Blue Jays clinch top wild-card seed, will play first-round series at home
The Toronto Blue Jays have clinched the top wild-card seed in the American League and will play their first-round series at Rogers Centre starting Friday.
The Blue Jays locked up the spot Monday night when the Seattle Mariners dropped a 4-3 decision to the Detroit Tigers.
Toronto defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 earlier in the evening in a rain-shortened game.
Major League Baseball changed the wild-card format for this post-season. Three wild-card teams will make the cut in each league this year along with the three division winners.
The Blue Jays, seeded fourth in the American League, will host the fifth-seeded team -- either the Mariners or the Tampa Bay Rays -- in a best-of-three series. All games will be played in Toronto.
The winner will advance to play the top-seeded Houston Astros in the best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 11.
The sixth-seeded club will open against the No. 3 Cleveland Guardians on Friday in the other AL wild-card series. The winner will take on the No. 2 New York Yankees in the ALDS.
The division series winners will advance to the best-of-seven American League Championship Series. The winner of that series will play the National League champion in the World Series starting Oct. 28.
The Blue Jays last made the playoffs in 2020. Toronto was swept by the Rays in a wild-card series that year.
Toronto won World Series titles in 1992-93.
After winning the Fall Classic for the second time, the Blue Jays didn't return to the playoffs until 2015. Toronto reached the ALCS that year and returned to the final four in 2016.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
BREAKING London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.