It took all 162 games, but the Blue Jays clinched the American League East division on Sunday with a 13-4 victory over Tampa Bay at a raucous Rogers Centre.
The division title is their first in 10 years and with it comes a first-round bye in the playoffs. Their next game is likely to be on Saturday in Toronto against the winner of a best-of-three wild-card series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
“The last three or four days were so uncertain,” manager John Schneider said. “It was nice to know we controlled our own destiny.”
The Blue Jays held a five-game lead over the Yankees as recently as Sept. 16. Then they lost six of seven games and New York forged a tie this week.
With the Yankees winning their last three, the Blue Jays had to do the same. They held a tiebreaker over the Pinstripes by winning more games between them during the regular season.
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New York needed a win against Baltimore on Sunday coupled with a Jays loss to leapfrog them and steal the division title on the final day of the season. The Yankees held on to beat the Orioles 3-2 but Toronto’s triumph over Tampa Bay made that a moot point.
As the season wound down neither team budged even an inch but Toronto won on the final day to secure the division crown. At 94-68, it finished with the best record in the American League. Its 54-27 mark at Rogers Centre was also the league’s best home record.
After they celebrated on the field, the Blue Jays gathered beneath a glittering disco ball in a dark room adjacent to their clubhouse. Music was thumping. Players donned goggles and grabbed bottles of champagne and got ready to uncork them and spray.
Before they did, Schneider gathered in their middle.
“Everyone in here, congrats,” Schneider shouted. “We made a 20-game turnaround from last year. At times when things got tough I said the sky wasn’t falling and it didn’t.”
The Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 13-4 to win the American League East Division title. Toronto will get a bye to the AL Division Series starting Saturday at home at the Rogers Centre.
The Canadian Press
With that, the entire Toronto entourage sprayed Folonari Prosecco at one another and, by accident, caught a few onlookers. Then they belted it down and some among them plucked cans of beer from a huge bin and followed suit.
Some players were so doused that they looked like they had taken an afternoon swim in Lake Ontario. Hugs were exchanged. A group dance ensued.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs since I have been here,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said. This is his seventh year with the team. “Thank God we got it done this year.”
Toronto started slowly this season and had a losing record after a third of the season. Then it went on a long, steady run. It took control of first place from the Yankees on July 3 and never relinquished it over the next 87 days.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman had a rough outing by his standards, giving up eight hits and four earned runs over 3 2/3 innings.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
It held off the Yankees with Bo Bichette out with a knee injury and starting pitchers Chris Bassitt and Jose Berrios ailing. Its 94 wins are the fourth-most in the franchise’s 48-year history.
This marks its sixth division title and first since 2015. The club has won two World Series championships – back to back in 1992 and 1993.
In the victory, the Blue Jays got a pair of home runs from catcher Alejandro Kirk and one each from third baseman Addison Barger and designated hitter George Springer. Barger finished the regular season with 21 homers and Springer with 32.
Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk hits his second home run of the game – a two-run shot – against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fifth inning at Rogers Centre on Sunday. The Blue Jays won 13-4 to wrap up the AL East.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
Kevin Gausman got the start for Toronto and lasted just 3 2/3 innings. He was staked to a 5-1 lead but was raked for eight hits and four runs before he was pulled with the bases full and two outs. Mason Fluharty came on and struck out Jonathan Aranda to end the threat.
“It was a little stressful day for sure but it’s exciting,” Gausman said. “As a player this is what you think about. It’s what you dream about as a kid when you play catch with your dad in the back yard.
“I wish I could have pitched a little better but the guys picked me up. In the four years I’ve been here I’ve heard people talk about the 2015 team. Hopefully maybe now they’ll talk about us more than them.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates after the Jays’ Sunday win.Cole Burston/Getty Images
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single by Aranda but the Blue Jays bounced right back in the bottom of the inning.
After back-to-back walks to Springer and Davis Schneider, Ian Seymour gave up a single to right field to Guerrero Jr. that drove in Springer.
After Anthony Santander struck out, Daulton Varsho singled to load the bases. Kirk then cranked a pitch 387 feet into the left-field bleachers for a 5-1 lead. Seymour ended up facing eight batters in the frame and it took him 41 pitches to record three outs.
What looked like a commanding lead was frittered away to 5-4 over the next three innings. Toronto added a run in the fifth on Andrés Gimenez’s sacrifice fly and then Kirk blasted a ball 419 feet to dead centre with a man on base in the fifth to blow the game open at 8-4.
From then on, Toronto’s bullpen took over and the Rays never mustered much to worry about. Between them, Fluharty, Louis Varland, Brandon Little, Braydon Fisher and Eric Lauer allowed just one hit and struck out nine over the final 5 1/3 innings.
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The Blue Jays added five more runs in the seventh to turn it into a laugher.
Fans came ready to celebrate an American League pennant and were not disappointed. The disc jockey of the day wore a blue ‘October Baseball’ T-shirt. Beforehand, Guerrero Jr. tossed balls softly into the stands behind third base.
It was a beautiful sunny fall day with a bright blue sky and, better yet, a Blue Jays win.
When the final out was recorded, players rushed from the dugout onto the field and celebrated with a group hug around the pitcher’s mount. They then all lined up in a long handshake line.
A while later they were dripping wet from champagne. Everyone was happy.
Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk is congratulated by Carlos Febles after hitting a two-run home run.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include the correct home record for the Toronto Blue Jays, which is 54-27.
Editor’s note: (Sept. 29, 2025) A previous version of this article incorrectly quoted manager John Schneider as saying the Jays made a 21-game turnaround from last year. They made a 20-game turnaround.