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Get your finger guns ready for a HUGE final homestand for the Blue Jays

Nick Reid Sep 28, 2021

I can’t stress enough how paramount this week of Blue Jays baseball is about to be. The Jays are one game back from the second Wild Card spot in the American League, just behind the Red Sox and two games behind the Yankees. The Yanks are the first opponent coming to Toronto for the Jays’ final homestand of the season, which caps off with a weekend series against the Orioles. If you haven’t tuned in all season, now’s the time to do so. If you have been following this team, pay even more attention to ’em. This is a season-defining week that’ll determine whether this ballclub sees the postseason.

This upcoming series might just be the most important for this franchise in the last five years. Currently two games behind the Yankees,  a sweep would surpass them to claim the first Wild Card spot. That would be enormous as all that would stand between the Jays and a postseason berth is a weekend series against the last-place O’s. It’ll also depend on what Boston does against Baltimore and the Nationals, two cupcake teams, but if the Jays sweep the Yankees they’ll have nearly secured a Wild Card spot.

If the Jays win only two out of three against New York, it doesn’t mean they won’t make the playoffs. They still have a very good chance that they do. But anything less than a sweep makes it even more important that the Jays take care of the O’s this weekend and hope that some other teams can do them a favour. The Yankees finish their season against the East division-winning, card-stealing Tampa Bay Rays who are sure to put up a fight. Let’s just hope the Jays can do enough on their end that they won’t have to rely on others to help them get into the dance. My brain hurts thinking of all of the different scenarios in this Wild Card race.

I’m not saying it’s gonna be an easy task, but I truly believe that the Jays can do what it takes to get one of those Wild Card spots. They’ve returned to form after their first so-so stretch of the month, having righted the ship with back-to-back wins in Minnesota this weekend. And I can’t understate how important it is for them to be back in their own barn. The Rogers Centre is gonna be rockin’ and I think the Blue Jays are gonna make the most of their long-awaited home field advantage.

I’m ready to see this team absolutely ball out when it matters most. I’m ready to see Vladdy go nuclear on the Yankees’ pitching staff and send a few baseballs right through some hotel room windows in deep center. I’m ready for George Springer to keep up his hot streak and slug his way around the bases, with Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette driving him in. I can’t fucking wait to see Teoscar Hernandez hit some tanks and Lourdes Gurriel’s pineapple head return to the most stacked lineup in the league. While Hyun-jin Ryu hasn’t been at his best lately, I’m ready to see him deliver when it matters most Tuesday, and have José Berrios and Robbie Ray follow him up the next two nights. This ballclub is a wagon and I’m ready for them to put the other postseason teams on notice as they storm into October.

If you think I’ve been an unrelenting, obnoxiously rambunctious fan so far this season just wait until this Yankees series starts. This is the biggest series of the summer and I am fired up just thinking about that Rogers Centre atmosphere when I’ll be there for the first two games of this homestand. I’ll be repping the incredibly sexy home run jacket I got for my birthday on Tuesday, and let’s sure hope that the bats feed off of what will be an eeeeelectric crowd of 30,000 Jays fans. The boys are 6-1 in games I’ve been to and I can’t wait to cheer my heart out for this ballclub. My finger guns are locked and loaded and you better have yours ready to help rally this Jays offense.

Keep an eye on my Twitter and the network for Blue Jays content all. week. long. Let’s go!!

Nick Reid

Blue Jays Contributor for DeanBlundell.com. Sport Management student at Brock University. Have seen a game at all 30 Major League ballparks. Would rather be eating poutine at the Rogers Centre.

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