The Toronto Blue Jays have lost their last 5 American League playoff games: the final game in the ALCS to Cleveland in 2016, 2 in Tampa Bay in 2020, and 2 in Seattle at home in 2022.
Thanks to the Houston win and Texas loss on Sunday, the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays will play the wild card round in Minnesota. The Blue Jays losing playoff streak may seem sad but the Minnesota Twins have lost 18 straight playoff games. The last Twins postseason win was Game 1 in the 2004 ALDS at Yankee Stadium. The Twins have lost 13 of those 18 games to the New York Yankees.
The Toronto Blue Jays finished 89-73 losing the final 2 home games to Tampa Bay, the team Toronto would have played in the postseason. The Minnesota Twins won the AL Central with a 87-75 record. The Twins finished 7-3 in the final 10 games while the Blue Jays went 4-6.
The Jays and Twins split their 6-game season series, winning 2 out of 3 each in the road stadium.
Kevin Gausman will pitch Game 1.
Brandon Belt and George Springer have World Series winning experience. The young core is more mature yet that core (Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., etc.) with Springer is 0-4 with the Game 2 nightmare against the Mariners at Rogers Centre.
This is the postseason action for Davis Schneider.
The starting pitchers are better. The bullpen is hit and miss, especially down the stretch. The catching depth is not as deep. The outfield defense is vastly improved. The home runs are down.
This is the time to see whether the Toronto Blue Jays can take things to the #NextLevel.
The Wild Card Series schedule with times pic.twitter.com/AlTcxeS8ll
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 1, 2023
4:38 pm start times will be in effect for Game 1 and Game 2. The times are subject to change on Thursday depending on how many games are remaining. You might remember from last year's schedule that the Blue Jays would have been on ABC in the States had Toronto not choked in Game 2 at Rogers Centre against Seattle.
MLB has announced that if Toronto needs a Game 3 in a 2-series scenario on Thursday, the game moves to 3:08 pm on ABC. if the Blue Jays are the only Game 3, the game moves to 7:08 pm on ESPN.
Rogers Sportsnet will produce its own telecasts in Canada with Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez. In a miracle, the Blue Jays radio people will be on site at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. Citytv might sim sub a Blue Jays playoff game on ABC.
ESPN will send Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez to Minnesota. Could be worse; could be the Sunday Night Baseball crew.
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Wanna see what it’s like to be part of a Postseason celebration? #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/cgjEnhnQfh
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 2, 2023
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Former Minnesota pitcher Jose Berrios (11-12, 3.65) as well as Chris Bassitt (16-8, 3.60) will likely draw the other starts. Yusei Kikuchi (11-6, 3.86) could be in long relief or even throw a crucial inning. Hyun-jin Ryu is also an option.
You might remember Edouard Julien at 2nd base for the Canada team at the World Baseball Classic this spring. Julien plays for Minnesota: Julien hit .263 with an on-base percentage of .381 — as the Twins leadoff hitter — with 16 HR and 64 RBI. While Julien won't play in Canada in the postseason, he does know the words to O Canada. Julien, in his rookie season, is from Quebec City.
John Schneider has a career regular-season record of 135-101 with Toronto, 0-2 in the postseason thanks to the Seattle sweep in 2022.
Toronto Blue Jays playoffs history
| 2022 | Seattle | 0-2 |
| 2020 | Tampa Bay | 0-2 |
| 2016 | Cleveland | 1-4 |
| 2016 | Texas | 3-0 |
| 2016 | Baltimore | 1-0 |
| 2015 | Kansas City | 2-4 |
| 2015 | Texas | 3-2 |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | 4-2 |
| 1993 | Chicago (AL) | 4-2 |
| 1992 | Atlanta | 4-2 |
| 1992 | Oakland | 4-2 |
| 1991 | Minnesota | 1-4 |
| 1989 | Oakland | 1-4 |
| 1985 | Kansas City | 3-4 |
photo credit: @Bluejays
Twitter captures: @BNightengale; @BlueJays
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