card rankings.

Simply put, the Blue Jays play better when they are in front of their home crowd and this upcoming series could be heavily influenced by the club playing at the Rogers Centre. The fact they are playing at home could be a game-changer as the season comes to a close and could see the Blue Jays heading into the postseason when the final bell goes this upcoming weekend.