It’s come down to the final weekend.
Both the Blue Jays and the Yankees won Thursday night. The two teams remain tied for first place in the American League East division, but º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøhas the tiebreaker.
With just three games left in the season, the Jays are in control of their own destiny and can clinch the AL East title if they sweep the series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays.Â
It’s been a frustrating week for Jays fans with their team losing six of seven and blowing a five-game lead they held just 10 days ago.
But most (or all) Jays fans would have gladly accepted the situation the team finds itself in now back in January, nine months after that heart-breaking Friday night when top prospect Roki Sasaki chose the Los Angeles Dodgers after it appeared for a couple of hours that º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøwas going to his landing spot.
The Yankees host the last-place Baltimore Orioles for their final regular season series.
No matter what transpires this weekend for the Blue Jays, the final-week stumble in 1987 remains
Magic number
The magic number drops to three. Any combination of º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøwins and New York losses adding up to three would give the Jays the division.
How the Jays can clinch
• If the Jays finish the season at 3-0 or better, it doesn’t matter what the Yankees do;
• If the Jays go 2-1 and the Yankees go 2-1 or worse;
• If the Jays go 1-2 and the Yankees go 1-2 or worse;
• If both the Jays and Yankees go 0-3.
Berrios, who says something is affecting his release point, will have an MRI on his right elbow.
How the Jays can miss out on AL East crown
• If the Jays go 2-1 and the Yankees go 3-0;
• If the Jays go 1-2 and the Yankees go 2-1 or better;
• If the Jays go 0-3 and the Yankees go 1-3 or better.
AL standings snapshot
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøand New York are tied atop the AL East with 91-68 records. º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøowns the tiebreaker.
The team with the best overall record gains home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
The top two division winners skip the wild-card round and head straight to the division series.
The Cleveland Guardians are tied with the Detroit Tigers at 86-73 in the Central. Cleveland owns the tiebreaker. Detroit snapped an eight-game losing streak with its 4-2 win over the Guardians.
Seattle (88-69 before Thursday’s game) clinched the AL West for the first time in 24 years on Wednesday.Â
The Red Sox (87-72) hold the second wild card, while the Tigers hold a one-game lead over the Astros (85-74) for the final wild card. Detroit owns the tiebreaker over Houston.
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