The Toronto Blue Jays are enjoying the fact they’re not only a playoff team, but one that clinched a berth into the tournament with three games to spare.
The Blue Jays don’t know who they will play yet, but that doesn’t matter. The mystery of it all is giving manager Charlie Montoyo the luxury of setting up his pitching to his liking, lining things up the way he believes will give his club the best chance at winning a best-of-3 playoff series this week.
Toronto will either be the No. 5 or No. 8 seed when the first round of the American League playoffs begins on Tuesday. Who they face could determine who starts Game 1, and which pitchers make the postseason roster.
Toronto gave itself a chance to still finish second in the American League East and get the No. 5 seed by defeating the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2, Saturday night at Sahlen Field.
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In order to finish as the No. 5 seed, the Jays need to beat Baltimore on Sunday, and the New York Yankees need to lose at home to the Miami Marlins. If that happens, Toronto finishes second in the AL East – getting the tiebreaker via higher winning percentage in the last 20 intra-division games (Both teams split the 10-game season series and would be 23-17 in the division). A Yankees win Sunday means the Blue Jays will be the eighth seed no matter what they do in their game against the O’s.
A No. 8 seed means Toronto opens the postseason where it started the regular season, on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays. The No. 5 seed plays the fourth seed – the second-place finisher in the wild AL Central. That will be either Minnesota, Cleveland or the Chicago White Sox. Entering Saturday’s games, all three had chances of winning the division.
Since the Jays won’t know who they’ll face until late Sunday, Montoyo’s doing his best to keep his top pitching options available.
Staff ace Hyun-Jin Ryu, in all likelihood, will receive an extra day of rest after throwing more than 100 pitches for the first time this season in Thursday’s playoff clincher against the Yankees. He was a little sore Friday, but doing better Saturday, Montoyo said. That means he likely won’t go Game 1 (but never say never).
On Friday, Montoyo limited righty Taijuan Walker to 42 pitches and three innings of work. He struck out four and yielded no hits. He could be a candidate to start Game 1.
On Saturday, Montoyo scratched scheduled starter Matt Shoemaker in case he needs to be used Tuesday or Wednesday.
Lefty Robbie Ray, who threw a bullpen session Saturday, also could be an option for Game 1, especially if the Jays draw an opponent that’s heavy on left-handed hitters.
It’s good to have options.
“Yes, we’ve already communicated that with those guys,” Montoyo said of the pitching plan. “It’s a collective effort. Coaches get together and front office get together, and we talk about game plans. It’s everybody.
“We have enough arms. We can go as many innings as we need.”
Regardless of the approach, the Jays head into the postseason feeling good, as they should, considering they lost 95 games last year and started this campaign 7-11 before finding their collective mojo.
“With the confidence we have in the room, (winning or losing Sunday) isn’t going to really affect us before the playoffs,” Cavan Biggio said. “We’ve got a great, tight group.”
How they scored
The Jays' bats came to life late as Biggio’s two-out solo shot to right in the sixth broke up a no-hit bid by Orioles lefty John Means. Randal Grichuk lined a three-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the seventh and the Jays tacked on one more in the eighth.
Although Jonathan Davis went hitless as the ninth batter in the order, he had one of the more important at-bats of the game in the sixth inning against Means with Biggio on deck.
“Jonathan Davis really made him work for that out,” Biggio said. “That’s something we weren’t really doing the whole game. ... I can probably say confidently he doesn’t hang me a slider there if he really isn’t worn out from facing J.D.”
Grichuk’s homer came with no outs in the seventh off Hunter Harvey, after Teoscar Hernandez reached via hit by pitch and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an error.
For the Orioles, Jose Iglesias’s run-scoring double plated Austin Hays, who led off the eighth with a single. Ryan Mountcastle followed with a long RBI single to make it 4-2. The Jays added one in the bottom of the inning when Biggio scored on Guerrero’s fielder’s choice and an error on catcher Pedro Severino, who dropped the ball on what should have been an out at home.
More pitching
T.J. Zeuch started in place of Shoemaker and once again did a fine job in his third appearance of the season. After earning the win in relief Monday over the Yankees, he pitched five scoreless innings, yielding five hits. He kept his poise whenever the Birds threatened. Chase Anderson pitched two innings to earn his first win as a Blue Jay. Anthony Bass notched the last four outs for the save.
Odds and ends
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and reliever Ross Stripling each left the game with contusions. Gurriel suffered his in the second inning after fouling a ball off his foot. He was lifted in the sixth inning. Stripling took a liner off his right shin in the eighth and was replaced by Bass. ... Seven of Grichuk's 12 home runs this season have come against the Orioles. ... The Blue Jays made the playoffs without a single player who has been in the big leagues for 10-plus seasons, something that hasn't happened since 1915 (Phillies). The only other time that happened in MLB history (besides 1915 and this year) was 1912 (Red Sox).
Quotable
Montoyo on the goal for Sunday’s finale: “Everybody stays healthy.”
