After an impressive start to September winning series in Cleveland and Kansas City, the Toronto Blue Jays put together an incredibly disappointing series in Sacramento, dropping two of three to the Athletics.

Monday began about as badly as possible, with Dylan Cease not looking sharp and the Blue Jays’ defence collapsing on a routine rundown play, allowing the Athletics to take an early lead. Wednesday, the bats couldn’t muster a single run against one of the worst pitching staffs in the league; all reasons for concern.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continues to be the focal point of the offence’s inability to produce in the clutch, having not recorded a single extra-base hit since his best of the season last week in Cleveland. With only nine games left at the Rogers Centre, one can only wonder whether Guerrero will hit a home run at home this season. As has been known all year long, getting his bat going would contribute immensely to Toronto’s potential postseason run.

The Blue Jays pitching staff has kept the entire team afloat all year long, but with Cease showing signs of fatigue, Spencer Arrighetti’s struggles and injuries to Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber, Toronto’s arms can only do so much down the stretch. The bats will need to carry the load for the final few weeks of the regular season and cannot afford to put together another three-game stretch like they did in Sacramento.

Thanks to a Guardians loss to the Orioles Wednesday night, the Jays remain one game back for the final Wild Card spot in the American League, while also holding the tie-breaker with Cleveland. At 73-74 and with only five series left in the regular season and 15 total games, each inning becomes increasingly more important toward the odds of making the postseason.

Max Scherzer gets the ball for the Blue Jays in game one, coming off a decent outing in Kansas City where he tossed 5.2 innings allowing three runs and one walk on two strikeouts. Scherzer is just two starts removed from his best outing as a Blue Jay to date, when he recorded seven innings of one-hit ball against the Mariners at the end of August, and will need to continue to provide quality innings down the stretch.

Location: Rogers Centre – Toronto, Ontario

First Pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590

Toronto Blue Jays – Max Scherzer: 2-7 record, 6.03 ERA, 62.2 IP, 48 SO, 27 BB

Baltimore Orioles – Chris Bassitt: 6-5 record, 4.96 ERA, 85.1 IP, 61 SO, 33 BB