Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin (55)gets pat on the head after the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 4-0 at the Rogers Centre.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
In the final, convoluted analysis, even the Toronto Blue Jays did not know that they had qualified for the post-season.
But they have – ending a 22-year-old playoff drought in the process.
The American League club headed into Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre under the impression that a number of things had to fall into place for it to qualify at the very least for a wildcard playoff berth.
Primary among them was that the Blue Jays had to defeat the Rays, which they did 5-3.
Two other teams in the A.L. wildcard hunt, the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels, also both had to lose their respective games for the Blue Jays to advance – or so the conventional thinking went.
Minnesota lost but the Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners in L.A. in a game that ended shortly after 1 a.m. Eastern time and the Blue Jays went to bed with the knowledge that they would try again to clinch on Saturday.
However, as Shi Davidi of Rogers Sportsnet first reported Saturday morning, the Blue Jays actually did clinch – unbeknownst to even the team itself – using a convoluted win-loss scenario taken through the end of the season involving the Angels, the Mariners the Houston Astros and Toronto.
A Blue Jays official confirmed this morning that Major League Baseball had never even informed the club of the probability of this ever unfolding Friday night but, yes, Toronto has clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 1993.
While it is good news for the Blue Jays, the team still has their sights set on winning the A.L. East title and thereby assuring an best-of-five opening playoff series. The two teams that make the post season through the wildcard process only participate in a one-and-done affair.
Heading into Saturday's second game in their weekend series against the Rays, the Blue Jays lead the division by four games over the New York Yankees. That means their magic number to clinch the division is now six games – a combination of Toronto victories and New York losses.
Toronto pitcher R.A. Dickey, speaking after the Friday's win over the Rays and before the Blue Jays knew that had indeed clinched via the wildcard process, said the divisional title is the real trophy the players want to secure.