TORONTO — The Yankees had a chance to close in on a wild-card spot on Wednesday night when they played the Blue Jays. A win would have put them four games up on Toronto with four to play.
Instead, the Yankees got a poor start from Gerrit Cole and couldn’t complete a comeback win.
The loss ended a seven-game winning streak and put them back on the hot seat, with the struggling Corey Kluber — having last pitched on Sept. 22 and with a 5.73 ERA in 22 innings since his return from a strained shoulder — on the mound against left-hander Robbie Ray, now considered the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young award, thanks in part to Cole’s dud on Wednesday.
Here’s where that leaves the Yankees as they head into a series finale against Toronto Thursday night at Rogers Centre:
Still in control
As Kyle Higashioka noted after Wednesday’s loss, the Yankees still lead the wild-card race, so they don’t have to rely on anyone else. Their magic number to clinch a wild-card berth is three. After Thursday’s game against Toronto, the Yankees finish up with three games against the first-place Rays in The Bronx.
Tampa Bay has already clinched the AL East title and the top seed in the AL for the playoffs. Despite having little to play for, though, the Rays don’t typically take games off — especially against the Yankees. The Red Sox, currently in the second wild-card spot, closed to within a game of the Yankees by beating Baltimore on Wednesday.
Sleepless in Seattle
While the focus heading into the final nine-game stretch was almost entirely on the Yankees, Boston and Toronto, the streaking Mariners have played their way back into contention and are only 1 ½ games behind the Yankees (three back in the loss column) — and trail the Red Sox by half a game. They entered Thursday leading Toronto by half a game.
The Mariners had another comeback win at home over the A’s late Wednesday night — sparked by ex-Mets prospect Jarred Kelenic — for a fourth straight victory, as well as 10 of their last 11. The late surge isn’t the only surprising aspect of the Mariners’ turnaround. Their run-differential is minus-48, giving them an expected record of 75-84, but they’re 89-70. They have an off day Thursday before three games at home against the Angels, who announced Shohei Ohtani wouldn’t pitch in the series.
On schedule
Perhaps the most significant obstacle heading into the Yankees’ last three series was the opponents. They faced three games in Boston, followed by three in Toronto before the last three at home versus Tampa Bay. Their main competitors, who, at the beginning of the stretch, were the Red Sox and Blue Jays, had much easier schedules. That’s still the case.
After Toronto finishes with the Yankees, they’ll host last-place Baltimore for three games. And the Red Sox, who play another in Baltimore on Thursday, then have three games in Washington, where the Nationals are fighting with the Marlins to stay out of the cellar of the NL East. And Seattle has the sub-.500 Angels.