After late help, Blue Jays clinch Wild Card berth

TORONTO -- The long wait is finally over. The Blue Jays have punched their ticket to the 2023 postseason.

The Blue Jays got some help late Saturday after they lost, 7-5, to the Rays in 10 innings earlier in the day, another unexpected blow in an exhausting playoff push. A loss from the Mariners was still enough, and thanks to the Rangers, the Blue Jays got to end their night with a celebration.

• Blue Jays' road to the 2023 postseason

A proper champagne popping can wait for Sunday night after the Blue Jays wrap Game 162 against the Rays, with both teams trying to keep their secrets concealed ahead of a potential rematch in the American League Wild Card Series. Based on Sunday’s results, the Blue Jays will either face the Rays or the Twins beginning Tuesday.

• Blue Jays postseason FAQ: What's next?

• Path to the postseason: The Blue Jays have officially clinched an AL Wild Card spot. The seeding scenarios are below, and you can read all of the updated playoff scenarios, explained.

Toronto win, Houston loss and/or Texas win: No. 5 overall seed, playing Tampa Bay
Toronto win, Houston win, Texas loss: No. 6 overall seed, playing Minnesota
Toronto loss, Houston loss: No. 5 seed, playing Tampa Bay
Toronto loss, Houston win: No. 6 seed, playing Minnesota

You can be certain there are smaller celebrations tonight, though, as the Blue Jays finally have their shot to erase the brief visits and quick exits from 2020 and ‘22.

Even without the reward of a celebration in the moment, Saturday’s sellout crowd of 42,097 was the finest of the season. Its roar rarely dulled, and as Cavan Biggio stepped to the plate with George Springer on second in the bottom of the ninth, the entire stadium was on its feet for the loudest at-bat of the season.

“It’s awesome. You try to take it in a little bit when you have the support of the entire stadium and then some behind you,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Cavan worked a full count and the ball just didn’t drop, but that’s what you play for. You want those moments. You want that feeling. I thought the crowd was great tonight.”

In the moment, Toronto’s loss was a gut punch. The 4-4 tie that lasted through the late innings forced the Blue Jays to ride their best bullpen arms and they added a new wrinkle, pitching Jordan Romano in the eighth inning ahead of Jordan Hicks, who got the ninth and eventual 10th inning. This was a matter of matchups and the Rays’ lineup, Schneider said, but came as a surprise in the biggest game of the season.

The biggest risk the Blue Jays flirted with Saturday was a scenario in which Kevin Gausman was needed in Game 162. Were it not for Seattle’s loss to the Rangers Saturday night, the Blue Jays would have needed to start their ace Sunday afternoon. That would have taken Gausman out of consideration for Game 1 or 2 of the AL Wild Card Series, a disastrous scenario for Toronto.

The Blue Jays still boast one of MLB’s deepest veteran rotations, of course. Chris Bassitt has been everything the Blue Jays could have asked for this season, reaching the 200-inning milestone that meant so much to him in his final outing. José Berríos has bounced back admirably, returning to his usual gig as one of baseball’s most consistent pitchers. Yusei Kikuchi has been one of the best bounce-back stories of the season, showing exactly what it looks like when a pitcher is confident on the mound.

All that said, there’s only one Gausman in this rotation, and now the Blue Jays should be able to lean on their ace in Game 1.

When Tuesday does roll around, whether the Blue Jays face the Rays or the Twins, they’ll need to play a better game than they played Saturday. This has been an oddball series, with the Rays piecing together their pitching plans via relievers, but the full version of the Rays or the Twins will bring a far greater challenge. The stakes are higher, but the Blue Jays’ leaders want this club to take the same steady approach they’ve ridden all season.

“I think there should be urgency every single day of the season,” Bo Bichette said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that over 162 games, you can bring that, but I think that should always be the desire for us as players. For me, I really don’t feel very different. I have to go out there and play the best I can. That’s the same for all of the boys. We’ll find out if we can do it or not.”

A year ago, the Blue Jays’ postseason appearance ended in absolute heartbreak against the Mariners at home. Two years prior was another postseason run that lasted just two days, that one at Tropicana Field.

The Blue Jays have their chance to rewrite it all, though, and make us remember those early exits as the false starts before it all came together. That chance begins Tuesday, and regardless of how the Blue Jays got here, anything can happen in October.