The Toronto Blue Jays have a chance to close out their series with the Athletics on a high note Wednesday afternoon, and the timing could not be much bigger. With the American League wild-card race still tight, every game now carries postseason weight.
Toronto enters at 73-73 and sits one game behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL wild-card spot. There are only 16 games left on the schedule, so the margin for error has nearly vanished.
Momentum Is on Toronto’s Side After Tuesday’s Bounce-Back
The Blue Jays opened the series poorly, letting defensive errors help sink them in a 6-5 loss on Monday. They answered with a cleaner performance the next night and pulled away with a 4-2 win to even the set.
That response mattered for more than just the standings. Toronto used only two pitchers on Tuesday, which gave the bullpen some needed rest after six arms were required in the opener.
- The series finale is set for 3:05 p.m. ET and 12:05 p.m. PT.
- The game will be played at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.
- Canadian viewers can watch on Sportsnet.
A victory would hand Toronto its fourth straight series win and keep the club moving in the right direction during a critical stretch.
Toronto Turns to an Opener, Then the Bullpen
Braydon Fisher will get the ball first for Toronto, marking his ninth start of the season even though he has mostly worked in relief. The right-hander has been effective throughout the year, posting a 3.20 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP across 70.1 innings while striking out 68 hitters.
Fisher has also been sharp lately, stringing together five consecutive scoreless outings. He handled the Athletics well earlier this season, retiring every batter he faced across 2.1 combined innings in two appearances in March.
Because Toronto is using Fisher as an opener, John Schneider will likely lean on multiple relievers to cover most of the game. The fresher bullpen should help make that plan more manageable after Tuesday’s lighter workload.
Oakland’s Pitching Plan Points to a Bullpen Game
The Athletics will counter with left-hander Brady Basso, who is not expected to work deep either. In four starts this season, he has never lasted beyond three innings.
Basso owns a 1-2 record with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP over 33.1 innings. That setup suggests both teams could be pushed into heavy bullpen use, making late-inning matchups especially important.
Toronto should like its chances against a club that is 58-88 and near the bottom of the league in run differential. Even so, the Athletics have already shown they can complicate things by taking the series opener.
In a game shaped by openers and quick hooks, the best relief work may decide the outcome.
Okamoto Keeps Driving the Offense
Kazuma Okamoto remains one of Toronto’s most important bats in his first major league season. He homered in each of the first two games of the series, including a solo blast on Tuesday that gave him 30 home runs on the year.
That milestone made him the first Blue Jays rookie to reach 30 homers. It also placed him among rare company as only the fifth Japanese player to hit at least 30 home runs in an MLB season.
Josh Smith added to the damage on Tuesday as well, going deep with a solo homer right before Okamoto. It was Smith’s fifth long ball since joining Toronto.
The Wild-Card Picture Leaves No Room for Slip-Ups
Tuesday’s win returned Toronto to .500 and kept the club within one game of Cleveland. The Blue Jays cannot clinch anything in this series, but dropping another game to a struggling opponent would make the path much harder.
The schedule only gets more meaningful from here. After Thursday’s off day, Toronto heads home for six games against the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, two more teams fighting for position in the wild-card race.
Before the Blue Jays can focus on that next challenge, they need to finish business in California. Beating the Athletics would secure another series victory and send Toronto home with its postseason hopes still fully alive.