The Toronto Blue Jays put on a dominant display over the weekend, capping a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with an emphatic 11-2 victory on Sunday, September 14, 2025. With this win, Toronto not only maintained its grip on the American League East but also extended its division lead to four games, according to the latest standings. The sweep comes at a crucial juncture, with less than two weeks left in the regular season and postseason aspirations on the line for several teams.
Sunday’s matchup at Rogers Centre started with a brief flicker of hope for Baltimore. Coby Mayo, the Orioles’ promising rookie, launched a solo home run—his second in as many games—off Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber, giving Baltimore a 1-0 edge. But that was as good as it got for the Orioles. Bieber, who’s been a steady presence since joining Toronto’s rotation, settled in quickly. He allowed just one run over six innings and struck out five, lowering his ERA to 3.72 since being activated last month. The Blue Jays’ coaching staff must be thrilled with how he’s slotting into the playoff rotation. As ESPN noted, “Shane Bieber turned in one of his sharpest starts yet for Toronto, holding the Orioles to one run over six innings, striking out five.”
The Blue Jays’ offense wasted little time responding. By the fifth inning, George Springer had homered off Baltimore’s rookie reliever Carson Ragsdale—Springer’s 29th of the season—tying the game and igniting a relentless offensive barrage. Ragsdale, making his big league debut, was worked over for eight runs in three innings, as the Jays’ bats came alive. Joey Loperfido added an RBI double in the sixth, and then the floodgates opened in the seventh. Addison Barger delivered the knockout blow with a three-run, bases-clearing double, while Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement, and Loperfido all chipped in with RBIs. By the end of the inning, Toronto had put up six runs, erasing any lingering drama and putting the game far out of reach.
With the sweep, the Blue Jays improved to 87-62 and, as of September 14, 2025, held a 92.1 percent chance of winning the AL East, according to FanGraphs. Their closest pursuers, the New York Yankees, sat at 7.2 percent, while the Boston Red Sox clung to a slim 0.7 percent chance. The division crown is within Toronto’s grasp, but as manager John Schneider cautioned, “We’ll know more about Bo [Bichette]’s timeline early this week.” The Jays lost Bichette to a knee sprain over the weekend, a significant blow given his status as one of the team’s top offensive performers. Since the trade deadline, Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Springer have all ranked inside baseball’s Top 10 in wRC+, making their health and continued production vital for Toronto’s postseason hopes.
The Blue Jays’ September surge has been fueled by a bullpen that’s turned things around after a rocky August. Entering Sunday, Toronto relievers owned the eighth-lowest ERA in the majors this month, with Brendon Little, Jeff Hoffman, Braydon Fisher, and Yareid Rodriguez all posting ERAs under 2.75. Still, the bullpen remains the team’s scariest position group heading into the stretch run. As the season winds down, Toronto’s ability to lock down late innings could be the difference between a first-round bye and an early postseason exit.
Despite their commanding position, the Blue Jays can’t afford to let up. Their worst 13-game stretch this year—a 4-9 skid at the end of April—serves as a cautionary tale. Even if Toronto stumbles to a 4-9 finish, the Yankees would need to go 9-4, a blistering 112-win pace, just to overtake them. As long as the Jays avoid a total collapse, the division title is theirs to lose.
Meanwhile, the Yankees’ hopes of catching Toronto took a hit on Sunday Night Baseball. New York failed to sweep the Red Sox, surrendering six runs in a disastrous first inning and never recovering. The Yankees’ remaining schedule, however, is the softest in the American League, with opponents sporting a combined .471 winning percentage. They’ll face the fourth-place Minnesota Twins, the last-place Orioles, and the struggling Chicago White Sox before closing the season at home against Baltimore. If there’s a time for the Yankees to make a move, it’s now.
New York’s shortstop situation remains unsettled. Anthony Volpe hasn’t played since September 9 after receiving a cortisone shot to treat a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder, an injury first discovered in May. The Yankees are weighing whether to stick with Volpe or give José Caballero a chance. “Will the Yankees bet on more time with Anthony Volpe? Will José Caballero take over?” asked The Athletic. The bullpen is another area of concern, as relievers have posted a 5.44 ERA since August 1 despite several trade deadline additions. Closer David Bednar is the lone constant, but the rest of the relief corps needs to step up if New York is to stay in the hunt.
Boston, meanwhile, is fighting to avoid missing the playoffs altogether. The Red Sox have gone 4-6 since losing rookie sensation Roman Anthony to an oblique strain on September 3, and their offense has sputtered. Alex Bregman, a key veteran, has struggled mightily, hitting just .198 with a .550 OPS over his last 25 games. There’s hope that Wilyer Abreu’s impending return from the injured list could provide a spark, but with only 12 games left, time is running out. The back end of Boston’s rotation is also in flux, with Dustin May and Richard Fitts both on the IL and Walker Buehler released in late August. Young lefties Payton Tolle, Connolly Early, and Kyle Harrison have been pressed into service, but their workloads are being carefully managed as none have pitched this deep into a season before.
Veteran leadership could prove crucial for Boston. Bregman has appeared in the second-most playoff games among active players, and the Red Sox are leaning on experienced hands like Trevor Story, Nathaniel Lowe, and Aroldis Chapman to steady the ship. After a three-year postseason drought, the pressure is on in Boston, and the team’s inexperience in high-stakes September baseball is showing. “The inexperience in this department is causing them to press down the stretch,” The Athletic observed.
As the regular season enters its final phase, the AL East remains the most compelling race in baseball. The Blue Jays have the inside track, but with injuries, bullpen questions, and hungry rivals on their heels, nothing is guaranteed. Fans across Toronto, New York, and Boston will be watching every pitch, hoping their team can rise to the occasion and punch a ticket to October.
