The Toronto Blue Jays season is coming down to the wire. Nine games left to decide the playoff picture. It will take a lot of winning and poor play from their wild card adversaries, but the path remains open for the Jays to make it to October.

The penultimate home series of the regular season did not go smoothly, with the Jays dropping the first two against the Detroit Tigers, before winning the final game on the back of five solid innings from Max Scherzer. Things looked to be going well in the series opener, as José Soriano throwing a no-hitter through six innings. However, he surrendered four earned runs in the seventh.

But then Kazuma Okamoto hit a three-run home run to give the Jays the lead after Soriano allowed four runs. Louis Varland blew a save in the eighth, then dropped the ball at first base in the ninth inning to allow the game-winning run to score. The Tigers clung to victory and Tuesday was, simply put, ugly.

There is no room for error in these final nine games of the regular season. The pitching staff will need to continue performing the way they have all season long, and the offence will need to provide enough support to keep the team afloat.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put together arguably his best game of the regular season last Sunday against the Orioles, just to go 1-10 in the following series against Detroit. Consistency from the offence is all that is being asked from the players, and this is the time for them to prove if they can get the job done.

The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox remain neck-and-neck in the American League Central, tied at a 78-75 record with the White Sox holding the tiebreaker. Entering Friday, the Blue Jays are two games back of the final Wild Card spot in the American League, at a 76-77 record and holds the tiebreaker against Guardians but not the White Sox.

Both Central teams have light schedules the rest of the way, meaning the Blue Jays will have to play their best baseball of the season and not rely on their opponents losing to make it into the playoffs.

To make matters worse, the Blue Jays face another wild card hopeful this weekend, the Texas Rangers. In June, the Blue Jays lost all four games against the American League West team, meaning that the 2023 World Series champions hold the tiebreaker. Entering Friday, the teams share an identical 76-77 record, meaning a series loss would be devastating for the Jays.

Dylan Cease gets the ball for the Blue Jays in game one of this series, coming off an outing against Baltimore that featured mixed results. He wound up finishing with five innings pitched, nine strikeouts, and just one earned run, yet walked five and loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning.

The Cy Young candidate was able to work out of the jam by striking out three Orioles in a row, but made it tough on himself, having to throw 33 pitches in the opening frame. Most notably, Cease’s fastball velocity has been down for about a month, raising concern over his ability to pitch like a top two arm in the American League if the Blue Jays make the playoffs.

Location: Globe Life Field – Arlington, Texas

First Pitch: 8:05 p.m. ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet, SN590

Toronto Blue Jays – Dylan Cease: 11-5 record, 2.38 ERA, 166.1 IP, 236 SO, 72 BB

Texas Rangers – Kumar Rocker: 5-11 record, 4.54 ERA, 138.2 IP, 132 SO, 57 BB