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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates against the Kansas City Royals in the dugout after scoring during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Blue Jays Clinch Playoff Berth and Trim AL East Title Magic Number

Originally posted on Toronto Blue Jays on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays offense finally got back on track and with an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals they clinched an American League playoff berth on Sunday.

The Blue Jays (90-66) became the first team in the AL to clinch a playoff berth and the first to reach 90 wins for the season.

Toronto took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, saw Kansas City rally to make it 3-2 in the fourth and then scored three more runs in the fifth to take control of the game. The Blue Jays got some insurance with two more runs in the eighth inning.

The Blue Jays did it without a home run. But George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger each doubled, while Andres Gimenez had a triple. Springer, Guerrero, Gimenez and Ernie Clement each had two hits for Toronto.

That was enough offense for a pitching staff led by rookie Trey Yesavage, who went four innings and allowed five hits and four runs. He didn’t go long enough to get the victory, so that went to Seranthony Domínguez in relief. Jeff Hoffman locked down his 32nd save of the season.

The celebration was hard earned for the Blue Jays, but there are more goals ahead with six games remaining.

Toronto Blue Jays Magic Number

Vlad's Turn pic.twitter.com/TuS8emJuTm
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 21, 2025

Going into Sunday’s game the magic number to clinch the AL East title was five. That included the Blue Jays’ tiebreaker over the Yankees due to the season series. The magic number is a combination of Blue Jays wins in Yankees losses.

So, Toronto trimmed that magic number to four with the victory, one that snapped a four-game losing streak. But the Yankees were playing in Baltimore and that offered a chance for Toronto to double up, so to speak.

Well, the Yankees went extra innings with the Orioles and beat up on them in the 10th inning to win. That kept the Blue Jay’s magic number at four to clinch the division title. But it did allow Toronto to maintain its two-game lead over the Yankees.

The Blue Jays are still in line to be the No. 1 seed in the American League playoffs. The Seattle Mariners now have the second-best record in the AL and are 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays going into Sunday’s game with the Houston Astros.

The Blue Jays are seeking to win their first division title since 2015. Since that division title they've been to the postseason four other times, but always as a wild card team. The Blue Jays reached the ALCS again in 2016 but fell to Cleveland.

Toronto has a team good enough to duplicate what their 1992 and 1993 teams did, which was win the World Series. That 1993 season was the last time the Blue Jays played in the Fall Classic.