Blue Jays: Examining past postseason performances at the Rogers Centre

With one more win, the Toronto Blue Jays will clinch home-field advantage for the first round of the postseason.

While their magic number to clinch the American League East and the best record in the American League is still four, a win will earn them the first wild card spot at worst. Ideally, they get the bye, but their recent play has left a lot to be desired.

That said, how have the Blue Jays done historically in the playoffs on their home turf?

The 1980s

With the playoff format Major League Baseball has now, the Blue Jays would have made the postseason far more than they did in the 1980s. For example, the 1987 season saw the Blue Jays finish with a 96-66 record, but didn’t make the postseason as there was no Divisional Series.

Overall, the Blue Jays made the postseason twice in the 1980s, once in 1985 and the second in 1989. Starting with the former postseason run, the Jays finished the year with a 99-62 record, still the best regular season in Blue Jays’ history to date.

They took on the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series with home-field advantage. In Game 1 at Exhibition Stadium, the Blue Jays defeated the Royals 6-1. They followed that up with a 6-5 victory in extra innings to take a 2-0 series lead.

After splitting the first two games in Kansas City, the Royals won Game 5 to send the series back to Toronto with the Blue Jays up 3-2. In Game 6, the Royals defeated the Jays 5-3 to set up a winner-take-all Game 7. Sadly, the Blue Jays lost 6-2, blowing a 3-1 lead as the Royals went on to win the World Series.

It took a few seasons for the Blue Jays to return to the playoffs, missing October Baseball in 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1989, the Jays finished with an 89-73 record, seven games fewer than in 1987, but were able to capture the division.

The 1989 postseason didn’t go great for the Jays, losing the first two games in Oakland, before cutting the series lead in half with a 7-3 victory in the first game at the SkyDome. However, the remaining two games went in favour of the Athletics, as they won 6-5 and 4-3.

The early 1990s

In the mid-to-late 1980s, the Blue Jays were always in or around a playoff spot. That continued into the 1990s, as they won 86 games in 1990, but finished second in the American League East. The following season, the Jays finished with a 91-71 record, once again finishing with the best record in the American League East.

For the second time in the ALCS, the Blue Jays fell in five games. They split the first two games against the Minnesota Twins, but lost the remaining three games at Rogers Centre. At this point, the Jays were 3-7 at home, and had a 1-5 record since they started playing in the Rogers Centre, but that changed in 1992.

Finishing with a 96-66 record in 1992, the Blue Jays finished first in the AL East once again, and took on the Athletics in the postseason for the second time in franchise history. They lost the opener in Toronto, but proceeded to win the next three games to put them up 3-1 in the series. The Athletics stayed alive with a 6-2 win in Oakland, but the Blue Jays punched their ticket to the World Series with a 9-2 win in Game 6.

Beginning the World Series in Atlanta against the Braves, the two teams split the first two games. When the series shifted to Toronto, the Blue Jays won the first two games to take a 3-1 series lead. With their backs against the wall, the Braves won 7-2 at the SkyDome in Game 5 to bring the series back to Atlanta. There, the Blue Jays won a 4-3 game that went 11 innings to capture their first World Series.

The Blue Jays were right back to work in 1993, finishing first in the AL East with a 95-67 record. Their ALCS opponents were the Chicago White Sox. Starting the series in the Windy City, the Blue Jays opened up the series with 7-3 and 3-1 victories. Shifting to Toronto, the White Sox won the next two games, before the Blue Jays won a pivotal Game 5 by a score of 5-3. In Game 6, the Blue Jays won 6-3, to head to their second consecutive World Series.

There, they faced the Philadelphia Phillies with home field advantage. The Jays opened up the series with an 8-5 victory, but the Phillies responded with a win of their own in Game 2. In Philadelphia, the Blue Jays won back-to-back games, including a 15-14 game in Game 3 to push the Phillies to the brink. The Phillies stayed alive with a 2-0 victory to send the series back to Toronto.

Down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Jays had two runners when Joe Carter stepped up to the plate. With 2-2 count and one out, Carter hit the most famous home run in Blue Jays’ history, one of just two walk-off home runs to clinch the World Series.

By the end of the 1993 postseason, the Blue Jays were 10-12 in postseason games in Toronto and an 8-10 record in the SkyDome in the postseason.

The modern era

As you know, the Blue Jays went on to miss the postseason in 1994 and didn’t make it back until 2015. By then, the playoff format had changed drastically since the 1990s, featuring a wild card game and the American League Divisional Series.

In the five-game series against the Texas Rangers, the Jays dropped the first two games at Rogers Centre, before winning the next two games in Arlington to set up a winner-take-all Game 5. In one of the most intense Blue Jays’ games of all time, it was José Bautista’s three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh that gave the Jays a 6-3 victory.

They played the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS, losing the first two games in Missiouri. In Game 3, the Blue Jays won 11-8, but the Royals pushed them to the brink with a 14-2 victory in Toronto. The Jays stayed alive with a 7-1 win at Rogers Centre, but lost 4-3 in Game 6 as the Royals went on to win the World Series yet again.

The following postseason, the Jays got into the playoffs thanks to a wild card spot, advancing to the ALDS thanks to Edwin Encarnación’s home run against the Orioles. Their next home game was when they were up 2-0 against the Texas Rangers, walking them off thanks to an error from Rougned Odor.

In the ALCS, the Jays fell in five games, going 1-2 at home. That win in Game 4 was their most recent victory of any kind in the postseason. They fell in two games to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020, fell in two games to the Seattle Mariners in 2022 (both games at home), and fell in two games to the Minnesota Twins in 2023.

This season

Overall, the Blue Jays are 16-19 at home during the postseason. Since the 1992 postseason, they’ve gone 12-12 and at Rogers Centre, they are 13-17 at home.

The good news is that the Blue Jays have been terrific at home in 2025. Through 76 games at Rogers Centre, they are 50-26, the second-best record in the league aside from the Phillies. Getting home-field advantage through the playoffs is crucial for the Blue Jays, and going 4-1 over their last five games is a must.