(Toronto) Two consecutive defeats to end the regular season did not diminish the joy of the Toronto Blue Jays, who sneaked into the playoffs for a second year in a row.
The Blue Jays (89-73) qualified late Saturday night for the playoffs in the American. They finished the campaign with a 12-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays (99-63).
Following Sunday’s games, the picture is as follows: the Blue Jays will visit the Minnesota Twins, while the Rays will face the Texas Rangers.
The Blue Jays players did not have the opportunity to celebrate the day before since they had obtained their ticket to the playoffs by virtue of a defeat by the Seattle Mariners which occurred late in the evening. On Sunday, a nightclub atmosphere reigned in the locker room.
They extended the festivities onto the field to share the moment with the remaining fans in the stands.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs,” said manager John Schneider during the celebrations. But we are exactly where we need to be. »
The players had to wait until the last match of the season to celebrate with music, champagne and cigars.
“It pretty much sums up [our season],” Kevin Kiermaier said of the late celebrations. Nothing has been easy for us this season. It’s game 162 and here we are, opening bottles of champagne for the first time.
“It happened like that. But now the playoffs begin. It’s a new start. We control our destiny. It’s up to us, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. »
A grand slam by Jonathan Aranda in the second inning propelled the Rays to this victory.
Aranda had three hits and drove in six runs.
The Rays placed 16 balls in safety, three more than the home favorite. They took advantage of the presence of veteran Wes Parsons (0-1) on the mound, recalled from the AAA level, to start this meeting.
Parsons, whose last appearance on the mound in a major league baseball game was four years ago with the Colorado Rockies, allowed nine runs, 10 hits and three walks in four innings.
The Rays sent 12 batters into the box in the second, scoring seven times on as many hits. The best strike was Aranda’s grand slam, his first in his career.
Manuel Margot hit a solo homer off Parsons in the fourth and Junior Caminero did the same against reliever Tim Mayza in the fifth.
The Rays recalled left-hander Jacob Lopez (1-0) from the minors for this game. He worked on the mound for five and a third innings, giving up five runs, eight hits and two free passes while striking out four batters.
The Blue Jays scored three runs in the second and as many in the sixth.
Tyler Heineman drove Davis Schneider and Cavin Biggio to the plate with a triple, then the catcher then scored himself due to a bad throw.
Schneider hit a double to start the sixth, later touching the plate on a single from Biggio. Biggio and Santiago Espinal, who went on the trail due to a defensive error, scored a run after singles by Daulton Varsho and Heineman.
Schneider crossed the plate twice and had two doubles, while Heinemen put the ball to safety twice in four official at-bats, producing three runs.
The Blue Jays’ Brandon Belt hit his 19th long ball of the season in the eighth.
Rookie Cam Eden recorded his first career hit with a single in the second.