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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 32nd home run of the season as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Monday in a rain-shortened eight-inning game.
The Jays are now guaranteed to host the series wild cards while their draft chasers, the Seattle Mariners, lost 4-3 to the Detroit Tigers later in the evening.
Each of the matches in this best-of-three meeting will be played on the turf of the Toronto team. Practice run by John Schneider for opponents will have either the Mariners or the Tampa Bay Rays.
The winner of this 2-of-3 will then go to Houston to face the Astros in the American League Division Series beginning on October 11th.
The Jays’ home stadium, Rogers Center, has not hosted an MLB playoff game since 2016.
A powerful drive of 422 feet to center court is allowed Vlady add a Jays-high 97th RBI.
With two games left in the regular season, the Jays recorded their 91st win (against 69 losses). That’s equal to their harvest from the 2021 campaign.
Starter Jose Berrios (12-7) had a solid outing on the mound, allowing just three earned runs in six innings of work.
Continuing his good offensive performance of late, Whit Merrifield set the tone for the night in Toronto by hitting a two-run single in the top of the second inning.
The Mariners (87-72) suffered their second straight loss. They threatened to tie the game with a runner in scoring position with two outs on the clock in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Except shortstop Andrew Chafin shut out veteran Carlos Santana for a strikeout to end Seattle’s comeback hopes.