Blue Jays Magic Number Remains on Hold as Royals Series Begins
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The Toronto Blue Jays fell to the Tampa Bay Rays for the second game in a row, leaving the Blue Jays iwith a split in the matchup with their AL East rivals.
The Blue Jays (89-64) fell short of becoming the first team in the American League to reach 90 wins, but they have the chance to clear that threshold when they start their three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday. Toronto still controls its playoff destiny, from clinching a playoff berth to winning the AL East and, potentially, claiming the No. 1 seed in the AL playoffs.
Toronto Blue Jays Magic Number
The Blue Jays have two magic numbers to track. The first is their number to clinch a playoff berth, which is three. That’s a combination of Toronto wins and Cleveland losses. However, there is a scenario, worked out by The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon on X (formerly Twitter), that would allow Toronto to clinch a playoff berth on Friday, even with the Thursday loss to Tampa Bay. He outlined it below.
Correction: The #BlueJays CAN clinch a playoff spot tomorrow with a win.
— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) September 19, 2025
It's due to the 6 guaranteed losses with DET/CLE/BOS playing each other.
Laid it out below - hopefully I don't have to correct the correction, but please point out if I'm wrong: pic.twitter.com/KrfOlfhHUX
The second is the magic number to clinch the AL East, which is seven (six with the tiebreaker over the New York Yankees). It’s a combination of Blue Jays wins and New York Yankees losses. But New York, which leads the wild card race, keeps winning. The Yankees won their series opener with the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. With three more games against the O’s, New York could make clinching hard on the Blue Jays.
Toronto did maintain its four-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the race for the No. 1 seed in the American League playoffs, as the Tigers continue to spin out of control after being swept by the Guardians. That No. 1 seed comes with home-field advantage in the AL playoffs and a bye through to the divisional round.
The Blue Jays are seeking to win their first division title since 2015. Since that division title they've been to the postseason four other times, but always as a wild card team. The Blue Jays reached the ALCS again in 2016 but fell to Cleveland.
Toronto has a team good enough to duplicate what their 1992 and 1993 teams did, which was win the World Series. That 1993 season was the last time the Blue Jays played in the Fall Classic.
Toronto Blue Jays Magic Number Watch
Magic Number to Clinch AL East: 7 (six with tiebreaker)
Toronto Blue Jays Games Remaining: 9
Toronto Blue Jays Remaining Schedule: Sept. 19-21, at Kansas City; Sept. 23-25 vs. Boston; Sept. 26-28, vs. Tampa Bay.
AL East Division Race (after Sept. 18)
Toronto Blue Jays: 89-64 (lead division)
New York Yankees: 86-67 (3.0 games behind)
Boston Red Sox: 83-70 (6.0 games behind)
New York Yankees Remaining Schedule (9 games): Sept. 19-21, at Baltimore; Sept. 23-25 vs. Chicago White Sox; Sept. 26-28, vs. Baltimore.
Boston Red Sox Remaining Schedule (9 games): Sept. 19-21, at Tampa Bay; Sept. 23-25 at Toronto; Sept. 26-28, vs. Detroit.
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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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