Yup, the Jays are hot and could be viewed as in the race for the first time since the 90's in mid-September.
8 1/2 games out of first, 7 out of the wild card with just one team between the Jays and Red Sox. 7 games against the Red Sox left as well. 144 games down, 18 to go. If the Jays sweep the Red Sox in those 7 (no easy feat) and stay even with the Sox over the other 11 we will see playoff baseball (unless Minnesota and the White Sox go nuts). Yeah, not a great hope - just 1.5% odds according to Baseball-Prospectus - but given a week ago it was at 0.25% it counts as exciting. FYI: Yankees down to 0.15%, Cleveland down to 0.02%, Tigers at 0.001% and the Rangers are at 0.00005%. Jays are now projected to finish at 87-75, 8 games behind the Red Sox and 10 behind the Rays. Halladay tonight, Marcum tomorrow then the big series with Purcey vs Wakefield, AJ vs Byrd, Litsch vs Colon, and Halladay vs Lester. Only Purcey has a worse ERA than his opponent throughout the next 6 games. This will be fun. Or very, very painful. Other baseball news includes the Angels having a magic number of 2 to become the first team this year to clinch, LA leading the snail race in the NL West by 2 1/2 while being just 3 games over 500, the Rays getting to 1 1/2 ahead of Boston, Chicago/Minnesota just 1 game apart, the Mets/Philly just 2 1/2 apart, while the NL wildcard is a 4 team race with 4 teams within 4 games of each other (Milwaukee leading, then Philly, St Louis, and Houston - told you they could surprise).
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080910094114729