Series Recap: Blue Jays sweep the Rays to book ALDS postseason spot

The Toronto Blue Jays are heading back to the postseason, but it wasn’t without a little dramatic flair.

Tied with the New York Yankees atop the AL East, the Blue Jays’ magic number was at three games heading into their weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays, and they needed to win every game they could since the Yankees had steamrolled through Chicago and were now facing the Baltimore Orioles.

When the dust settled, both teams swept their respective opponents, and the Jays were heading to the ALDS because they held the tiebreaker over their AL East rival. It was the first time the Jays had swept the Rays since 2015, and the Jays’ bats scored 22 runs in the series, highlighted by a 13-4 drubbing yesterday to clinch the postseason spot.

Blue Jays pitching

The Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching staff held their side of the bargain this weekend, limiting the Rays to just seven runs across all three games. Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage had excellent outings, respectively, and while Kevin Gausman wasn’t his ace-like self yesterday, the bullpen and bats picked him up to help secure the win.

Bieber started the opening contest on Friday and allowed just two runs off five hits with two walks across five innings before giving way to the bullpen, who shut the Rays down the rest of the way. Jeff Hoffman had some tense moments late in the game, walking two and putting runners in scoring position, but he was able to fend off the Rays for his 33rd save of the season.

Rookie Trey Yesavage made the start for Toronto on Saturday, setting up a rematch with Joe Boyle that mimicked Yesavage’s debut down in Tampa just weeks ago. The right-hander held his own through five innings, allowing five hits, two walks while striking out five, earning his first big league win while making his home debut. Yariel Rodriguez would allow one run in the game, but the rest of the bullpen held down the fort to secure the 5-1 victory.