Blue Jays' dramatic push for the playoffs falls short following Red Sox victory
CBC
In a matter of minutes, the final day of the Blue Jays' dramatic 91-win season went from cloud nine to crashing down to earth.
The Blue Jays returned to their clubhouse in a jubilant mood after putting the final touches on a 12-4 victory to sweep the lowly Baltimore Orioles in the regular-season-ending three-game series on Sunday.
But as they glanced up at the various television sets, they saw the bad news playing out. The Boston Red Sox had just gone up 7-5 in Washington against the Nationals.
"You don't ever want your fate in the hands of somebody else," said Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, who hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam in the third inning to put his team in front 9-1. "But that's just the way it was, is, hoping for the best, but it didn't happen."
The Blue Jays (91-71) needed a win and a loss from either the Red Sox or New York Yankees to make it to an American League wild-card tiebreaker game on Monday.
The Yankees (92-70) won 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth of their home game against the AL East division-winning Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox (92-70) were behind 5-1 after five innings in their game but stormed back to win on Rafael Devers's two-run homer in the final inning.
Hundreds of the 29,942 at the Rogers Centre stayed around to watch the final inning of the Red Sox game on the giant scoreboard in centre field.
