The Jays lost 6-1 against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon.
The Toronto Blue Jays lost 6-1 on Sunday afternoon against the Kansas City Royals, falling back to .500 at 72-72.
The loss puts the Jays at one game back of the Cleveland Guardians in the battle for the third and final wild card spot in the American League. The Guardians won on a walk-off against the Detroit Tigers, something that happened multiple times over the weekend.
In this loss, the Blue Jays got a substandard start from Spencer Arrighetti, who gave up six earned runs on six hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. He's now got a 5.12 ERA on the season. Offensively, the Jays had eight hits on the afternoon, but they only scored a lone run on a solo home run by Josh Smith. Smith now has five homers on the season between his time with the Texas Rangers and Blue Jays.
The loss, coupled with the Guardians win, has the Jays playoff odds down to 38.1 percent, according to Fangraphs. With 18 games to play, the Jays still have plenty of time to turn things around, especially since they have the season-long tiebreaker over Cleveland in their pockets (4-2).
Remaining schedule for Toronto Blue Jays
Sept. 7-9 @ Athletics
Sept. 11-13 vs. Orioles
Sept. 14-16 vs. Tigers
Sept. 18-20 @ Rangers
Sept. 21-23 @ Orioles
Sept. 25-27 vs. Reds
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Josh Smith (9) celebrates while running the bases against the Kansas City Royals after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Denny Medley-Imagn ImagesRemaining schedule for Cleveland Guardians
Sept. 7-9 @ Orioles
Sept. 11-13 @ Twins
Sept. 14-16 vs. White Sox
Sept. 18-20 vs. Athletics
Sept. 22-24 @ Red Sox
Sept. 25-27 @ Royals
Obviously, it's advantageous for the Jays that Cleveland has four of its final six series on the road while the Jays have three of their final six at home. Every little advantage at this time of year makes a big difference, especially when you factor in how raucous the crowd at Rogers Centre can get.
First look at the Athletics series
As noted by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the Blue Jays will send Dylan Cease to the mound on Tuesday and Jose Soriano to the mound on Wednesday. The pitcher on Thursday is listed as TBD. The A's have not announced any starters yet.
As for the A's, they just took three-of-four from the reeling Seattle Mariners in Seattle. They come in without a lot of household names and a porous bullpen, but they are pesky offensively. They scored more than six runs in three of the four games against Seattle, but were held to just one hit on Sunday in a 2-0 loss.
