October baseball is returning to Toronto.
The Blue Jays defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-5 on Sunday to clinch a spot in the American League playoffs.
It marks the third trip to the postseason in the last four seasons for the Blue Jays, and fourth in their last six campaigns.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a key two-run double in the fifth, his first extra-base hit since Sept. 7. Addison Barger followed with an RBI double of his own, and Toronto chipped in two insurance runs in the eighth.
The Blue Jays (90-66) hold the top spot in the AL, leading the New York Yankees by a couple games with just six games remaining on the schedule. Toronto is seeking their first AL East division title since 2015 and only second in the last 32 years.
With a playoff spot clinched, the focus will begin to turn to improving upon their performance in the playoffs: the Blue Jays have lost seven consecutive games in the postseason, including suffering sweeps in the wild-card series in each of their last three postseason appearances in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
More to come.