MLB: Toronto Trying to Hold On

Posted on | May 20, 2009 | No Comments

The Toronto Blue Jays are certainly one of the biggest – if not the biggest – surprises this year. But there good fortune seems to be wearing a little thin. They enjoyed a great start and took advantage of a rather slow start by the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Tampa Bay Rays (the 3 teams that were supposed to compete for the division). But now the Yankees are charging hard and the Red Sox are coming too. After the Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox last night, they now lead the Red Sox by 2.5 games and the Yankees by 3.5 games.

The Yankees are playing great baseball. They’re getting hitting from their stars (especially Texierra) and they’re starting to get decent pitching from all of their starters. That’s why the Yanks have won 7 straight games. As the Yankees continue to lay the lowly Baltimore Orioles, they should be able to continue to gain ground on either the Red Sox or the Blue Jays.

Now, it still looks like the Rays aren’t going to do too much this year. I’m not going to count them out of it but it just doesn’t look like they are going to be able to put it together. This is what often happens to a young team that enjoys success. They have trouble keeping it going the following year. However, the Rays constantly proved me wrong last season, so I’m not going to sit here and count them out just yet.

And that’s why I won’t count the Blue Jays out either. Not only do they still enjoy a small cushion in the AL East, they also remind me a lot of last year’s Rays. And every time it looked the Rays would fall back and get blown away by the Red Sox, they suddenly ripped off a winning streak. So, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the Blue Jays win the next 2 games against the Red Sox. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the 3rd place about a week from now.

Related posts:

1. MLB: Big Games in the AL East
2. New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays
3. Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
4. Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox
5. MLB: That Crazy AL East

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