We don't see too many playoff clinchers in these parts. We could have had one here Wednesday but it will have to wait for at least one more night.
Baseball's nomads found an unlikely home in Buffalo for the summer, and the Toronto Blue Jays appear headed for the postseason. It seems more of a question of when rather than if.
The Blue Jays could have wrapped a playoff berth Wednesday but that chance went away when the Los Angeles Angels stayed alive with a 5-2 win at San Diego, a game that finished with Toronto in the third inning of its matchup against the New York Yankees.
Just 67-95 last season, the Blue Jays are still in excellent shape for the second American League wild card berth.
"I'm really proud of my team being in this position at this time, having a chance to clinch a playoff spot," manager Charlie Montoyo said on his pregame video call late Wednesday afternoon. "It's great. Nobody expected us to be here at this moment and I've very proud. You can feel the vibe in there. They feel it. It's a great experience."
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Here's a look at the standings after the Angels game as teams move through the final five days of the 60-game season:
| 1 |  TB (E-1) | 36 | -20 | |
| 2 |  CWS (C-1) | 34 | -21 | |
| 3 |  OAK (W-1) | 33 | -21 | |
| 4 |  MIN (C-2) | 34 | -22 | |
| 5 |  NYY (E-2) | 32 | -23 | |
| 6 |  HOU (W-2) | 28 | -27 | |
| 7 |  CLE (WC) | 31 | -24 | |
| 8 |  TOR (WC) | 28 | -27 | |
| -- |  LAA | 26 | -31 | |
| -- |  SEA | 24 | -31 | |
| -- |  BAL | 23 | -32 | |
| -- |  DET | 22 | -31 |
The Blue Jays have already eliminated Baltimore on the basis of head-to-head record (6-1) and Detroit on the basis of better division record (18-17 vs. 11-24). Los Angeles is 19-21 in its division and Seattle is 17-18. The Mariners needed the Blue Jays to lose to the Yankees to stay alive.
After doing very little against Gerrit Cole in Tuesday's 12-1 loss to the Yankees, the Blue Jays had another tough task Wednesday against Yankees veteran Masahiro Tanaka, who is 3-2 this season and 14-5 against Toronto in 22 career starts. The Blue Jays will be starting trade deadline acquisition Robbie Ray (2-5).
"We're really focused on Tanaka and focused on winning this game first," said Toronto infielder Cavan Biggio. "We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We still have work to do tonight but once we get there we'll be excited. You can feel it in the air. We just want to have fun tonight and take care of business."
Tuesday's loss eliminated the Jays from contention to host this year's best-of-three wild-card series in Buffalo. The top four seeds get homefield advantage before the winners head to the American League bubble sites in Los Angeles and San Diego.
The last time we had a clinching of any sort in Sahlen Field was the Bisons' Governors Cup-winning game over Richmond on Sept. 17, 2004. The last time the Herd wrapped up a playoff berth downtown was on Aug. 30, 2002, when a 7-4 win over Rochester cemented the International League wild card berth.
In terms of playoff berths for other Buffalo sports, the last time the Sabres clinched one was at then-First Niagara Center over Philadelphia on April 8, 2011. The Bills haven't clinched a playoff berth at home since the 1990s. The Bandits are the only real playoff regular in town, with 22 trips to the National Lacrosse League postseason in their 28 seasons and four NLL championships. Their last playoff clincher in KeyBank Center was a 2016 win over Rochester.
