5 most painful Blue Jays postseason moments in recent memory

Professional sports can give teams and their fans some of the most amazing highs. However, the flip side of this addictive feeling is that it can also make you experience the lowest of the lows.

The Blue Jays have been fortunate enough to win two World Series during their time in the league. However, it's been a long time since this last happened, with the second championship won 30 years ago. Fortunately, the 2023 season will present the team with another chance at a third, as they have successfully clinched a spot in the postseason.

Since then, the Blue Jays have only experienced heartbreak in their quest for more World Series glory. We delve into the history books, to count down the five most painful postseason moments in recent memory.

5) Wild Card woes in surreal circumstances (2020)

The 2020 season was a strange one, as professional sports leagues attempted to navigate the choppy waters of COVID-19. Major League Baseball was no different.

At one point it seemed conceivable there would no baseball altogether, as negotiations between the owners and players became contentious. Fortunately for fans the two sides eventually came to a compromise.

On the negative side, only 60 regular season games would be played by each team. On the plus side 16 teams would qualify for the playoffs -- eight in both leagues -- with all games played at neutral sites except the first round.

The expanded playoffs ultimately benefited the Blue Jays, with them going 32-28 and ranking as the seventh seed in the AL. In any other season they would have missed out.

The Blue Jays headed to Tampa Bay for their best-of-three playoff series versus the Rays. What ultimately made it painful, was being over-matched versus their divisional rivals, as they were swept 2-0.

The first game was the closer of the two, as the Rays won 3-1 in a contest where hits were at a premium. The Blue Jays did not manage one until the sixth inning, had five in total -- the Rays had just four -- and scored their solitary run in the eighth, when they were already down 3-0.

Any hopes of getting back into the series were dashed early in Game 2, courtesy of a six-run scoring blitz by the home side in the second inning. The Blue Jays could not recover, as the Rays went on to win 8-2 and move on to the second round.