Boston Red Sox legend Pedro Martínez deserves credit where credit is due: he has no problem calling things how he sees them, especially concerning the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays.
Martínez praised the Blue Jays following Toronto’s 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Not only do the 70-50 Blue Jays lead the American League in wins, but they’ve increased their AL East lead to 4 ½ games over the Red Sox.
“The consistency they’ve shown all year, [especially] when playing strong teams, tells me the Toronto Blue Jays are for real!” Martínez wrote on X/Twitter.
Red Sox fans won’t want to hear it, but Martínez’s assessment is dead on. Toronto is 19-14 in one-run games and an impressive 39-19 at home as the Blue Jays seek their first AL East crown since 2015.
“Thank you, Pedro Martínez 💙,” the Blue Jays’ official X account responded.
Can the Blue Jays hang on and win the AL East?
Barring a collapse and a remarkable New York Yankees hot streak, all signs point to the AL East coming down to the Blue Jays and Red Sox. Toronto holds a six-game lead over the Yankees, who own a losing record since June 1 and have blown numerous late-inning leads recently.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they’ve already lost the tiebreaker to the Blue Jays. Toronto is 7-3 against Boston with three games — a Sept. 23-25 series at the Rogers Centre — left between the two. That doesn’t mean the Blue Jays are guaranteed to win the AL East, but it does mean that they have a significant advantage the Red Sox can’t overcome.
Rallying from a 4 1/2-game division deficit with roughly 40 games left isn’t impossible, though the odds are certainly stacked against the Red Sox. In fact, the Blue Jays are heavy favorites (-280, bet $100 for a $135.71 payout) to win the AL East on the FanDuel Sportsbook. Interestingly, FanDuel gives the Yankees higher odds (+470) than the Red Sox (+500) as of publication.
We’re not as high on the Yankees as FanDuel is, and their prolonged summer swoon could even cost them a playoff berth. The Yankees entered Wednesday with a one-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians for the AL’s third and final Wild Card spots.
The AL East runner-up is almost assured of a Wild Card seed, and we’ll see whether it’s Toronto or Boston. Based on Martínez’s social media post, it certainly sounds like he’s expecting the Blue Jays to sit out the Wild Card Round and instead enjoy a first-round bye.