Blown save can't diminish Blue Jays' recent brilliance

TORONTO -- Even 147 games in, you see things for the first time.

Sunday at Rogers Centre, it was the unthinkable: Jordan Romano blowing a save on his home turf. Romano has owned the dome, coming in with a 0.31 ERA at home this season, but the Orioles managed to load the bases in the ninth and scrape across three runs, handing the Blue Jays a 5-4 loss on an afternoon that had “sweep” written all over it.

“He’s been so good the whole year,” said interim manager John Schneider. “I thought his slider was a little bit flat. I thought they were sitting on it. You have to give them credit for getting a couple hits and working some walks. There was a really close play 3-2 and I was surprised they ran, given how many people Jordan strikes out, but it worked out for them. You’ve got to tip your cap to some good hitting.”

Toronto rallied in the bottom half, with George Springer coming just inches short of a game-tying home run as he waved his arm up the first-base line, trying to will the ball over the wall. The margins feel thinner by the day as the season fades.

It’s a blow to the Blue Jays, but one that’s softened significantly by how well they’ve played so far in September. The loss drops them to 13-5 since the calendar flipped, still a remarkable stretch of baseball that’s seen them all but bury the Orioles in the AL Wild Card race. At this point, that race is more about seeding, with the Blue Jays, Mariners and Rays battling it out on the podium with valuable home-field advantage on the line.

“This entire series was awesome. I thought we played great,” Schneider said. “It speaks volumes to what we did in the ninth against a really good reliever. It just shows the mentality of this team. The defense was good again. The at-bats were good up and down. It’s a tight game, and the fact that we got something going says a lot. I’m proud of how we played all homestand, but especially this series.”

With a Toronto loss and a Tampa Bay win, the Blue Jays now hold just a half-game lead for that top Wild Card spot, which would give them all three games of the Wild Card round at Rogers Centre. The Mariners are now two games back of the Blue Jays for the top spot, but they have an easy schedule down the stretch with an opportunity to make this interesting.

This stretch of play has also put the Blue Jays back into the mix for the AL East, which is a conversation many gave up on two months ago. It was understandable at the time, given that the mighty Yankees had a 16 1/2-game lead over Toronto in the East as recently as July 11. A win Sunday would have kept the Blue Jays just 4 1/2 back of the Yankees, but even at 5 1/2 back, it’s a steep -- but not impossible -- mountain to climb, especially if Toronto is able to take its Sept. 26 series from New York at home.

Alek Manoah, who will be at the forefront of any postseason run, was his old self Sunday. Even without his best stuff, Manoah worked six innings of one-run ball, dancing around four walks and four hits while striking out five. With his ERA now down to 2.40, you’ve come to expect these excellent starts from the co-ace of the staff each and every time.

Even with the tight loss, Manoah loves what he’s seen from his teammates in September.

“We’re doing a great job of picking each other up,” Manoah said. “A starter might not have his best stuff, but nobody is pointing fingers. The offense comes out and comes right back. Sometimes the offense isn’t going, and the arms pick up that slack. We have one of the best bullpens in baseball. We have a really good starting rotation. We have the best closer in baseball. We feel really good with where we’re at, we just have to keep firing on all cylinders and picking each other up.”

In a perfect world, Toronto is clicking in every phase of the game, but that’s for October. In September, this version of the Blue Jays has been arguably the best we’ve seen in ‘22, and it’s put them in the driver’s seat for the stretch run.