After a World Series appearance last season, the Toronto Blue Jays don’t have the record they hoped they would have in mid-August.
But in a year that has playoff spots up for grabs, the Blue Jays will have every opportunity to return to the postseason. Despite entering play on Wednesday three games under .500, Toronto sits just a half-game out of the third and final American League wild-card spot.
The Blue Jays recorded their sixth victory in the past eight outings with a 10-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla., and the teams will play the second contest of a three-game series on Wednesday night.
In a season for him to forget, future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer (1-5, 6.59 ERA) has begun to turn the corner since returning from his second stint on the injured list. The 42-year-old right-hander, who will start Wednesday’s game, has a 2.20 ERA in three starts this month.
Scherzer allowed only one run on three hits in five innings in a 7-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. Scherzer, who surpassed 3,000 career innings during the game, said he believes the return of his health will equate to a positive stretch run.
“In the beginning part of the year, I was battling a lot of things. I wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t right,” said Scherzer, who has dealt with right forearm tendinitis, left ankle inflammation and back spasms this season.
“Now that I’ve gotten right and have come back, I know I can pitch. I know I can go out there and compete and give the team a chance to win.”
Despite being the second-oldest player in the majors (younger than only 43-year-old Justin Verlander of Detroit), Scherzer has stated no plans to retire at the end of the season. As much as the veteran wants to be part of another postseason run, he said he won’t change his approach — even in the wide-open wild-card race.
“For us being in the playoff race like this and being in the hunt, it does have everybody charged, but our job is to win no matter what the standings say,” Scherzer said. “If we were up 10 games or down 10 games and were last place in the league, you’ve still got to go out there and try to win every day.”
In 11 career starts against Tampa Bay, Scherzer is 6-3 with a 2.41 ERA.
The Rays, meanwhile, saw their lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees reduced to five games on Tuesday. The Tampa Bay pitching staff surrendered 17 hits in the club’s fourth loss in the past five tries.
Drew Rasmussen (12-5, 2.78 ERA) will look to continue a spectacular personal stretch on Wednesday, though. The All-Star right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA across his last five starts, marking the longest winning streak of his seven-year big-league career.
Rasmussen went five innings last Wednesday and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out three in an 8-4 road win over the Athletics.
“I thought Drew was really good,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Happy that he was able to navigate through five innings and probably had more left in the tank. I felt it was best after five to get him out of there and see if we could freshen him before the next start.”
In 14 career appearances (12 starts) against the Blue Jays, Rasmussen is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA. The 31-year-old has faced Toronto three times this season, going 2-0 with a 4.24 ERA.
–Field Level Media
