Yes, it can happen—check Colorado Rockies, 2007.
The Toronto Blue Jays swept the Baltimore Orioles this weekend and have several series looming against some of the worst teams in the AL:
- A three-game series with the Kansas City Royals, who were recently swept by the Oakland A’s.
- A four-game series with the Detroit Tigers, who were recently swept by the Cleveland Indians.
- A three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles; the Jays are 9-0 against them this year.
- And finally the most intriguing matchup, a three-game series against Cleveland, who swept Toronto in four games earlier this year.
The first series against the Royals and will face two pitchers who have ERAs over five (Kyle Davies and Anthony Lerew) and Zack Greinke, who has a very respectable 3.67 ERA, but has not reached that Cy Young quality pitching he achieved a year ago.
This series will give another chance for the Jays’ big bats to bash more below-average pitching, led by John Buck, who will return to his former home, Jose Bautista, and guys who have once again found their bat recently—Lyle Overbay and Yunel Escobar.
The next series is against the Tigers, who were recently swept by the young Cleveland Indians.
This should be the only team to which Toronto they will lose a game, with the Tigers’ pitching being led by Justin Verlander, and the batting of Miguel Cabrera and rookie sensation Brennan Boesch.
The more easily predictable series against the O’s will likely mean another sweep for the Jays and will provide great momentum in their next series against Cleveland. As I said earlier, the Indians swept the Jays earlier this year and there is greater passion than ever at Rogers Centre, with many ads being hyped on this series.
I predict this to be another series sweep for Toronto, but I said that last time when they faced the Indians. But the Jays look more revived with the acquisition of the young Yunel Escobar, and who knows what moves Alex Anthopoulous will make between now and then.
As of this sentence, the Toronto Blue Jays have a 47-45 record and are only 8.5 GB in the AL Wild Card standings.
Ahead of them are the LA Angels, who have an upcoming series against the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers, and the BoSox. So Toronto can easily find themselves ahead of this team in the Wild Card race.
The next team ahead of them, the Minnesota Twins, are currently still without the services of Justin Morneau, who was coincidentally injured in a game against the Jays. The Jays could be the nemesis of the Twins and could move to at least a game ahead of them.
But the Twins’ upcoming schedule includes dates against the Indians, O’s, Royals, and Mariners. I could see them being third in the Wild Card standings after the end of these series.
The Tigers, unfortunately, will find themselves from top contention in the next few weeks to sixth-seventh place in the Wild Card, as they have series against Texas, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Boston, and the Chicago White Sox. I would be scared if I was a member of the Detroit pitching staff.
I see Tampa and Boston still competing for top spot in the Wild Card and even division, but Toronto dangerously chasing them while holding down third place in the AL Wild Card.
If Toronto wants to keep proving those doubters wrong, they will need to have a great winning stretch for the rest of the month and keep those big bats and pitching arms going.
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