Rollercoaster Blue Jays Drop Series To Yankees As Playoffs Loom

Coming off their best stretch of the season, the Blue Jays dropped two games to the Yankees as the postseason race tightens, once again.

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Did you expect the rollercoaster to stop? You really thought the Blue Jays would stay hot, win a few more games, and ease into the postseason? 

After six months of ups and downs, the Jays still have a few pendulum swings left in them, and Wednesday's loss to the Yankees was nothing new in a topsy-turvy September stretch.

"You're taking it one day at a time really," manager John Schneider said. "They know that."

Last homestand, the Blue Jays hit their lowest note of the season, swept away by the Rangers and pushed out of a postseason position. But, as they have all year, the Jays followed the down with plenty of up, rattling off three-straight series wins and surging back into a commanding playoff spot. Then: hot streak, meet ice bath.

Naturally, with the Jays riding high and needing just three wins to secure their October ticket, the heater came to a screeching stop against the Yankees in Toronto. With Aaron Judge blasting homers and Yankee pitchers dealing shutouts, the Jays' recent momentum fell away fast as Toronto dropped the first two games against New York. With just two hits on Wednesday, the Jays' offense managed just five total knocks and zero runs in the opening pair of losses.

Just like Kevin Gausman before him, José Berríos started out carving for the Blue Jays, matching the zeroes posted by the opposing pitcher and waiting for some run support. The righty walked off the field in the third, nodding his head as he stepped over the foul line. The run support never came.

"There were some good at bats strung together throughout the game," Schneider said. "And you know, a couple of balls that were just missed, a couple of deep counts, and just didn't really hit the pitch that we should."

After dueling zeroes for the first third of the game, Berríos made the first mistake. The righty's sinker caught a bit too much plate to the worst guy possible. New York's top slugger, Judge, lashed out at the pitch, launching a line-drive missile to the right field seats to open the scoring. An inning later, Giancarlo Stanton laced a two-run hit of his own before Judge added a second blast in the seventh. A six-run lead was plenty for Gerritt Cole, who carved through Toronto's bats for TK innings to seal his Cy Young campaign.

Toronto's second-straight loss to a Yankee team that's long been out of playoff contention wasn't back-breaking for the Blue Jays. They'll still head to sleep on Wednesday in a postseason position and have full control over their playoff futures. 

Really, the pair of losses was nothing new. It was the latest cold blip following a hot stretch, carrying on the seesawing Toronto's done for 150-plus games. But, with the playoff race tightening and October nearing. the Jays have four days to re-find the heat — and maybe keep long enough for a real run.

"We still want it. We want to make that happen, but obviously we have to win," Berríos said. "We still have four more games ... try to go home, get rest, and come tomorrow ready to win tomorrow's game."

Clinch Watch:

The Blue Jays entered Wednesday 1.5 games up on a playoff spot and as few as two days away from officially punching their ticket to the postseason. After Wednesday's loss, the earliest Toronto can clinch is late Thursday night, with:

Earliest Clinch: HOU>SEA Wednesday, TOR>NYY Thursday, TEX>SEA Thursday 

The Blue Jays can clinch a playoff spot regardless of outside outcomes by winning three of their final four games, as well.