For much of the season and throughout the Blue Jays’ postseason push the past several weeks, manager Charlie Montoyo has been preaching patience, refusing to put too much importance on any individual game while keeping sight of the bigger picture.

But with their backs against the wall and time running out fast, Montoyo was a lot more direct after Thursday night’s loss.

“We've just got to go one game at a time and win every game now, for sure,” the Jays’ skipper said. “So, take care of tomorrow and then we go from there.”

The Blue Jays sit one game back of both the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners after a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees, who have a two-game lead for the first AL wild-card spot with only the weekend to go.

“I’m proud of how this team played the Yankees in September. We played them seven times and beat them five. Of course, that’s two tough losses, but it’s tough to sweep people,” Montoyo said.

The timing couldn’t have come worse for probable Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. He looked to be cruising, ahead 2-1 in the sixth inning, but the heart of the Yankee order got to him in a big way, hitting three home runs and scoring four runs in four batters to take a three-run lead.

"They can hit. They've proven it all year," Ray told reporters after what could be his last start as a Blue Jay. "It's a tough lineup from top to bottom. They're a good hitting team for sure."

"He ended up giving up four hits. They just happened to be home runs," Montoyo said. "You have to give them credit for hitting the ball out."

The Yankees have been doing that a lot lately, especially in the middle of the order as they won for the eighth time in nine games. Aaron Judge’s shot off Ray in the sixth was his second of the game and his 38th of the season. Giancarlo Stanton has been held in check the past two games but combined for four home runs and 13 RBIs before that.

"It makes the plane ride home a little nicer, but we've got business to attend to tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

So, while the Yankees are well in control of their own fate, the Blue Jays will need some help to make the postseason regardless of how many games they win down the stretch. A sweep over the Baltimore Orioles, coupled with at least one loss from the Mariners and Red Sox, would get Toronto at minimum a chance at playing their way into the Wild Card.

The Red Sox finish out their season in Washington against the 65-94 Nationals. Seattle will host the 74-85 Los Angeles Angels, who have already announced they are scratching Shohei Ohtani from his scheduled start in the season finale.  

Toronto has gone 11-5 against the Orioles this year and will send left-hander Steven Matz to the hill Friday night at home with their season very much on the line.