Maybe all the Blue Jays needed was to come home. A playoff spot is now the expectation

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This article was published 08/08/2021 (1566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Blue Jays touched down on Canadian soil at the end of July for the first time in almost two years, they hoped the long-awaited homecoming would provide the spark required to begin a push for the post-season. It ended up doing a lot more than that.

The Jays’ first homestand since September of 2019 was better than good, even more impressive than great. It was borderline perfect with a 9-2 record that included a sweep of the Kansas City Royals, a series victory over Cleveland and, most crucially of all, three victories in four games against rival Boston.

At the July 30 trade deadline, the Jays were 9 1/2 games back of the Red Sox and 4 1/2 back of Oakland for the second wild-card spot. After a dramatic come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Boston on Sunday afternoon, they trail the Red Sox by just three games. The A’s, in possession of the second wild card, are within striking distance at three. A lot of progress has been made and it took less than two weeks to get it done.

During this successful trip home, the Jays also exorcised some of their demons.

This was a team that entered the Boston series having struggled against its biggest rivals and the top teams in the AL. Prior to the four-game set, the Jays were a combined 17-23 (.425) vs. the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. When other post-season contenders were included — the White Sox, Astros and A’s — the record dipped to 22-31 (.415).

Most of those losses came during the first half. This team has changed a lot since then. While the offence has been one of the best in baseball for most of the year, it’s even better with a healthy George Springer. José Berríos and Alek Manoah have turned the rotation from a weakness to a strength. The bullpen still has issues, but after adding four relievers in July there might be just enough high-leverage arms to get the job done.

Following Sunday’s improbable win, which saw the Jays rally from five runs down, manager Charlie Montoyo provided another possible explanation for the earlier struggles against the AL’s top teams. Until this week, there was no such thing as home-field advantage for them.

“We’re playing at home now and the energy that this place gives us, it’s huge,” Montoyo said in reference to the approximately 15,000 fans who sounded more like 50,000 on Sunday. “We haven’t had that. In the other places, we had a lot of Toronto fans, but it wasn’t like this.

“When we played Boston in Buffalo, it was full of Boston fans. We never had that energy and the Boston players felt comfortable there, at our home. We haven’t had that. Like I said before, when the trade deadline came, that was the biggest trade — coming back to Toronto.”

The Jays are the hottest team in baseball right now and while the homecoming and deadline additions will receive most of the credit, the turnaround began even earlier. Since June 19, they have gone 27-15 (.643), which is the best winning percentage in the AL over that same span.

A positive run differential had been suggesting for months that the Jays were better than their record indicated. Injuries, late-game meltdowns by the bullpen and issues executing in tight ball games stopped this group from living up to the hype. After some recent tweaks to the roster, and with improved health, those problems might be a thing of the past.

Sunday’s victory was one of their most dramatic of the season. After falling behind 7-2 by the fourth inning following a rough start from Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Jays slowly but surely started to chip away. They scored two in the fifth, two more in the seventh and then exploded in the eighth via a three-run homer off the bat of Springer.

The significance of that signature moment for Springer cannot be overstated. Had the Jays not come back to win, they would have been five games back of Boston after a 2-2 series split. Instead, they took the set 3-1 and are now nipping at the heels of the Red Sox, who have lost 10 of their last 13.

“That’s an extremely good ball club over there,” Springer said shortly after hitting his 14th home run of the season. “They can score with the best of them, they can pitch. For us to play our game, to do what we needed to do, go out and play hard, it was just a good win for us for sure.

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“As a team, we haven’t clicked at the same time on each end of the ball. This was obviously a huge homestand for us, but we need to go out west and keep playing the way we’ve been playing. We’ll see what happens.”

With approximately seven weeks to play, the Jays have as good a chance as anyone. The Rays, who built a seven-game lead atop the division, will be tough to catch, but stranger things have happened. The wild cards remain up for grabs, especially as Boston’s tailspin continues.

The schedule also works in the Jays’ favour. They won’t have to play the Red Sox again this season, while only two series remain against both the Yankees and Rays. After a west-coast trip to play the fringe contender Mariners and barely above .500 Angels, they have a slew of winnable games coming against the Tigers, Orioles and Nationals.

There are a lot of reasons to believe in this team. The standings might indicate otherwise, at least for now, but the post-season should be more than just a hope. At this point, it’s the expectation and anything less will come as a major disappointment.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca