Blue Jays Remain American League's Most Dominant Team Since Late May
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On May 25 the Toronto Blue Jays had just been swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in embarrassing fashion.
They were shut out, 13-0, in one game and outscored 19-2 in that series. After that the switch was flipped.
The day after that shut out, the Blue Jays started what Jon Morosi of MLB Network pointed out was an American League best-run of 43-21.
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The Blue Jays' Home-Field Advantage
At 38-19, Toronto has the best record in baseball on its home field, Rogers Centre. Since the end of May the ball club has been nearly unbeatable there.
Toronto returned home from a road trip that included a swing to Texas after being dominated by the Rays and completed a four-game sweep of the Athletics. In home games since May 26, the Blue Jays are 19-6, which included a franchise-record 11 straight wins at home.
That winning streak accelerated the Blue Jays' rise to the top of the American League East.
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The Blue Jays began a four-game series against the New York Yankees at home on June 30. At the time the Yankees led the Blue Jays by four games in the division.
The Blue Jays swept the series. After sweeping the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in Denver, Toronto has a four-game lead on Boston and a 6.5-game lead on the Yankees.
July Excellence
The Blue Jays had its best month of the season in July, as they won 18 games — and that was with a mini-slump that included losing four of their final five games in July.
On a high note, the team took on the Yankees six times in the month. Toronto won both series and posted a 5-1 record as New York continues its downhill slide.
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That stretch also included a four-game series with the Detroit Tigers, who for most of the season had the best record in the American League. That series, played in Detroit, saw the Blue Jays win three out of four games.
Looking Ahead
Toronto may have been in need of a confidence boost after a 1-2 start to August. Their most recent series against the Colorado Rockies did more than that.
The Jays posted a historic showcase of offense (led by a pair of three run-homers by Bo Bichette) when they scored 45 runs in a three game series to dominate Colorado.
The Blue Jays are off on Thursday before they take on one of the National League's best teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers, on the west coast starting on Friday.
The Blue Jays return home next week to take on the Chicago Cubs and the Texas Rangers, two franchises firmly in the wild card chase.
For more Blue Jays news, head over to Blue Jays On SI.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.