The Toronto Blue Jays laughed alone on the 18th (Korean time)안전놀이터, which was the deciding factor.
Toronto won 3-2 in the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) home game against the Boston Red Sox held at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the 18th. Starter Ryu Hyun-jin only pitched 4 2/3 innings (no runs), but thanks to Matt Chapman’s timely double in the bottom of the 9th inning, the team has won their last 3 games in a row.
This day’s game was the deciding factor for Toronto this season. Toronto lost all four consecutive games against the Texas Rangers held at home from the 12th to the 15th. The possibility of playing fall baseball was immediately shaken as the team fell to fourth place in the American League wild card rankings, which is the standard for advancing to the postseason. At the time of four consecutive losses, Toronto’s chance of advancing to the postseason was 33.6% according to FanGraphs. It was less than half of what it was right before their 4th consecutive loss (79.3%).
But since then, the atmosphere is changing again. Toronto then won all three games in a row against Boston, recording its 83rd win (67 losses). FanGraphs.com’s probability of advancing to the postseason also recovered to 78.8%. That’s how powerful the winning streak is. Although he did not become the winning pitcher, there is no need to emphasize further that Ryu Hyun-jin’s good pitching was a great help to the team.
Unlike Toronto, ranking rivals Texas and Seattle are faltering. Texas has suffered three consecutive losses, including losing 2-9 against the Cleveland Guardians on the same day. Texas has a 70.9% chance of advancing to the postseason as it still has a chance of winning the district, but considering only the possibility of a wild card, it has slowed down to 59.4%. The same goes for Seattle. They met with the LA Dodgers, who had secured first place in the National League West Division, and lost all three games in a row. In particular, even in the game on the 18th, when the Dodgers rested many of their starting players after confirming their district championship, they lost 1-6.
As the three teams’ joys and sorrows were mixed, the American League wild card rankings were also overturned. In first place, the Tampa Bay Rays, who are still aiming to win the Eastern Division, are 9 games behind third place. Toronto, which recently won consecutively, regained second place by half a game, and Texas took third place with a winning percentage of 0.550. Seattle ranked 4th, one game behind Texas. The sense of crisis that Toronto experienced after four consecutive losses now falls on Seattle. Seattle also has a chance of winning the district and has a 53.2% chance of advancing to the postseason, but the wild card chance is only 38.6%.