Blue Jays in control of own destiny as game 162 looms

With a win on Saturday, the Blue Jays remained deadlocked atop the American East League, tied with the New York Yankees, who were also victorious in their matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.

The two teams have identical records, though the Blue Jays own the tiebreaker by virtue of having won the season series.

The Blue Jays will either be the first seed, or the fourth. If they win on Sunday, their number one, regardless of what the Yankees do. If they lose, they would need Baltimore to beat New York in order to remain number one. A Toronto loss and a New York win, will have the Jays as the fourth seed and playing the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card series.

Not so long ago, the Blue Jays had a 6.5 game lead in the AL East. An ugly stretch of play, which saw the Blue Jays lose seven of nine, combined with a red-hot New York team has all but erased that gap. With one game left to play, anything can happen.

The fact that the Blue Jays are going to playoffs this season comes a surprise to the many analysts who had written them after last season's sub .500 record; many opined that their competitive window had closed.

Turns out that wasn't the case.

The Blue Jays have done well at home this season. Let's hope they have one more victory up their sleeve.