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Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 7-3 in the second game of the doubleheader, bringing their win streak to six
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Photo credit: © David Butler II - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Aug 26, 2024, 22:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 26, 2024, 22:20 EDT
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Don’t look now, but the Toronto Blue Jays are showing signs of life.
With a 4-1 win and a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday, the Blue Jays’ record now sits at 65-68. As I write this, the Minnesota Twins, holders of the final Wild Card spot, look unlikely to win their game against Atlanta. There’s a very real chance that the Jays will be within eight games of the final Wild Card spot.
With only 29 games remaining this season, the chances of the Blue Jays making the postseason are slim to none. Especially considering they’d have to jump over five teams. However, a six-game win streak has me thinking about the playoffs, which is something worth looking into.
The Blue Jays have 29 games left on their schedule. After the remaining three games wrap up against the Red Sox, they’ll play eight straight games against teams in a postseason spot, three against the Minnesota Twins, two against the Philadelphia Phillies, and three against the Atlanta Braves. The following series will be a three-gamer against the New York Mets, who currently sit two and a half games out of the final Wild Card spot.
The day before the trade deadline, the Jays had a 50-57 record and were eight games behind the final Wild Card. It seemed as if they were aiming to land a high pick in the 2025 draft, but with a sweep over the Angels and a six-game winning streak, have virtually taken themselves out of a high probability of landing the first overall pick. 
So the next best option is to do the very best they can to finish the season to see what the young kids can do. What they’re doing is hitting home runs and winning games, along with being a damn fun team.
We already looked at what went down in the first game of the doubleheader (read that here), but let’s look quickly at what happened in their 7-3 win in the evening game.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a Triston Casas single, but the Blue Jays answered in the top of the fifth as George Springer hit his 19th home run of the season, a three-run shot. Moreover, this was the first time in the history of MLB where a player hit his seventh-home run and his 19th home run on the same day. 
Toronto scored two more runs in the same inning, as Addison Barger hit a single to make it 4-1, before Ernie Clement hit a double to make it 5-1. Boston made it a close game in the bottom of the eighth, as Jarren Duran hit his 19th home run of the season. He also hit his eight-home run of the season and 19th home run of the season on the same day.
Thankfully, the Jays added some insurance runs in the top of the ninth, as the Red Sox defence left the building and allowed Alejandro Kirk to reach on an error to score Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Spencer Horwitz would single in another run to give us the final score.

Diving deeper into the stats…

José Berríos had a terrific start, giving up two earned runs (three total) in seven and two thirds innings pitched. His season ERA now sits at 3.72. After using a whole whack of pitchers in the first game of the doubleheader, Brendon Little was the only reliever to pitch in the second game.
The lefty pitched an inning and a third, allowing a hit and striking out a batter to bring his season ERA to 3.78. Moreover, he picked up his first big league save and his sixth-career professional save. There’s a spot for the 28-year-old in the 2025 Blue Jays bullpen.
As for the bats, Springer continued to mash with his 19th home run of the season. Something tells me that he’s not declining like many thought early in the season. Leo Jiménez hit his 10th double of the season, while Ernie Clement hit his 18th double of the season. Springer had a multi-hit game, as did Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who had two singles. Other players with a hit were Addison Barger, Spencer Horwitz, and Steward Berroa.
The Jays return to action on Tuesday at 7:10 PM ET. Yariel Rodríguez is the expected starter, and he’ll be opposed by righty Cooper Criswell.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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