Blue Jays clinch playoff spot after Rangers beat Mariners, Wild Card seed still up in the air

It took some help, but the Toronto Blue Jays are officially headed to the playoffs.

The Blue Jays entered Saturday with a magic number of one, meaning just one victory by them or one loss by the Seattle Mariners would punch their ticket. They lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the afternoon but then the Mariners lost their game later in the day to the Texas Rangers.

So while the Blue Jays weren’t able to celebrate clinching a playoff spot in front of their fans, they don’t have to stress in the final game of the season on Sunday. They’re in no matter what happens.

 

Not having to worry about Game 162 is important for the Blue Jays because they can now rest ace Kevin Gausman for the first game of their Wild Card playoff series. If Seattle had won and the Blue Jays needed to clinch on Sunday, they’d have sent Gausman to the mound and he likely wouldn’t have been available in the first round of the playoffs.

Sunday’s games will still be worthwhile to pay attention to because the Wild Card spots are still left to be determined. The Blue Jays and Houston Astros own identical 89-72 records, so a Houston win and a Toronto loss on the final day of the season would result in the Blue Jays finishing as the third Wild Card team. Any other outcome would result in the Blue Jays finishing in the second Wild Card spot, as they own the tiebreaker with the Astros.