[Alta_redneck]

Hyack Hyack:

Mowich Mowich:

Jays win. Yanks lose. All is good. Great game by the Jays. R.A. just got better as the innings went on - glad to see him get his 100th. Rock on Jays

You can add to that Detroit beat Minnesota 6-4 but, the LA Angels are leading the Seattle Mariners 6-3 in the top of the 7th.

Angels need to lose ? Right ?

[Hyack]

Alta_redneck Alta_redneck:

Hyack Hyack:

Mowich Mowich:

Jays win. Yanks lose. All is good. Great game by the Jays. R.A. just got better as the innings went on - glad to see him get his 100th. Rock on Jays

You can add to that Detroit beat Minnesota 6-4 but, the LA Angels are leading the Seattle Mariners 6-3 in the top of the 7th.

Angels need to lose ? Right ?

[Mowich]

Angels win 8 - 4 over Mariners.

[Hyack]

Toronto Blue Jays clinch playoff spot for first time in 22 years

$1:

The longest playoff drought in North American professional sports is finally over. The Blue Jays are heading to the post-season for the first time in 22 years.

And in an ironic twist — that seems befitting of Toronto’s professional sports teams — nobody noticed when it happened, so there was no celebration.

The Jays clinched Friday night when they beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 and the Minnesota Twins lost to Detroit. It was believed that both the Twins and the L.A. Angels needed to lose on Friday to ensure the Jays secured at least the second wild-card spot. But as first reported by Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, although the Angels won on Friday, the number of remaining head-to-head games between AL West teams guarantees the Jays a spot. Only two of the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Angels can reach the Jays’ 88-win total, so with Minnesota now out of the equation, the Jays can do no worse than the second wild-card spot.

Link

[Hyack]

A great start to today's game with Bautista hitting a 3 run homer, his 38th of the season, in the 1st inning, followed by Martin 3 hitters later as he nails a 2 run homer, his 22nd of the season! Jays lead Tampa Bay 5-0 in the 1st inning!

[Hyack]

The Blue Jays hit double digits again thanks to Bautista's 2nd home run of the game. Now 10-5 Jays at the end of 8 innings.

[Hyack]

Tampa Bay made it interesting in the 9th, scoring 3 runs, but it was too little and too late, Toronto wins their 89th game of the season 10-8.

[Alta_redneck]

I worked my ass off today, missed this game, the Esks and the Oilers.

I'll be ready for the playoff run, WTG Jays.

[Hyack]

Please don't take this as gospel but, while checking out the American League stats earlier today I saw the Kansas City Royals had already clinched the AL east division title with a record of 89-64. The Toronto Blue Jays, who last night clinched a berth in the playoffs for the first time in 22 years with a record of 88-65, now 89-65 with today's win over Tampa Bay, have only 1 more loss than the Royals. Kansas city is at this moment playing the Cleveland Indians in Kansas city in the top of the 8th inning and are trailing by a score of 9-5. If the Royals manage to lose this game, both the Royals and the Blue Jays would have identical records of 89-65. With both teams having only 8 games remaining in the regular season it's definitely going to be interesting to see not only who takes the AL east title, the Blue Jays have a 4 game advantage over the Yankees here, but to see who will take top spot overall in the American League.

[Hyack]

Blue Jays take over 1st place in AL after Royals' loss to Indians

$1:

Carlos Santana drove in three runs, Yan Gomes homered and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 9-5 Saturday night to move above .500 for the first time since April 9.

The Indians (77-76) have a winning record for the first time since they were 2-1 and remain three games back in the American League wild-card race. The Royals, who wrapped up the AL Central title with a victory Thursday, fell to 9-15 in September.

They no longer control their own destiny for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. With the loss and the Toronto's victory over Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays and Royals share the AL's best record at 89-65. However, Toronto holds the tiebreaker by beating Kansas City in the season series.

Indians relievers Zach McAllister (4-4), Jeff Manship, Kyle Crockett and Bryan Shaw held the Royals hitless over the final 5 1/3 innings.

Santana hit a two-run triple in the first and drove home another run in the three-run sixth with a fielder's choice grounder.

Gomes, a former Blue Jay, homered in the third. Jose Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a double and triple. He scored three runs and drove in another.

Rookie Francisco Lindor had two hits, a sacrifice fly, drove in a pair of runs and scored a run.

Royals right-hander Kris Medlen (5-2) was pulled after 3 2/3 innings, yielding six runs on nine hits, including six for extra bases, a walk and a wild pitch.

Ben Zobrist homered for the Royals, while Salvador Perez contributed a two-run double.

Link

[Alta_redneck]

I'm surprised at how many times I've heard a Blue Jays player mention how big this is, not only for Toronto but for the country as well.

The boys are into it.

[Hyack]

OMG

....the score tied 4-4

....bottom of the 9th

....2 out

.....Donaldson comes to bat

.....HOMERUN.......

....DONALDSON FOR MVP

[Alta_redneck]

Wise I would have seen it live.

[Hyack]

The Jays pulled another one out of the fire today, scoring 2 runs in the 8th to tie the game, then one run in the top of the 9th to take the lead.....leading to a possible clinch on the AL east on Tuesday....

$1:

The Blue Jays' magic number to clinch the division is two, meaning they can clinch Tuesday if they beat the O's and the Yankees lose to the Red Sox. If Toronto wins the AL East, it is guaranteed home-field advantage in the AL Division Series. Home-field advantage in the AL Championship Series is up for grabs and draws importance to the Blue Jays finishing with a better record than the Royals.

[Alta_redneck]

Hyack Hyack:

The Jays pulled another one out of the fire today, scoring 2 runs in the 8th to tie the game, then one run in the top of the 9th to take the lead.....leading to a possible clinch on the AL east on Tuesday....

$1:

The Blue Jays' magic number to clinch the division is two, meaning they can clinch Tuesday if they beat the O's and the Yankees lose to the Red Sox. If Toronto wins the AL East, it is guaranteed home-field advantage in the AL Division Series. Home-field advantage in the AL Championship Series is up for grabs and draws importance to the Blue Jays finishing with a better record than the Royals.

The Jays play so well at home, home field advantage is a big deal.