Blue Jays, Rangers open crucial four-game series in Toronto
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The Toronto Blue Jays welcome their old rivals, the Texas Rangers to the Rogers Centre on Monday to open a four-game series that could decide the playoff fate of either club.
The Jays enter the series in the second Wild Card Spot, while the Rangers are on the outside looking in. They trail the Seattle Mariners by half a game for the final Wild Card spot and sit 1.5 games behind the Blue Jays.
The Jays are coming off a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals which allowed them to jump the Mariners in the playoff standings following Seattle’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. Toronto has now won six of its past seven games and feel like they are coming together at the right time.
“We’ve got great energy right now,” outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “We’re clicking at the right time and we just want to keep this thing going.”
The Rangers won two of three games over their weekend series with the Oakland Athletics but were unable to jump back into playoff position. Texas led or was tied for the lead the AL West lead since the first day of the season, falling out of the division lead for the first time on Aug. 27, in the midst of a stretch in which they lost 16 of 22 games from Aug. 13 to Sept. 6, just prior to the series against the A’s. They currently trail the Houston Astros by three games for the division lead.
“Each game is its individual game. We want to focus on that no matter who we’re playing,” former Blue Jays Marcus Semien said. “Standings are the standings. But if we focus on the task at hand and see where we’re at at the end, I think that’s a better plan.
According to Baseball Reference, the Blue Jays enter Monday’s game with an 82.5 per cent chance of making the postseason with 19 games remaining, while the Rangers have a 48.3 per cent chance with 20 games remaining.
The Blue Jays will have starter Chris Bassitt take the mound for Monday’s contest, followed by Hyun Jin Ryu, Yusei Kikuchi, and ace Kevin Gausman over the rest of the series. The Rangers will counter with Dane Dunning, Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery, and Nathan Eovaldi.
Following the Rangers series, the Blue Jays will finish their schedule with five series’ against AL East rivals, with three games against the Boston Red Sox, and six games against each of the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. The Jays will need to overcome their inter-division issues, as they have a 9-15 record against their upcoming division opponents (12-25 against the AL East overall) this season.
Toronto could receive a late season boost to the lineup, as third baseman matt Chapman took swings over the weekend as he works his way back from a finger injury. He said it's a 'day-to-day situation' but is aiming to return for the series against the Red Sox.
The Blue Jays are looking to make the Wild Card for the second straight season and the third time in the past four. The Rangers most recent playoff appearances came in 2015 and 2016, both ALDS losses to the Blue Jays