How Close are Blue Jays to Clinching AL East Division Crown?

The Toronto Blue Jays continued their trek toward winning the American League East Division crown.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays gave top prospect Trey Yesavage the baseball and he struck out nine hitters. But the game wasn’t short on drama.

Toronto (88-62) beat the Tampa Bay Rays (73-77), 2-1 in 11 innings on Monday in Tampa, Fla. George Springer’s RBI single scored Ernie Clement to help the Blue Jays start their road trip with a victory. Yesavage didn’t factor in the decision, but he set a franchise record with nine strikeouts in an MLB debut.

The hot start by the young right-hander was nice. But Toronto has a division title to win, and Monday was a great night from that perspective.   

How Close are Blue Jays to Winning AL East?

We know George Springer got us 👊 pic.twitter.com/Nb3hD1pAUZ

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 16, 2025

Entering the game Toronto’s magic number to clinch the AL East was 10 — nine if you count the tiebreaker it has over the second-place New York Yankees, Every time the Blue Jays, or the Yankees lose, the magic number drops by one.

Toronto’s win trimmed the magic number to nine. New York was in action on Monday and lost to Minnesota, 7-0. That dropped the magic number to eight. If one counts the tiebreaker, the number is seven.

So, how close is Toronto? A seven-game winning streak would do it, including the tiebreaker, no matter what the Yankees do. Given the potential combinations, it’s possible Toronto could return to Rogers Centre next week with the division title in hand.

Toronto also bolstered its hold on the No. 1 seed in the AL playoffs. The Blue Jays now have a three-game lead on the Detroit Tigers for that seed, which comes with home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. The Tigers were off on Monday.

The Blue Jays are seeking to win their first division title since 2015, when they won 93 games and reached the American League Championship Series. 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

Uno, dos, TREY 🔥

Trey Yesavage strikes out the side...and has EIGHT Ks tonight! pic.twitter.com/yLLF0RU4bd

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 16, 2025

Magic Number to Clinch AL East: 8 (seven with tiebreaker)

Toronto Blue Jays Games Remaining: 12

Toronto Blue Jays Remaining Schedule: Sept. 16-18, at Tampa Bay; Sept. 19-21, at Kansas City; Sept. 23-25 vs. Boston; Sept. 26-28, vs. Tampa Bay.

AL East Division Race (after Sept. 15)

Toronto Blue Jays: 88-62 (lead division)

New York Yankees: 83-67 (5.0 games behind)

Boston Red Sox: 82-68 (6.0 games behind)

New York Yankees Remaining Schedule (12 games): Sept. 16-17, at Minnesota; Sept. 18-21, at Baltimore; Sept. 23-25 vs. Chicago White Sox; Sept. 26-28, vs. Baltimore.

Boston Red Sox Remaining Schedule (12 games): Sept. 16-18, vs. Athletics; Sept. 19-21, at Tampa Bay; Sept. 23-25 at Toronto; Sept. 26-28, vs. Detroit.