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Blue Jays’ rise to first, broken down by numbers
The Toronto Blue Jays have turned their season around with a scorching-hot stretch.
On May 28, the Blue Jays were under .500 and trailed the New York Yankees by eight games for first in the American League East. A little more than a month later, Toronto topped the division with a three-game lead over the Yankees heading into Monday’s game against the Chicago White Sox.
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at how the Blue Jays clawed their way to first place.
(All stats before Monday’s games)
26-10 — Toronto’s record since May 28. The Blue Jays improved from 27-28 to 52-38 with series wins against the Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels and the Yankees. Toronto swept New York in a four-game home set for the first time in franchise history last week before rattling off three victories against the Angels, pushing its winning streak to eight.
7 — The Blue Jays have swept seven series through 90 games this year, including four since May 28. Toronto only had five sweeps all of last season.
21 — George Springer is Toronto’s MVP so far this season, turning back the clock after a poor 2024 showing. In the last 15 days, he has led MLB with 21 RBIs — 11 of which came against the Yankees. The 35-year-old Springer is also tied for first in home runs (six) and on-base percentage (.500) during that stretch.
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.301 — Alejandro Kirk has bounced back from a couple of down years and ranks second among catchers in batting average. He’s one of several players who stepped up to power the Blue Jays into first. Third baseman Addison Barger has also been a key contributor since joining from Triple-A Buffalo in mid-April. And in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over the Angels, Joey Loperfido batted in a key run while reliever Ryan Burr earned a win — both in their season debuts.
40 — The Blue Jays are getting it done without some top players. Anthony Santander had missed 40 games this season after signing a five-year, US$92.5-million deal last off-season. He hasn’t played since May 29 due to left shoulder inflammation. Toronto has also gone through most of the season without fellow big addition Max Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young winner, who’s 40, has pitched in only four outings this year.
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52 — Toronto was one victory away from tying the franchise record for wins before the All-Star Game. The Blue Jays had 53 wins before the break in 1985 and 1992, the year they won their first of back-to-back World Series titles. Toronto had six games remaining against the White Sox and Athletics — two American League bottom-dwellers — before the July 15 MLB showcase in Atlanta.
12 — Despite topping the AL East, the Blue Jays only had a plus-12 run-differential, ranking fourth in the division. New York, meanwhile, was plus-95. Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay struck a chord with Blue Jays fans when he noted the lopsided differentials and said Toronto was “not a first-place team” after the Blue Jays tied New York atop the division last week.
14 — Of the 26 wins during their hot streak, the Blue Jays won 14 by one or two runs.
20 — One explanation for Toronto’s success in close games: playing situational baseball. The Blue Jays have bought into small ball and manufacturing runs with 20 sacrifice bunts, which ties Kansas City for the major-league lead. Ernie Clement scored Myles Straw, with help from a throwing error, with a walk-off bunt in the 10th inning of Friday’s 4-3 win over the Angels. Toronto had only 14 sac bunts last season, and only five teams totalled 20 or more.
605 — Blue Jays batters have also shown discipline at the plate with just 605 strikeouts, fewest in the majors. Toronto’s lineup is consistently swinging for contact with a majors-leading 2,489 batted balls.
2016 — This is the furthest into the season Toronto has held first place in the AL East since 2016, when the Blue Jays led the division in early September.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Blue Jays slugger George Springer has been cleared to return to game action after suffering a concussion over two weeks ago, Toronto manager John Schneider said Wednesday.
The 35-year-old outfielder/designated hitter hasn’t played since July 28 when he was hit in the helmet by a fastball thrown by Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kade Strowd.
Springer, who was on hand for batting practice before Toronto’s game against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, was expected to play for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Thursday.
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“Play DH tomorrow and then see if he needs a game in the outfield to see how he feels,” Schneider said in his pre-game availability. “But he’ll be doing that tomorrow.”
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Springer has been one of the top offensive performers this season for the Blue Jays (70-50), who had a 4 1/2-game lead on the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings entering play Wednesday.
Over 101 games, Springer has a .291 average, 18 homers, 57 RBIs and an on-base and slugging percentage of .889.
Strowd’s 96-m.p.h. pitch appeared to hit Springer’s shoulder before making contact with his helmet near the ear flap. After laying prone for a moment or two, Springer got up slowly and left the field with some assistance.
He was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list on July 29.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Two delightfully shaggy new faces will be on display at the Toronto Zoo starting on Friday.
The nine-month-old brothers are Scottish Highland cattle, with long, woolly, reddish coats and fringe over their eyes.
The zoo’s manager of wildlife care, Marc Brandson, says the two were born and raised at a local Ontario farm before moving to the zoo about a month ago.
He says they completed a quarantine period and now live just outside the Eurasia Wilds area of the zoo.
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Membership holders can visit the brothers at a pre-screening on Thursday, while other visitors can see them starting Friday.
Brandson says there is “a lot of excitement” around the pair because of how popular the Highland breed already is.
He says the zoo is hoping to have the brothers walk through the public area of the zoo as part of its animal ambassador program, which can give visitors a closer look at certain animals.
“Each and every day, our outreach and discovery staff are working to get them to that level,” he said.
“Having a bonded pair is a really great social situation for Highland cows. These brothers are very calm and they are gaining confidence each and every day that they interact with their caregivers.”
The brothers don’t have names yet, and Brandson says the public should stay tuned on ways to contribute naming ideas.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner says the federal government needs to do more to fight Canada’s devastating forest fires.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Ottawa, the Alberta MP accused Ottawa of “inaction” on wildfires. She also blamed that lack of action for new measures restricting activities in the forests of two provinces — even though those bans were imposed by the provinces themselves.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick last week banned hiking, fishing, camping and the use of vehicles in its forests in response to the heightened wildfire risk.
Rempel Garner said that while she understands the fear Maritimers feel, restricting individuals’ movements is “not right.”
“Whenever there’s a major crisis, what the Liberal government has done by their inaction has conditioned Canadians to expect that the only response they can see out of their federal government is to restrict their movement,” Rempel Garner told reporters.
“We’re calling on the federal government to actually get serious about this issue.”
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Conservative MP Marc Dalton presented a bill last year to stiffen penalties for wildfires caused by arson. It never made it past first reading and died when Parliament was dissolved ahead of this year’s election.
Rempel Garner said that’s one area where the Liberals could have taken action on wildfires. She also called on the federal government to dedicate more resources to wildfire control.
In its 2021 election platform, the Liberals promised to train 1,000 community-based firefighters to fight wildfires and to work with provinces and territories to get them more firefighting planes.
Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that Alberta-based water bomber manufacturer De Havilland was facing a four-year backlog of orders.
“Four full wildfire seasons ago, the Liberals promised more water bombers, more firefighters,” Rempel Garner said. “Where are they?”
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston brushed off the criticisms of the forest entry ban at a press conference later Wednesday.
“I find it remarkable, the interest in travelling in Nova Scotia woods by people who aren’t in Nova Scotia and probably haven’t been here much in their life,” Houston told reporters.
“We’re only concerned with keeping people safe. We’ll do what’s necessary to protect lives, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”
So far this season, the total area of the country burned by wildfires is nearly the size of the entire province of New Brunswick.
— With files from Sarah Ritchie.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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