We are back to a series versus a wild card competitor. The Orioles are handing on by their fingernails, they will feel the need to win this series, just as the Jays need to to keep pace with Cleveland. Friday night sees a seniors matchup, the crime dog returns to face Mad Max. The Jays have a decision to make regarding the rest of the series. Do they move up Dylan Cease and Jose Soriano or leave the day as a bullpen day. Cease looked tired in his last start, will that influence the decision? All will likely be revealed by the manager at around 4.30 pm.

This should be the easiest of the remaining series for the Jays. The A's are 57-87 and have lost a lot of players to the IL. Shea Langeliers, Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson are all on the IL. The Jays start Dylan Cease and Jose Soriano...good Jays pitching and a depleted A's lineup should equal two easy wins and they just need to add the third on Wednesday.

The Jays hosted the Royals ten days ago and lost two of three. They need to win at least two of three in KC to keep their playoff position. After KC they head out west to Sacramento before returning to face the Orioles.

Cleveland hold the third wildcard spot and the Jays are 1.5 games back. Noe these teams go head to head for a three game series. The Jays have 24 games to go including six games against the Orioles and three versus Texas, two teams around them in the wild card standings.

The Mariners roll into town for a rematch of last years playoffs. The Mariners are also hanging around the wild card race, they are one half game back of the Jays.

Now that the Jays are finished with the over 500 teams, its time to play the lesser lights. First up are the last place Royals who are, checks notes, 9-1 in their last ten games. Let the easy games begin!

The Jays finish their run of games against winning teams with three in Yankee Stadium. After this series the Jays play teams with losing records to finish the season. The Yankees have won four in a row and with the Jays taking two games in Tampa, the Rays lead in the division is down to four games.

The Blue Jays head into Tampa 15 games behind the division leaders but with some optimism about the wild card race. Tampa has historically been a bad place to go for the Jays but this time its different, right? Tampa had some struggles over the weekend with the Orioles but rebounded yesterday to pick up one win in the series.

The big bad Yankees roll into town for three games. The Jays meet the Yankees in the middle of their tough stretch of games. There are nine games left in this stretch, these three and then three on the road in both Tampa and New York next week. The Yankees are cruising along in the wild card spot but not gaining on Tampa. They are 6.5 games back and look destined for a wild card spot. Aaron Judge is still missing but the Yanks have a new super prospect, George Lombard Jr. who was called up a week ago. The 21 year old is hitting .276 in eight games with two home runs. Lombard is the son of former major leaguer George Lombard Sr.

The streaking Red Sox come into town for a four game set. The Yankees will follow making this a big week for the Jays playoff chances. Boston, having been on a nine game winning streak, have just lost two in a row. Has the tide turned? Are they back to normal? However they are 64-53, a full nine games better than the Jays.

The Jays head into Philadelphia for three games. This is getting into the middle of the tough stretch of games. Houston done, Boston and the Yankees await. These next ten games will be a real marker of how optimistic we can be for the Jays.

The Jays make a quick one day trip into Chicago for a make up game. Dylan Cease gets to start on his extra day of rest. It is also his first start of August after being pitcher of the month in July.

Some form of the Jays will take on some form of the Astros for a three game series. The Astros are in first place, 2.5 games ahead of the Rangers. There are on a six game winning streak and are 9-1 in their last ten.

The Cardinals come into town four days before the trade deadline. Per my proprietary trade calculator there is a 70% chance of at least one Blue Jay trade happening before this series ends. Monday is "THE BIG DAY" but you can't leave it all until the end, right? Plenty of Jays will be in the shop window this weekend, will that help or hiner the teams performance?

The wounded Jays limp into Washington for a three game series. The Nationals find themselves one game out of a wild card spot so they will be trying to improve that against the poorly playing Blue Jays.

One of the big Nationals stories is the fate of CJ Abrams. Even though the Nats are one game out of the wild card, rumours suggest that Abrams could be traded. Abrams hit two home runs yesterday and now has seven home runs since the all-star break, more than several teams including the Jays. The stories say the Nats are listening without actively shopping him. If the Nats keep on winning will they stop listening?