The playoff-bound Toronto Blue Jays drubbed the Baltimore Orioles, 15-2, in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday night at Camden Yards in Baltimore, clinching the American League East for the first time since 1993.
Toronto Blue Jays clinch American League East
Toronto owns the best record in the American League.
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Goins had a career-high five hits, including a double, and scored twice in the win. Toronto scored twice in the second, added two more runs in the fourth inning, then put the game away with a four-run fifth highlighted by a three-run play that featured throwing errors by pitcher Jason Garcia and first baseman Chris Davis.
Jose Bautista added some insurance with a home run in the ninth inning, his 40th of the season.
Marcus Stroman struck out eight in his eight strong innings for the win, allowing only one run on five hits.
The Blue Jays will open the American League Division Series at home on Oct. 8, but their opponent has yet to be determined.
With the win in the first game of the doubleheader, Toronto (92-65) owns a two-game lead over the American League Central champion Kansas City Royals (90-67) for the No. 1 seed in the AL with five games remaining, with both teams in action on Wednesday night. The Blue Jays beat the Royals in four of seven games in 2015, giving Toronto the tiebreaker, so the Jays' magic number to clinch the top seed is down to just three.
The blow out win was emblematic of the Blue Jays’ season, as they have outscored opponents by a whopping 236 runs all season, 112 runs better than the next-best run differential in baseball.
It is a remarkable in-season turnaround for Toronto, which stood at 50-51 at the end of play on July 28, eight games behind the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays are 42-14 since, and after the win in Game 1 of the doubleheader, now lead New York by six games.
Toronto had already clinched a playoff spot on Friday night.
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