Blue Jays hold off Rays as race for first in AL East down to wire

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The race for first in the AL East is coming down to the wire.

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As long as the Blue Jays keep winning, they’ve got nothing to worry about.

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Two games remain, with the reward being a playoff bye, which will give the Jays additional time to figure out the composition of their post-season roster and hopefully get Bo Bichette healthy enough to play.

What’s critical is that the Jays do control their own destiny. The New York Yankees need help in the form of a Toronto loss because the Jays hold the tiebreaker.

The two teams held service at home on Friday night, the Jays taking a 4-2 nail-biter over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays while the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles.

Two games left to be played with one critical piece in the playoff puzzle on the line and both teams with identical 92-68 records.

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If the Yankees lose Saturday’s 1 p.m. matinee against the O’s, the Jays will have a chance to nail down first place with a win over visiting Tampa in a game that starts two hours later.

The air inside the roof-open Rogers Centre on Friday night was predictably dripping with nervous anxiety and giddy anticipation as the sold-out crowd of 42,184 relished every moment.

Tampa scored its runs on two consecutive swings while Nathan Lukes drove in three runs for the home side, including a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth.

Jeff Hoffman began the ninth inning by issuing a walk. One out later he walked the Rays’ No. 9 hitter — backup catcher Hunter Feduccia, batting .155.

The speedy Chandler Simpson hit into a fielder’s choice, leaving Hoffman to pitch with runners on the corner.

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Chandler stole second and Tampa suddenly had the tying run in scoring position having recorded zero hits.

But Hoffman induced a groundout from the always dangerous Yandy Diaz to end the game as disaster was averted.

The following are three takeaways on a night Shane Bieber began the second inning by surrendering back-to-back homers, but provided the Jays with five complete innings, a 90-pitch outing.

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If it ain’t broke

There’s not much that needs mending when it comes to Ernie Clement, the Jays’ jack of all trades who has hit up and down in the order. He batted eighth Friday and started at second base.

With the Jays trailing 2-1, Clement sent a broken bat single into right field to tie the game with two outs.

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While nothing has been made official, there’s growing concern about Bichette’s post-season status, even if the Jays happen to win their division and earn a bye.

If Bichette is available, he would likely be relegated to DH duty.

How the Jays line up on defence will be interesting to watch. Clement is efficient at three infield positions, second, short and third and has also started at first.

Ty France, the Jays’ backup first baseman who is sidelined because of an oblique issue, did some light baseball activities Friday.

He might be available in the divisional series, one of many roster decisions the Jays will have to make.

Double trouble

George Springer wasted no time igniting the offence when he hit a leadoff double, his 27th of the season, on the second pitch he saw from Adrian Houser.

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Springer wound up going 2-for-3, bumping his average to .305, and scoring two runs.

One inning later, Daulton Varsho hit a double, his 13th of the season.

Varsho does not hit for average, but he’s shown to be quite competent in turning on a pitch.

His grand slam on Thursday off Boston’s Justin Wilson was his second longball off a left-hander this season.

Mound mayhem

The overall health of the Jays’ rotation is a bit sketchy at the moment.

Jose Berrios is no longer in the mix having been bumped to the bullpen before going on the injured list Thursday as the club awaited results from an MRI.

The imaging revealed no structural damage, but Berrios will seek a second opinion from noted surgeon Dr. Keith Meister in Texas, the same individual who repaired Alek Manoah’s elbow last year.

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Manoah, by the way, was claimed by Atlanta after the Jays DFA’d the right-hander.

As for Berrios, there’s still the chance he’ll pitch again this season, but so much will depend on the second opinion he receives and how deep a post-season run the Jays manage to forge.

In another development, the Jays swapped bullpen arms by recalling Justin Bruihl, while optioning Paxton Schultz.

Up next

In the regular season’s penultimate game, rookie Trey Yesavage will make his home debut Saturday (3:10 p.m.) against the Rays, who faced the right-hander when the youngster made his big-league debut in Tampa two weeks ago, an outing that featured nine strikeouts across five innings. In the two games Yesavage has started, the Jays won both … Righty Joe Boyle (1-3, 4.40 ERA) starts for the Rays.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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