Eshal Ahmad
Sports
Eggshell News
Blue Jays playoff picture: Toronto stretches AL East lead in dramatic fashion, Yankees get trounced
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Toronto still holds a half-game lead over Detroit for best record in the American League.
Updated Sept. 10, 2025 at 3:51 p.m. Sept. 10, 2025
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A pumped up Tyler Heineman is hugged by Toronto Blue Jays teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after hitting a walk-off single against the Houston Astros in the 10th inning at Rogers Centre on Tuesday.
The Blue Jays’ flair for the dramatic in the late innings paid off Tuesday night as they opened up a three-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.​
Blue Jays vs. Astros: An extra-inning thriller as the show goes on without
Toronto beat the Houston Astros 4-3 in extra innings after trailing the entire game until the ninth inning when recently acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied it with a two-run single. Backup catcher Tyler Heineman later drove in the walk-off run in the 10th inning in front of a raucous crowd of 40,252 at Rogers Centre.
Meanwhile in New York, the Detroit Tigers exploded for nine runs in the seventh inning to trounce the New York Yankees. The Red Sox (81-65) are on the verge of sweeping the lowly Oakland A’s after shutting them out 6-0, and are just a percentage point behind the Yankees (80-64) for second place.
Toronto (83-61) continues to hold a half-game lead over the Tigers (83-62) for best record in the American League which would give the Jays home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. With less than three weeks left in the regular season, Houston (78-67) has the fifth-best record in the league, 5.5 games behind Toronto.
The Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers, Yankees and Red Sox. The tiebreaker is still to be determined vs. the Astros (1-3 with two games left against each other).