The Toronto Blue Jays, who are in the thick of the fall baseball race, have reclaimed the third wild-card spot for a postseason berth.
Toronto won its third straight game with a 7-1 victory over the visiting Oakland Athletics on Saturday (June 6) at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.
Starting pitcher Chris Bassett pitched eight strong innings of seven-hit ball, striking out seven and walking one, while at the plate, Kevin Kiermaier went 4-for-3 with two runs scored and George Springer went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead the offense.
With the win, Toronto improved to 77-62 for a .554 winning percentage and moved from fourth to third in the American League (AL) wild card race.
The Texas Rangers, who were in third place the day before, dropped to fourth after being swept by the Houston Astros with a 1-14 record.
To make the postseason in the MLB, a team must either finish first in their division or finish in the top three in winning percentage among teams outside of their division to earn a wild card.
As a member of the AL East, Toronto is highly unlikely to make the postseason as the top team in the division due to the dominance of the Baltimore Orioles (87 wins, 51 losses, and a .630 winning percentage). Realistically, they should aim for the third wild card or better.
The No. 1 AL wild card is the Tampa Bay Rays. They have a dominant record of 84 wins, 55 losses, and a .604 winning percentage.
Below them, the second-place Seattle Mariners (77-61), third-place Toronto, and fourth-place Texas are all within one game of each other.
The wild card race is even closer. Seattle has 24 games left, Toronto has 23, and Texas has 24.
With every game a bloodbath, Ryu Hyun-jin (36) is in the mix for Toronto’s third spot.
Ryu will start the final game of the three-game series against Oakland at 4:37 a.m. on July 7 at Oakland Coliseum.
Things have been going well for Toronto lately. Even without starting catcher Danny Jansen and key infielders Matt Chapman and Beau Bissett, 카지노사이트 the offense has been dominating opponents.
Toronto has been hot at the plate, scoring 72 runs in its last 10 games, an average of 7.2 runs per game.
Since September, their team batting average is .320, good for third out of 15 teams in the AL, and their on-base percentage is a whopping .439, good for first overall.
Toronto is the only team with a monthly team slugging percentage in the high 4s.
The Jays will look to continue their upward trajectory with a hot bat and Ryu Hyun-jin, who has been flawless since returning from injury.
Since returning from surgery last June, Ryu has gone 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in six games.
On the last two days, he held the Colorado Rockies to two runs in five innings at Coors Field, the so-called graveyard of pitchers.
However, this will be his first start on four days’ rest since returning from injury.
He hadn’t thrown more than six innings and 90 pitches in any of his previous six starts.
In many ways, this is a big game for Ryu. 슬롯