Blue Jays close in on Guardians in wild-card chase, but Cleveland has an extra game to play

The Toronto Blue Jays have nearly closed the gap with the Cleveland Guardians in the battle for the American League's remaining wild-card spot, but they'll have to work to keep it that way — and hope the Guardians lose at least once in their Friday double-header.

Toronto (70-71) and Cleveland (70-70) have the same number of wins heading into Friday's games, but the Guardians will get a couple chances to add to that as they play two against the Detroit Tigers.

If the Guardians win both games against the Tigers, they'd finish the day at 72-70. The best Toronto can do is to bank a win against the Kansas City Royals on Friday and improve to 71-71 — putting them back at the .500 mark for the first time since June.

The Blue Jays, Guardians and a handful of other teams are all fighting for the third AL wild-card.

Cleveland and Toronto battled it out in a three-game series this week, with the Jays winning two of three — including their 6-3 victory Thursday afternoon.

The Blue Jays start a three-game series with the Kansas City on Friday. Toronto has 21 games left to play in the regular season and needs to keep stacking up victories for their playoff hopes to stay alive.

Six American League teams will advance to the post-season — three division winners, and the three teams with the next-best records that are awarded wild-card spots.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have the best records outside of the division leading Tampa Bay Rays, and currently occupy two of those spots.

The Texas Rangers won on Thursday, improving to 70-71 and keeping pace with the Blue Jays.

The Baltimore Orioles, meanwhile, lost to Boston on Thursday, putting the team at 69-72 on the season.