Rainout buys the Blue Jays time, not hope, in the AL wild‑card race

The Jays are teetering on extinction from the AL wild card, a fate that may befall the club as early as Wednesday following a crushing loss.

Published Sep 22, 2026  •  4 minute read

George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts during an at bat in the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles. Getty Images

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Mother Nature granted the Blue Jays a stay of execution Tuesday, a day that had the potential of the club being officially eliminated from post-season contention if the right circumstances lined up.

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With the second game of a three-game series in Baltimore postponed, the Jays — who have become the embodiment of dead men walking — were given an unexpected day off.

Everyone expects the Jays, perhaps even themselves based on the long faces, to eventually be out of the race for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League.

Rain forced an approximate delay of 50 minutes in Monday’s series opener at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and rain forced Tuesday’s postponement.

As a result, the Jays and Orioles will play a doubleheader Wednesday, the opener scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. followed by the night cap at 6:35 p.m.

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Max Scherzer is scheduled to start the first game while the O’s counter with Chris Bassitt, who will face his former team for the third time this season and second in Baltimore.

Following Monday’s devastating 4-3 loss that featured the Orioles going deep three times, including two off the bat of Pete Alonso, the Jays find themselves on the precipice of elimination.

Had the Jays played Tuesday and had both the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox won their respective games, elimination would have been official.

The day began with the Jays holding a 1.1% chance of making the wild card, according to FanGraphs.

Why is a reality check required?

An eternal optimist would be inclined to suggest that at least there’s a chance, which is true until one gets a grasp on reality.

The ChiSox were scheduled to begin a three-game series in Kansas City on Tuesday night before wrapping up their season at home against Colorado.

The Guardians, meanwhile, were scheduled to begin a three-game set in Boston — where the Red Sox have already secured a wild card — before returning home to face the Royals for three games.

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One of Cleveland or the Pale Hose will win the AL Central.

In the AL West, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros have been battling for first place with the Rangers — who took six of seven meetings against the Jays this season — holding a one-game lead entering Tuesday’s play.

Technically, the 77-80 Jays are behind the 77-79 Astros for the wild card with Baltimore at 76-81.

The Guardians sit at 81-75 with the South Siders sporting an 80-76 record entering Tuesday.

With so much needing to go the Jays’ way, it’s easy to see why the white towel is poised to get raised.

Why has Jays’ offence disappeared?

If anything, nothing has gone the Jays’ way for what seems like the entire season.

Even when they did make a run in the standings, their overall play began to disappear, beginning with a lost series in Sacramento against the Athletics.

Many felt the low point arrived in Texas when the Rangers took advantage of a lifeless club to win the opening two games before the Jays saved face by avoiding the sweep.

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But perhaps nothing compared to the events of Monday when the Jays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.

Brett Bateman would leave the game following a sliding catch in the outfield with the offensive catalyst favouring his knee. It turned out that he was diagnosed with a hip contusion and did not return.

Tyler Rogers, who hadn’t pitched in three straight games this season, started the eighth inning with the Jays leading 3-2. For someone who has only allowed one homer this season, he served up a two-run bomb to Alonso, whose dinger total for the season reached 40.

“Tyler is our guy,” besieged manager John Schneider told reporters following the loss. “You trust him to make pitches like he has all year.

“Louis (Varland), for a combination of things, wasn’t available for four outs. The bullpen is running hot and running thin. That’s three days in a row for Rogers, so you’ve got to give him credit for taking the ball. I liked him to navigate that situation.

“When you’re talking about that part of the order, you’re trying to limit damage and Rogers is one of the best at it.”

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What kind of expected excuses await?

Even the best-laid plans have conspired to doom the Jays.

Expect the excuses to be flowing once the inevitable becomes reality, expect a litany of postmortems to be expressed, including the convenient crutch of injuries.

At the end of the day, the Jays’ offence has been an unmitigated debacle with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. serving as the poster boy for this anemic lineup.

Starting pitching has been in flux all season, but keep in mind the Jays once had nine starters with Scherzer profiled as the eighth in the depth chart. In the wake of injuries, the veteran is now No. 2.

Bullpen days became the norm. While it seemed to work, for the most part, the cumulative effect was quite noticeable when so many arms out of the pen were required.

The cumulative effect of tossing so many pitches, including a career-high 120 in Boston back in July, also impacted staff ace Dylan Cease, who is dealing with shoulder inflammation.

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Plenty of blame will be spread with no one being spared from top to bottom.

Only a foolish fan — and there are many — believed the Jays would be capable of replicating last fall’s deep run into the playoffs.

Once the final chapter is officially in the books, the record will show the Jays will have missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Making this season’s bitter disappointment even more disconcerting is a looming labour disruption.

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