Blue Jays: Looking at the remaining games on the year

The Toronto Blue Jays will not have an easy schedule down the stretch. To secure a playoff spot, they will need to go through each of their AL East division rivalries. The Blue Jays have a 4-game series coming up against the Rays, three against the Yankees, three against the Red Sox, and finish the season with three games against the Orioles. Which of these series do the Blue Jays need to win to secure a playoff spot, or which one matters the most?

Blue Jays are six and a half games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East and have a 2.5-game lead over the Rays for first place in the Wild Card Race.

The series against the Rays and the Yankees will show us who the Blue Jays are made of down the stretch. They are 7-8 against the Rays this season and 7-9 against the Yankees. After driving in 18 runs against the Phillies on Tuesday, the Jays’ chances are looking good against them because the bats continue to produce. It’s the most runs they scored since September 10th against the Texas Rangers, when they tacked on 11 runs.

The Blue Jays have 13 games left on the season, all of them being against AL East rivals. How does the rest of the season shape up?

Rays can be one of those teams that can be pesky in terms of ruining the party and making you sweat every inch of it. The Blue Jays will need to win three of the four in that series. During their last meeting, the Rays annihilated the Blue Jays with the final score of 11-0 at home but they took the series 3-2. After how the last game finished, it’s payback time! A statement must be made that they deserve to be in the playoffs and that you should fear them.

The Yankees were one of the hottest teams in baseball in the first half. After the All-Star break, they began to crumble, but recently they are starting to pick things up again slowly. Injuries and lack of production played a factor, but you never know what to expect out of the Yankees because their lights have been switching on and off (and Aaron Judge has been fantastic). Therefore, the Jays can’t miss a beat and must take advantage of every little thing during the upcoming three-game series.

Blue Jays have dominated the Red Sox all season long, which is quite surprising because the Sox have been a franchise for several years now to fight and come back from adversity. The Sox are not going to the playoffs this season, but they could make the Jays’ life a little complicated if they get overconfident. The Blue Jays are 13-3 against the Sox this season.

The Orioles have been one of this season’s biggest surprises and an incredible story. They are still in rebuild mode, but that’s a team that’s coming in the future. They have some solid pieces, and they have challenged the Jays this year. Both teams have split victories through 16 games (8-8). Jays will end their season facing the Orioles.