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The Toronto Blue Jays have upset the apple cart in the American League on the back of a remarkable run that only came to an end in a series opener against the Baltimore Orioles this past Friday night. The team appears poised to make a late dash for playoff contention which has taken just about everyone by surprise.
Toronto must have had folks puzzled when they suddenly decided to become buyers and scour the market at the trade deadline. They were well out of the race for playoff action back then, so fans being confused was pretty understandable. Fast forward a month, however, and everyone is on notice. The team has won 11 of their last 13 games, with an eight-game winning streak broken by the Orioles on Friday.
The streak included a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees, with the Blue Jays dominating the series and creating history in that they kept New York without a lead for the entire series for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The run has been something to behold, with fans of the team especially pleased to see what it has put on show these last several games. There’s also been the introduction of a home run jacket that a player puts on before strutting to the dugout following a home run.
The jacket has turned out to be a bit of a good luck charm and it’s no wonder everyone has upped their performances as all of the players want to halve their own walk of honor. Production has certainly increased since the introduction of the jacket and the Blue Jays’ 27-15 record has outshone every other team’s record in that span.
All of the players have been giving 100 percent effort but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Robbie Ray have been standout players, with the former now part of the MVP conversation. At just 22, Guerrero has hit over 40 home runs while leading the AL in batting average, base percentage, hits and runs this season.
Ray, meanwhile, is a favorite for the Cy Young Award, which is presented to the best pitcher every season. The player has the second-lowest ERA in the division and is second in strikeouts as well.
With just a month left to go until the end of the regular season, the Blue Jays are amid a huge push for the playoffs, despite Friday’s blip. Their World Series prospects are thought to be a lot better and that has been reflected in the MLB Live odds, with bookmakers offering +3300 on their chances.
A 4-10 run past the halfway mark in August saw odds stretch to +5000 but those have shortened on in the wake of what has been a remarkable run. Toronto was hopeful of another sweep in Baltimore but they have opened proceedings up with a 6-3 loss. The game was a pretty fiery one too.
“I don’t want to comment on that,” manager Charlie Montoyo said after the heated affair. “All I know is my guy kept his composure, stayed focused and did the job. And that’s why we stayed in the game. That’s what I’m going to say about that.
“Just kind of sticking up for my guys. We play the game the right way and we do things the right way in the dugout. I felt like our guys were being targeted a little bit and I wish I would have handled it differently than I did.”
Bookmakers won’t be shortening odds on the Blue Jays to the point where they’re comparable to the top teams in the MLB but, given recent form, it could continue to close up. The Los Angeles Dodgers remain the favorites for the World Series despite losing Trevor Bauer.
The league’s highest-paid pitcher has had his administrative league extended for the remainder of the season due to the investigations into accusations of sexual assault.
The Tampa Bay Rays are next up at +400, with the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers +550. The Chicago White Sox are attached to odds of +600 while the San Francisco Giants are +700.
The Dodgers, though, have been struggling to keep up with the Giants in their quest to top the NL West but are still the bookies’ favorites. They went into the weekend on a 3-4 run that left the Giants ahead by 2.5 games. However, they do have quite the favorable schedule ahead as they’re to play the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks in nine of their final 22 contests.
The rampant Rays aren’t experiencing any such problems in their own division, having won 17 of their last 23 games to take a nine-game lead over the Boston Red Sox into the weekend. They will have 10 games against the Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins in the lead up to the regular season.
Tampa Bay will be hopeful of improving their luck in the postseason as they haven’t fared very well there as of late. The team fell short at the final hurdle of the last campaign, getting bested by the Dodgers in the World Series, which was the second appearance in their history. They’ve only made it past the American League Division Series twice in six playoff visits.
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