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AL Wild Card race update: Blue Jays, Guardians, and Rangers all pick up a win
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Photo credit: © Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Sep 9, 2026, 15:15 EDTUpdated: Sep 9, 2026, 15:13 EDT
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Not a whole lot changed in the wild card race on Tuesday.
Playing the late game against the Athletics, the Toronto Blue Jays picked up a 4-2 victory thanks to back-to-back home runs by Josh Smith and Kazuma Okamoto, while tacking on two insurance runs later in the game.
They’ll have a chance to win their fourth consecutive series, and with just 16 games remaining this season, it’s paramount that the Blue Jays do it against the 58-88 Athletics. Wednesday afternoon’s affair is a bullpen day for both teams, with Braydon Fisher (3.20 ERA) kicking things off for the Blue Jays.
With that being said, what happened in the other games with wild card hopefuls?

Out of town scoreboard for September 8th

Earlier that day, the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Baltimore Orioles 9-5, taking a 6-0 in the first three innings. The Orioles scored five runs between the fourth and the fifth to cut the lead to one, but the Guardians tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh to secure their spot in the final wild card spot for the night.
However, the Blue Jays are hot on their heels, sitting just one game behind the American League Central team while owning the final wild card spot. With the loss, the Orioles drop to three games behind the Blue Jays and four behind the Guardians. Shane Baz (3.91 ERA) starts for the Orioles, Foster Griffin (3.26 ERA) starts for the Guardians.
Also in the mix are the Texas Rangers. On Tuesday evening, they defeated the Seattle Mariners 10-5, taking a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth before the Mariners scored three times. That rally was cut short, as the Rangers put up a five-spot in the top of the fifth. The Rangers scored another run in the seventh, then the Mariners scored a run in each the eighth and ninth innings.
Wednesday’s game has a 4:10 PM ET start time, with Cody Bradford (4.45 ERA) set to start for the Rangers and Kade Anderson (5.40 ERA) set to start for the Mariners. With the victory, the Rangers sit a game and a half behind the Guardians and a half game behind the Blue Jays while owning the tiebreaker. 
Both the Guardians and Blue Jays are off on Thursday, meaning that if they both lose on Wednesday, the Rangers could hold the final wild card come Friday. That’s because the Rangers hold the tiebreaker over both the Blue Jays and Guardians, but they’ll need to win both games against the Mariners.
The Minnesota Twins’ playoff hopes are hanging on by a thread, as they defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Tuesday. A two-run top of the sixth saw them overcome a 2-1 deficit and move to 69-76 on the season, or four and a half games behind the Guardians. Like the Rangers, the Twins hold the wild card over the Blue Jays.
Both the Mariners and Tigers lost, meaning their playoff hopes are all but non-existent at this point. The Mariners are six and a half games back of the final wild card, while the Tigers are seven and a half.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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