In the final week of the baseball season, the Toronto Blue Jays face the Baltimore Orioles in a crucial game for playoff positioning. The Blue Jays, despite a tumultuous season and recent player trades, are three games behind the Chicago White Sox for the American League Wild Card spot. Trey Yesavage starts for Toronto with a 5-5 record and a 3.65 ERA but struggled against Baltimore earlier this year. Meanwhile, Shane Baz takes the mound for the Orioles with an inconsistent season performance (6-15, 4.11 ERA) but has shown promise at home. Both teams desperately need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
We are entering the final week of the baseball season, and it is still a big week for a lot of teams.
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it → enter → teams
Many have already popped champagne bottles, knowing that they've made the postseason, but there are still quite a few that need to solidify their position.
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that → pop → position
Some of them are still looking to make the postseason, and others are just trying to lock down the division or Wild Card spot.
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others → look → division
Monday night we have two teams that are still in contention, but losses will knock them out quickly as the Blue Jays take on the Orioles.
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Jays → have → Orioles
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
The Toronto Blue Jays have had a unique situation this season.
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Jays → have → situation
They came into the season off a narrow loss to the Dodgers in the World Series.
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They → come → Series
They lost Bo Bichette in the offseason, but added Dylan Cease.
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They → lose → Cease
Many picked them to be a threat once again this season, but it never really came about.
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it → pick → them
They started trading away players at the trade deadline, but instead of sinking further in the standings, they started winning games.
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they → start → games
It was kind of a down year overall, including for Vlad Guerrero Jr., who just hit his first homer at home a few games ago.
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who → include → home
Tonight, the team turns to a playoff hero from just a year ago to try to keep their hopes alive.
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team → turn → hopes
Trey Yesavage toes the rubber tonight and brings a 5-5 record with a 3.65 ERA into the contest.
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Yesavage → toe → contest
He also carries a 1.14 WHIP and has 91 strikeouts over 93.2 innings of work.
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He → carry → work
He is coming back from the injured list, so you do have to be curious about just how many pitches they will allow him today.
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they → come → him
He has faced the Orioles twice this season and allowed seven earned runs over 10.2 innings.
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He → face → innings
The Blue Jays lost both games, and Yesavage gave up nine walks in those innings.
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Yesavage → lose → innings
The Baltimore Orioles are still alive, but their hope is dwindling fast.
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hope → dwindle → ?
If they lose these games, they will be knocked out quickly.
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they → lose → games
The Orioles are currently sitting five games back.
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Orioles → sit → ?
They were similar to the Blue Jays because they also had a really bad start, and then they traded away players.
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they → have → players
After the deadline, they started climbing back into the race.
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they → start → race
Now they have a sliver of hope, but it is likely too little, too late.
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it → have → hope
The Orioles are turning to Shane Baz to keep that little hope alive.
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Orioles → turn → hope
The good news is that he at least has been healthy and eaten a ton of innings.
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he → eat → innings
He has a 3.92 home ERA for the season, slightly better than what he's done on the road this season.
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he → have → road
Baz is a bit hard to predict because he has multiple games with three or fewer earned runs, but then will sprinkle in a stinker of a game.
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he → predict → game
He only faced the Blue Jays once this season and allowed one earned run on five hits over 5.2 innings.
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He → face → innings
Tonight is a game both teams need to win, and it should be treated essentially like a playoff game.
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it → need → game
That doesn't mean there will be no offense, but I do feel like the managers will both have quick hooks.
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managers → mean → hooks
I still think we'll see some runs in this game, but given the importance of the game, big innings are unlikely.
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innings → think → game
I think the Blue Jays win it, though.
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Jays → think → it
Yesavage is the edge here for me, and despite him coming back from the injured list, I think he can be a difference-maker.
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he → come → list
The Aporia
