Jays clinch playoff spot as O's fall to Red Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays clinched a playoff spot on Thursday following the Baltimore Orioles' 5-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The Jays return to the postseason for the fourth time in the past eight seasons and first time since the shortened 2020 campaign.

With the New York Yankees having locked up the American League East on Wednesday night, the Jays will claim one of three American League wild-card spots in this season's new playoff format.

Twelve teams, six in each of the AL and National League, make the playoffs under the updated format — three division winners and three wild-card teams. The division winners with the best two records receive a first-round bye and will advance directly to their respective Division Series. In the AL, the AL West champion Houston Astros and Yankees will receive byes, with the AL Central-winning Cleveland Guardians locked in as the third seed.

The two Wild Card Series in each league will be played in a best-of-three format with all games played at the home park of the higher seed. Should the Jays finish in the top wild-card spot, the spot the team currently occupies with six games remaining, they would host the second wild-card team at Rogers Centre.

Following the Orioles' loss, the Tampa Bay Rays' magic number is now one with a magic number of two for the Seattle Mariners, who currently occupy the final wild-card spot and sit five games clear of Baltimore. The Rays, at Cleveland, and Mariners, home to the Texas Rangers, play later Thursday.

With the Rays and Mariners both holding the tiebreaker over the Jays by virtue of a better head-to-head record, Toronto must finish ahead of either team to claim a superior seed.

Thursday is the Jays' final off-day of the season. The team