Blue Jays win series, hold tiebreaker over Guardians
Toronto took two of three at Progressive Field and now owns the season tiebreaker over Cleveland, pulling within half a game of the Guardians' wild card spot as the Tigers come to town this weekend.
Bibee shelled as Blue Jays take the finale
The Guardians opened the series September 1 with a 6-1 win over Toronto, but the Blue Jays answered with an 11-0 rout the next night and closed it out September 3 with a 6-3 win to take the series two games to one.
Blue Jays6-1Blue Jays0-11Blue Jays3-6Tanner Bibee couldn't hold the finale, allowing 5 earned runs on 4 hits and 5 walks over just 4.0 innings while striking out 4. The Guardians are now 2-3 over their last 5 games.
Half a game separates four clubs for the wild card
Cleveland still holds the third and final American League wild card spot at 70-70, but Toronto's series win now gives the Blue Jays the season tiebreaker, 4-2, according to Keegan Matheson. The Blue Jays sit 0.5 games back at 70-71, level with the Texas Rangers, who share that same half-game deficit.
| AL Wild Card | W | L | Pct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Yankees | 80 | 60 | .571 | +10.0 |
 Red Sox | 76 | 65 | .539 | +5.5 |
 Guardians | 70 | 70 | .500 | — |
 Rangers | 70 | 71 | .496 | 0.5 |
| Blue Jays | 70 | 71 | .496 | 0.5 |
 Orioles | 69 | 72 | .489 | 1.5 |
 Twins | 67 | 73 | .479 | 3.0 |
 Mariners | 66 | 75 | .468 | 4.5 |
Baltimore is close behind at 69-72, 1.5 games back, and afkostka noted the Orioles could pull within half a game with a win. The Guardians' elimination number sits at 20, same as Texas, while Toronto's is down to 9 and Baltimore's to 8 — both clubs with far less room for error than Cleveland.
Upcoming
The Guardians host the Tigers Saturday night, with Parker Messick (11-8, 2.46 ERA) on the mound. Messick beat Kansas City in his last start August 30, allowing just 1 earned run on 5 hits over 6.0 innings with 5 strikeouts. Detroit counters with Framber Valdez (8-10, 4.36 ERA), who took the loss in his last outing against the Dodgers August 30, giving up 3 earned runs over 6.0 innings.
On paper, the gap between Messick's ERA and Valdez's is the story of this matchup — Cleveland's lefty has been the more reliable arm all season. With the wild card picture this tight, a series win over Detroit would matter as much for the tiebreaker column as for the standings themselves.