At least the Blue Jays have company in their recent struggles.
Just last week, on Sept. 17, º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøhad a comfortable four-game lead in the American League East on the New York Yankees. The Detroit Tigers were slipping but still up 4.5 games over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central, and the Houston Astros had a half-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the West.
Seven days later, the Yankees have caught up to the Jays after º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfell 7-1 to the Boston Red Sox and New York beat the Chicago White Sox 8-1.
Seattle has overtaken Houston, holding a four-game lead in the West on the Astros heading into action Wednesday. Cleveland has leapfrogged over Detroit for the Central Division lead, in what’s seen as one of the biggest collapses — and comebacks — in recent history.
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍødoes own the crucial tiebreaker over the Yankees with four games left. If the Blue Jays win their remaining games (a final one against the Red Sox before finishing with three against the pesky Tampa Bay Rays), it doesn’t matter what the Yankees do in their final home games against the White Sox (1) and Baltimore Orioles (3).
Both º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøand New York have already clinched playoff berths but finishing first in the division allows the winner to skip the first round and head straight to the AL division series.Â
A deep fly ball caught by a fan. An apparent catch called a single. A seemingly-fair ball ruled
Magic number
The magic number remains at four. Any combination of º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøwins and New York losses adding up to four would give the Jays the division.
How the Jays can clinch
• If the Jays finish the season at 4-0 or better, it doesn’t matter what the Yankees do
• If the Jays go 3-1 and the Yankees go 3-1 or worse
• If the Jays go 2-2 and the Yankees go 2-2 or worse
• If the Jays go 1-3 and the Yankees go 1-3 or worse
• If the Jays and Yankees both go 0-4.
How the Jays can miss out on AL East crown
• If the Jays go 3-1 and the Yankees go 4-0
• If the Jays go 2-2 and the Yankees go 3-1 or better
• If the Jays go 1-3 and the Yankees go 2-2 or better
• If the Jays go 0-4 and the Yankees go 1-3 or better
Apple TV+ has exclusive broadcast rights to stream the game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
AL standings snapshot
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøand New York are tied atop the AL East with 90-68 records. º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøowns the tiebreaker.
The top two division winners skip the wild-card round and head straight to the division series.
Incredibly, Cleveland (86-72) is a game ahead of Detroit (85-73) in the Central. Cleveland owns the tiebreaker. The Tigers had a 15.5-game lead in the division on July 6 and the two teams are in the middle of a three-game series. Detroit is on an eight-game losing streak.
Seattle (88-69) holds a four-game lead over Houston (84-73) in the West heading into Wednesday night.
The team with the best overall record gains home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
The Red Sox (87-71) hold the second wild card, while the Astros and Tigers are battling for the final wild card.
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