Blue Jays officially bow out of playoff race with another lifeless offensive showing

They were two outs away from winning the World Series. Two, measly, outs. Instead, they lost one of the most heartbreaking Game 7's in baseball history and they won't even get a shot at redemption in 2026. The Toronto Blue Jays were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 23) after losing a 4-2 ball game to the Orioles in Baltimore.

Like much of the season, the Blue Jays offense was painful to watch. They managed ten hits against Baltimore pitching, but went 1-for-14 with Runners in Scoring Position. 42-year-old future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer battled valiantly over five innings, but gave up four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven.

One of the big differences? The Orioles hit a two-run home run in the fifth off the bat of Pete Alonso. It was one of just five hits in the ball game for Baltimore. Out of Toronto's ten hits, four of them went for extra bases, all doubles, but without the ability to get a ball to leave the yard, the Blue Jays were left empty handed once the Nathan Lukes struck out to end the ball game.

Blue Jays ugly habit of not cashing in prevails once again as team is officially eliminated from playoff contention

That was the fitting frustration of the afternoon, and really, of the entire season. The Blue Jays had plenty of opportunities, but once again failed to turn them into crooked numbers that could change a game. Ten hits should be enough to put real pressure on an opponent, especially with the season on the line. Instead, Toronto kept finding ways to leave runners stranded.

With runners in scoring position this season, the Blue Jays produced a 92 wRC+, which ranked 28th in MLB, along with a .313 on-base percentage that ranked 29th. For a team that spent parts of the summer trying to convince itself there was still a path back into the postseason picture, that simply was not good enough. The lack of finishing power was just as damaging. Toronto hit only 34 home runs with runners in scoring position, tied for 27th in the league.

Of the Blue Jays’ 149 home runs this season, 84 came with nobody on base, and their overall home run total ranked dead last in baseball, tied with the LA Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are playoff bound and might just be one of the World Series favourites and they found a way to score with limited power - something the Blue Jays did not. In fact, the Brewers have scored 806 runs, which is the second most in MLB.

On the day their playoff hopes officially disappeared, the Blue Jays never got the big swing the needed - a microcosm of their season long issues.

The season is technically not over. The Blue Jays still have more baseball to play later today (Sept. 23) as they are set to finish the second game of this day-night doubleheader. Then they will head home to play the Cincinnati Reds for three more games. What will follow is one of the longest winters in recent Blue Jays memory where the Blue Jays’ front office will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out what didn’t work and how to correct it before 2027.

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