In what felt like a must-win game, the Jays managed to avoid being swept by the Detroit Tigers and, along the way, narrowed the gap in the standings for the final American League wild-card spot.
asserted
Jays → feel → spot
Max Scherzer tossed five strong innings while Myles Straw and George Springer came up with a pair of timely RBI singles in the Jays’ 5-1 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.
asserted
Straw → toss → Centre
The win allowed the Jays to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Chicago White Sox for the third wild card.
asserted
Jays → allow → card
They remained two games back of the Cleveland Guardians, who moved a half-game above the White Sox in the AL Central.
asserted
who → remain → Central
Toronto owns the tiebreaker against Cleveland, but not Chicago.
asserted
Toronto → own → Cleveland
“I’ve been scoreboard-watching for a while,” said Jays manager John Schneider, whose team will enjoy an off-day Thursday before opening a three-game series in Texas.
asserted
team → watch → Texas
“I may take a break and just try to focus on going 1-0 every day with the Blue Jays.
uncertain
I → take → Jays
Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.
asserted
going → go → ?
I think if we can worry about us, that’s the best thing to do.”
asserted
that → think → us
A loss Wednesday would not have brought an end to the Jays’ season, but it would have come pretty close.
asserted
it → bring → season
Falling three games back of Cleveland, and 2 1/2 back of the White Sox, with just nine games remaining would have been an extremely difficult deficit to overcome.
asserted
Falling → fall → games
Wednesday’s victory means the Jays are still within striking distance.
asserted
Jays → mean → distance
Since they own the tiebreaker over the Guardians, they could reclaim a playoff spot if they make up the two-game gap.
uncertain
they → own → gap
If Chicago loses to the Tigers on Thursday, picking up two games on the White Sox would also result in a playoff spot.
asserted
picking → lose → spot
First, the Jays will need to win at least two of three games from the Rangers, who entered Wednesday’s late slate of games 1 1/2 games back of the third wild card.
asserted
who → need → card
After that, it’s a three-game series in Baltimore before the Jays close out the regular season with three home games against Cincinnati.
asserted
Jays → ’ → Cincinnati
The Jays need to go 6-3 to finish with 82 wins.
asserted
Jays → need → wins
That would put them two games above .500, which is where the White Sox currently sit.
asserted
Sox → put → .500
To match the Guardians at three games above, the Jays need to go 7-2.
asserted
Jays → match → Guardians
“It’s great when you come to the field and it’s must-win baseball,” Scherzer said after picking up his third win of the season.
asserted
Scherzer → ’ → season
“That’s how we’ve felt for a while now.
asserted
we → ’ → while
We know the position that we’re in.
asserted
we → know → that
We’re aware of the standings.
asserted
We → ’re → standings
But at the end of the day you have to come here and win ballgames.
asserted
you → have → ballgames
You can’t worry about anything else, you have to worry about yourself.”
asserted
you → worry → yourself
Wednesday’s victory was made possible because Scherzer bought his offence enough time to get going.
asserted
Scherzer → make → time
Even with his velocity down a tick on nearly every pitch, the future Hall of Famer survived because of his command and his ability to mix speeds to keep hitters off balance.
asserted
Hall → survive → balance
Scherzer allowed one run in the first inning on an RBI single by Riley Greene and nothing else.
asserted
Scherzer → allow → Greene
He surrendered just three hits and struck out three before turning things over to the bullpen.
asserted
He → surrender → bullpen
Mason Fluharty, Spencer Miles and Louis Varland combined to retire the Tigers the rest of the way.
asserted
Fluharty → combine → way
The Jays took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
asserted
Jays → take → inning
With a runner already on base, Josh Smith doubled to put men on second and third before Ernie Clement tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
asserted
Clement → double → fly
Straw followed with an RBI single to put the Jays in front by one.
asserted
Straw → follow → one
Springer and Nathan Lukes eventually added RBI singles while another run scored on a throwing error by Tigers shortstop John Peck.
asserted
run → add → Peck
“We’ve got a lot of good leaders on this team,” said Straw, who finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.
asserted
who → say → singles
“George, Vlad, they always seem to calm the team down when the pressure might feel higher at some points.
uncertain
pressure → seem → points
We’re going to go have a good off day, come back, be fresh and ready to roll.
asserted
We → go → day
The Jays were seeing stars earlier this week following a 3-6 stretch that saw them take a series of punches from the Kansas City Royals, Athletics, Orioles and Tigers, but they survived the standing eight-count and have made it to another round.
asserted
they → see → round
That doesn’t change the fact that the Jays are still wobbly and behind on points.
asserted
Jays → change → points
It also doesn’t change the fact they can still get a few swings of their own in before the clock fully expires.
asserted
clock → change → own
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
