198-650: The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto . The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division . Since 1989, the team has played its home games primarily at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. The name "Blue Jays" originates from the bird of the same name , and blue is also the traditional colour of Toronto's collegiate and professional sports teams including
396-619: A 12–2 win. The Blue Jays scored double-digit runs for the first time in 2016, and Edwin Encarnación hit his 202nd home run with the Blue Jays, tying George Bell for fifth all-time. The Jays then battled the Los Angeles Dodgers at home for three games. The first game was taken by the Blue Jays, 5–2, aided by Kevin Pillar's tie-breaking three-run home run in the eighth inning. In the second game,
594-500: A 1–0 win. In the second game, the Yankees took a 5–0 lead into a 45-minute rain delay. After the rain, Scott Feldman would give up another run to New York before the Toronto offence would score 12 unanswered runs to win 12–6. Russell Martin hit two home runs and Troy Tulowitzki had four hits in a game for the first time as a Blue Jay. Toronto would take the third and final game of the series by
792-679: A 2–1 lead into the ninth inning of the first game, before Roberto Osuna allowed back-to-back solo home runs to give Cleveland the 3–2 victory. In the second game, the Blue Jays again took a one run lead into the ninth inning, however this time Osuna would close the game without issue, leading the Jays to a 6–5 win. Prior to the series finale, the Blue Jays optioned Aaron Sanchez to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays to skip his next start, limit his innings, and allow his roster space to be used by Aaron Loup. Brett Cecil would be called upon to pitch
990-477: A 2–1 lead into the ninth inning. With the Blue Jays loss, the Boston Red Sox clinched the division. Toronto was shut out in their final regular season home game, 4–0, and moved into a tie with Baltimore for the top wild-card position heading into the final weekend of the season. Looking to ensure a postseason berth, the Blue Jays closed out the season by visiting the division-winning Boston Red Sox. Toronto lost
1188-402: A 3–0 win. In the third game, Bautista hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Blue Jays a 2–1 lead. In the ninth, the Yankees would score two runs off closer Roberto Osuna to take a 3–2 lead. With Tyler Clippard pitching for the second consecutive day, Ezequiel Carrera would tie the game with a perfectly executed safety squeeze before Edwin Encarnación hit
1386-506: A 4–2 victory with seven strong innings. Before the start of the second game, the Blue Jays and San Diego made a trade, with the Padres sending Melvin Upton Jr. and cash considerations to the Blue Jays for minor league pitcher Hansel Rodriguez. Upton would make his debut with the Jays in the seventh inning of the game, pinch-hitting and grounding into a fielder's choice. Tied 4–4, the game went into
1584-450: A 6–1 victory. Brett Cecil took his fifth loss of the season in the final game of April, 4–3, by allowing the winning run to score in the bottom of the ninth inning without recording an out. In taking the loss, Cecil became the first relief pitcher since at least the 1913 season to earn five losses in April. In the rubber match against Tampa, Marcus Stroman earned his team-leading fourth win of
1782-518: A 7–0 win. As the Orioles lost their game to Oakland later that night, the victory put Toronto in first place by a full game for the first time in the 2016 season. Looking to expand their division lead, the Jays took on the Astros once again. Former Blue Jays draftee Joe Musgrove made the start in the first game for Houston and pitched seven innings to lead the Astros to a 5–3 win over Toronto. Aaron Sanchez put
1980-473: A 7–2 win. The Angels offence got to Marco Estrada early and often in the second game of the series, tagging him for a season-high ten hits and six runs and defeating the Jays 8–2. In the rubber match, the Angels handed J. A. Happ his first loss since June, taking the game and the series, 6–3. Hoping to bounce back from a disappointing series against one last-place team, Toronto then took on another last-place team in
2178-464: A Blue Jay, held the Angels scoreless over his five innings in Toronto's 5–0 win. The Angels would hold the Blue Jays to a single run in the third game, winning 6–1 and dropping the Jays to three games back of the division-leading Red Sox. Los Angeles would split the series, taking the fourth and final game 4–0. With the loss, Toronto fell four games back to Boston in the AL East. To close their road play on
SECTION 10
#17328453416012376-569: A black player's head. Now, however, baseball is fully integrated, and there is little to no racial tension between teammates. Between 1943 and 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League fielded teams in several Midwestern towns. 2016 Toronto Blue Jays season The 2016 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 40th season of the franchise in Major League Baseball , and the 27th full season of play (28th overall) at Rogers Centre . They advanced to
2574-544: A close, the Blue Jays embarked upon a crucial nine-game road trip against three AL East teams, beginning with the Baltimore Orioles. Marco Estrada would yield just a single run to the Baltimore offence, and Josh Donaldson would homer for the fourth time in two games to lead Toronto to a 5–1 win in the series opener. Dioner Navarro reported to the team before the game, and Josh Thole was designated for assignment to make room on
2772-465: A dismal 3–9. Josh Donaldson missed the entire series with a hip injury, and had an MRI during the final game. In desperate need of wins, the Blue Jays began a west-coast road trip against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Josh Donaldson returned to the lineup and led the Jays to a 7–2 victory, with J. A. Happ picking up his 19th win of the season. R. A. Dickey, making possibly his final start as
2970-473: A double play. José Bautista slid into second and Forsythe threw wide of first, allowing two runs to score and giving the Blue Jays a 4–3 lead, however Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged that Bautista had violated the league's new " Chase Utley Rule" with his slide, by attempting to break-up the double play. After a short review, the umpires reversed their decision, and called both Bautista and Encarnación out, ending
3168-423: A full dirt infield was installed prior to the home opener; for the previous six seasons ( 2010 – 15 ), it was the only MLB ballpark with sliding pits. Shortly after pitchers and catchers reported to Dunedin for the start of spring training on February 22, José Bautista addressed the media regarding his contract situation. Bautista, in the final year of a five-year, $ 65 million contract, stated that he had told
3366-837: A giant Canadian flag is carried by members of the Canadian Armed Forces while "O Canada" is sung in English and French by a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Band . The game was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the game was held in Buffalo, New York due to Canada–U.S. travel restrictions. The Blue Jays operate a store called the Jays Shop that sells primarily Blue Jays merchandise. This store has two locations at Rogers Centre, though, until January 2023, there
3564-558: A giant Canadian flag was carried by members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Sportsnet only airs the national anthems during the home opener, Canada Day, and playoff games. On June 29, 2019, "O Canada" was sung in Cree and English. On September 30, 2021, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation , "O Canada" was sung in English, French, and Anishinaabemowin . On the following National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30, 2022, "O Canada"
3762-428: A hail storm. The Blue Jays would take the series with a 5–3 win in the finale, led by another strong pitching performance by Aaron Sanchez. To close June, the Blue Jays returned home to take on the red-hot Cleveland Indians, who entered the series on a 12-game winning streak. They would continue to roll in the first game of the four-game series, winning 4–1. The second game against Cleveland on Canada Day turned into
3960-508: A history of hitting well in Arizona, hit a three-run home run, helping Toronto win 5–1. The Jays completed the sweep the next day, this time winning 10–4, backed by eight strong innings from Marcus Stroman, who only allowed one run. The Blue Jays returned home for a nine-game homestand to close out the month of July. Facing the Seattle Mariners for the first time in 2016, the Toronto offence
4158-464: A home series against the Yankees. Marco Estrada pitched eight scoreless innings in the first game, leading Toronto to a 4–2 win. The second game of the series went into the seventh inning tied 1–1, before hits from Kevin Pillar and Darwin Barney drove in three runs to seal a 4–1 win for the Jays. The Blue Jays would complete their first sweep of the season with a 7–0 victory over the Yankees on June 1, with
SECTION 20
#17328453416014356-479: A late-game comeback, scoring four runs in the ninth but fell short, losing 7–5. The loss moved Toronto into a tie with the Boston Red Sox, who defeated Oakland later that day, for the lead in the AL East. Toronto would avoid being swept by taking the third game by a score of 5–3, thanks in large part to 6 1 ⁄ 3 scoreless innings from the bullpen. Looking to rebound from another disappointing series in St. Petersburg ,
4554-591: A marathon match, stretching into the nineteenth inning tied 1–1. While the Indians used Trevor Bauer , who had been scheduled to start the third game of the series, the Blue Jays eventually turned to position players Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney to pitch late in the game. Barney would yield the go-ahead run in the top of the nineteenth, leading to a 2–1 win for Cleveland. The game was not without controversy, as Edwin Encarnación, John Gibbons, and Russell Martin were all ejected by home-plate umpire Vic Carapazza for arguing about
4752-534: A member of the Canadian Armed Forces . During the third inning, the team presents the honoured member with a personalized jersey. Since 2005, " The Star-Spangled Banner " has been sung before " O Canada " at every home game. In some home games (including Canada Day home games and playoffs), "O Canada" is sung in English and French. When "O Canada" was sung during the Home Opener, Canada Day, and playoff games,
4950-467: A minor league contract with the Blue Jays in late February, but did not appear in any spring training games due to unspecified visa issues. On March 23, Marcus Stroman was named the Opening Day starter for the Blue Jays. The competition for fifth starter ended on March 28, when John Gibbons announced that Aaron Sanchez had earned the final rotation spot. Steve Delabar , who had been an All-Star for
5148-427: A one-year contracts worth $ 3.8 million, $ 835,000, $ 1.05 million, $ 2.2 million, and $ 8.375 million respectively on January 15. Saunders agreed to a $ 2.9 million contract. Chavez and Donaldson did not come to an agreement before the deadline. Chavez had requested $ 4 million, while the Blue Jays offered $ 3.6 million. Donaldson filed for $ 11.8 million, and the Blue Jays offered $ 11.35 million. On January 18, Daniel Schlereth
5346-469: A passed ball scored Troy Tulowitzki. With the game tied 6–6 in the tenth inning, Russell Martin hit a ground ball to shortstop Elvis Andrus. Rougned Odor was unable to turn the double play, throwing wide of first base. Moreland bobbled the ball, which allowed Josh Donaldson to score the winning run and sweep Texas out of the playoffs, 7–6. Toronto advanced to the ALCS for the second consecutive year, and took on
5544-610: A place in the Blue Jays' "Level of Excellence" in the upper level of the Rogers Centre; the number 4,306 is depicted beside his name. In 2008, Cheek received the third most votes from fans to be nominated for the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. Cheek finally received the Frick Award posthumously in 2013 after nine years on the ballot. Radio broadcasts of Blue Jays games originate from Sportsnet 590 CJCL in Toronto, which, like
5742-466: A rematch of last year's Division Series , the Blue Jays took on the Texas Rangers in the 2016 ALDS. The Blue Jays took an early 5–0 lead in the third inning of the first game, thanks to RBI hits from Josh Donaldson and José Bautista and a three-run triple by Troy Tulowitzki. In the fourth, Toronto added two runs on a solo home run by Melvin Upton Jr. and a Donaldson single to take a 7–0 lead. Bautista hit
5940-518: A road trip that saw just 17 total runs of offence, the Blue Jays battled the Rays for three games. Devon Travis led the way in the first game, recording four hits for the first time in his career as the Blue Jays topped the Rays, 7–5. The Rays would get the better of Marco Estrada and the Toronto bullpen in the second game, handing the Jays a 9–2 loss. In the series finale, J. A. Happ became the season's first 16-game winner, shutting out Tampa over six innings in
6138-531: A score of 7–4, giving J. A. Happ his 17th win, which broke a tie with Rick Porcello for the league-lead. The Blue Jays became the sixth team in MLB history to win five consecutive road series against the Yankees, and the first since the Cleveland Indians in 1969. Coincidentally, the Blue Jays then travelled to Cleveland to play the Indians for three games in what some considered to be a playoff preview. Toronto took
Toronto Blue Jays - Misplaced Pages Continue
6336-459: A single run in the third game of the series, and the offence would hit three solo home runs to win 3–1. The Blue Jays would capture the series in the final game, winning 4–1. Edwin Encarnación hit his 30th home run of the season, and J. A. Happ earned his 15th win, tying Stephen Strasburg for the MLB lead. To close their road trip, the Blue Jays played three games in Kauffman Stadium against
6534-441: A single run, taking the series with a 3–1 win. Returning home after a 5–2 road trip, the Blue Jays clashed with the first-place Red Sox for three games. Prior to the start of the first game, Major League Baseball announced that José Bautista's suspension had been upheld, and he was subsequently removed from the starting line-up. Josh Donaldson led the Jays to a 7–5 victory that night, hitting 2 home runs and knocking in 5 runs. With
6732-463: A strong pitching performance by Marcus Stroman and home runs from Edwin Encarnación, Troy Tulowitzki, and Russell Martin. Embarking on their second road trip of August, the Blue Jays went to New York to take on the Yankees. Entering the series, the Jays had won four consecutive series at Yankee Stadium . Rookie Chad Green started the first game of the series for New York and dominated the Blue Jays, pitching six shutout innings and striking out eleven in
6930-578: A three-run home run in the ninth inning to give the Jays a 10–0 lead. Marco Estrada pitched a gem, going 8 1 ⁄ 3 innings and allowing just four hits and one run in the bottom of the ninth to take the win, 10–1. J. A. Happ got the start for the Blue Jays in game two, while Yu Darvish started for the Rangers. Each starter went five innings, with Happ allowing just a single run on nine hits and Darvish allowing five runs on home runs by Troy Tulowitzki, Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera, and Edwin Encarnación. In
7128-503: A three-year deal signed in 2023. Jacques Doucet , former Montreal Expos radio announcer, broadcast the Blue Jays on TVA Sports from 2011 until his retirement in 2022. The Sports Network (TSN), which (like the Jays) was owned by Labatt from 1984 to 1995, served as the primary cable television outlet for the Blue Jays prior to the launch of Sportsnet. TSN (and later, its sister channel TSN2 ) continued to carry approximately ten Jays games through
7326-482: A trade that would have sent Michael Saunders to the Angels, Jay Bruce to the Blue Jays, and unnamed prospects from the Angels and Blue Jays to the Reds. Hours after the trade was made public, reports surfaced that the deal was on hold due to issues with an unknown player's physical . On March 4, Maicer Izturis unexpectedly announced his retirement, stating "I put my heart, my soul and my body into it this year to see how I
7524-477: A two-home run game from Josh Donaldson. During the game, the starting and reserve rosters for the 2016 All-Star Game were announced. Donaldson, Edwin Encarnación, and Marco Estrada were all named as All-Star reserves. In addition, Michael Saunders was named as one of five American League Final Vote candidates. Marcus Stroman would lead the Jays to a sweep of the Royals with a 4–2 victory in the final game. To close out
7722-450: A walk-off single to win 4–3. The final game was marred by two bench-clearing brawls in the second inning. Yankees starter Luis Severino hit Josh Donaldson on the elbow in the first inning, and J. A. Happ retaliated in the top of the second, first throwing behind Chase Headley and then hitting him on the hip. Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor issued a warning to both teams, and after the first uneventful brawl, Yankees manager Joe Girardi
7920-461: A walk-off solo home run in the tenth inning. Encarnación drove in five runs the following day, leading the Jays to an 11–6 victory. In the fourth and final game of the series, the Blue Jays beat up on Ubaldo Jiménez , knocking him out of the game in the first inning after scoring five runs. Baltimore would claw back to within a run in the ninth inning, before Jason Grilli was able to end the game, 10–9, and earn his first save with Toronto. Following
8118-529: Is about a four-hour drive from Toronto. According to The Detroit News , a July 2017 three-game series at Comerica Park against the Blue Jays drew a season-best-to-date total attendance of 115,088. Although the Seattle Mariners are not a divisional rival, many Blue Jays fans from Western Canada travel to Seattle when the Blue Jays play there as Seattle is geographically closer to Western Canada than Toronto is. Depending on traffic and border delays, Seattle
Toronto Blue Jays - Misplaced Pages Continue
8316-456: Is about a three-hour drive from Vancouver . The Seattle Times estimated that Blue Jays fans represented around 70 percent of the crowd in Safeco Field for a June 2017 weekend series. The Blue Jays' former radio play-by-play announcer, Tom Cheek , called every Toronto Blue Jays game from the team's inaugural contest on April 7, 1977, until June 3, 2004, when he took two games off following
8514-450: Is actually quite small. Only 18 radio stations across the country aired at least some Blue Jays games during the 2021 season, which is fewer affiliates than most MLB teams, which have more stations covering smaller geographic areas. All Blue Jays games are carried nationally on Sportsnet (which, like the Blue Jays, is owned by Rogers Communications). As of 2023, Dan Shulman serves as the lead play-by-play announcer, with Buck Martinez as
8712-457: Is played four times followed by Charge being played thrice. From 1979 to 1999, BJ Birdy served as the Blue Jays' sole mascot, played by Kevin Shanahan. In 2000, he was replaced by a duo named Ace and Diamond. After the 2003 season, Diamond was removed by the team, leaving Ace as the team's sole mascot. Since the 2010s, Ace has been accompanied by his younger brother, Junior. This usually happens on
8910-445: The 2015 American League Division Series involving the Blue Jays were among the highest-rated telecasts in network history, with Game 4 drawing an audience of 4.38 million viewers. In September 2012, AMI-tv simulcast three Blue Jays games with described video provided by CJCL correspondent Sam Cosentino , which included explanations of on-screen graphics. Paul Beeston praised AMI's involvement, stating that "to our knowledge, we are
9108-530: The 2020 season as well as June and July 2021, returning home to Toronto as of July 30 of that year. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Blue Jays went through struggles typical of an expansion team, frequently finishing last in their division. In 1983, they had their first winning season and two years later, became division champions . From 1985 to 1993, the Blue Jays were an AL East powerhouse, winning five division championships in nine seasons, including three consecutive from 1991 to 1993 . During that run,
9306-721: The Commissioner of Baseball . Operating outside the Minor League Baseball organization are many independent minor leagues such as the Atlantic League , American Association , Frontier League , and the feeder league to these the Empire Professional Baseball League . Japan has had professional baseball since the 1930s. Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and
9504-582: The Maple Leafs ( ice hockey ) and the Argonauts ( Canadian football ). In 1976, out of the over 4,000 suggestions, 154 people selected the name "Blue Jays." In addition, the team was originally owned by the Labatt Brewing Company , makers of the popular beer Labatt Blue. Colloquially nicknamed the " Jays ," the team's official colours are royal blue, navy blue, red, and white. An expansion franchise ,
9702-696: The National League 's Miami Marlins . After 1993, the Blue Jays failed to qualify for the playoffs for 21 consecutive seasons until clinching a playoff berth and division championship in 2015 . The team clinched a second consecutive playoff berth in 2016 , after securing an AL wild card position. In both years, the Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers in the AL Division Series , but lost the AL Championship Series . Most recently, they qualified for
9900-591: The Nationals , the Pearson Cup was awarded after a pair of three-game sets. The Detroit Tigers are the Blue Jays' geographic and traditional rival, dating back to the 1980s, when the teams were AL East contenders. The Tigers moved to the AL Central in 1998, and the rivalry has died down as a result, with the teams facing each other only six to seven times per year since 2011. Depending on traffic and border delays, Detroit
10098-701: The Pacific League , each with six teams. South Korea has had professional baseball since 1982. There are 10 teams in KBO League . Taiwan has had professional baseball since the 1990s. The Chinese Professional Baseball League absorbed Taiwan Major League in 2003. There are currently 6 teams in the CPBL. Other Asian leagues include three now defunct leagues, the China National Baseball League , Israel Baseball League , and Baseball Philippines . During
SECTION 50
#173284534160110296-565: The San Francisco Giants organization. Darwin Barney officially re-signed with the team on December 11. Wade LeBlanc was signed to a minor league contract on December 17. On December 18, Junior Lake was claimed off waivers, and signed Scott Copeland , Roberto Hernández , Pat McCoy , and Brad Penny to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. Brandon Bixler and Gabe Noyalis were signed to minor-league contracts on December 29. On January 5, 2016, Arnold León
10494-510: The United States and Canada consists of the National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). Historically, teams in one league never played teams in the other until the World Series , in which the champions of the two leagues played against each other. This changed in 1997 with the advent of interleague play . The Philadelphia Phillies , founded in 1883, are
10692-421: The colour commentator during the 2013 season, after which he was replaced by former Montreal Expos catcher Joe Siddall since the 2014 season. Former Blue Jays pitcher Dirk Hayhurst filled in for Morris for some games during the 2013 season. Another former catcher for the Blue Jays, Gregg Zaun , has served as the occasional colour commentator from the 2011 season until the end of the 2017 season when he
10890-427: The pandemic ", all radio broadcasts for the 2021 season will be a simulcast of the television broadcast. Wagner will assume an alternative role. However, once the Blue Jays returned to Rogers Centre in late July 2021, dedicated radio broadcasts resumed. The Blue Jays have the largest geographical home market in all of baseball, encompassing all of Canada. Despite this, the number of radio stations that broadcast games
11088-624: The 1880s and been home to the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team of the International League , from 1896 to 1967. In January 1976, the San Francisco Giants nearly relocated to Toronto after owner Horace Stoneham agreed to sell the team to a Canadian consortium. The group, which included Labatt Breweries of Canada , The Globe and Mail 's Howard Webster, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), planned to rebrand
11286-705: The 1984 and 1985 seasons (the Vancouver Canadians were the AAA farm team of the Brewers at the time), as well as single games against the Detroit Tigers and Brewers in 1993 and against the Montreal Expos and Seattle Mariners in 1994 in a series billed as the "Baseball Classic". The Jays also played the Cleveland Indians in an exhibition game at War Memorial Stadium in nearby Buffalo, New York in 1987. More recently,
11484-509: The 2009 season until May 2010; most recently, Rod Black handled play-by-play while Tabler served as colour commentator on these telecasts. CBC has carried Blue Jays games intermittently throughout the team's history, most recently in 2007 and 2008; those broadcasts featured Jim Hughson as the play-by-play announcer, and former Blue Jays Rance Mulliniks and Jesse Barfield on colour commentary. Games also aired on CTV (except in Montreal) from
11682-543: The 2015 season with the Buffalo Bisons , was signed to a minor league contract on February 12. Three days before pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to Dunedin, catcher Tony Sanchez was signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Outfielder Domonic Brown and reliever Rafael Soriano were also added to the organization, each receiving a minor league contract and an invitation to spring training in late February. At Rogers Centre ,
11880-424: The 2016 season in a 13–3 Red Sox win. J. A. Happ held the high-powered Boston offence to two runs in six innings pitched in the second game, while Melvin Upton Jr. and José Bautista provided all the offence Toronto would need in a 3–2 win to break a four-game losing streak. Boston would take the final game of the three-game series, 11–8, giving Toronto three consecutive series losses. To end their six-game homestand,
12078-603: The 2016 season. Looking to end the streak, the Blue Jays took on the last-place Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. The first game would go into extra innings before Troy Tulowitzki drove in the go-ahead run in the eleventh. Joe Biagini would earn his first career save in the game, closing out the 3–2 win. An offensive outburst would power the Jays to victory in the second game of the series, 9–3, led by home runs from José Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Michael Saunders, and Darwin Barney. J. A. Happ would pitch seven scoreless innings against
SECTION 60
#173284534160112276-406: The 2020 season, the Blue Jays unveiled a modernized version of the powder blue uniforms, featuring navy/white/navy serifed split letters and numerals. These uniforms are paired with a powder-brimmed navy cap and an all-navy helmet. Since 1996, the Blue Jays wore predominantly red or red-accented uniforms every July 1, Canada Day . The uniforms were based on the team's alternate uniforms they wore at
12474-415: The AL East lead, for a critical three-game series. The Blue Jays won the first game 6–5, aided by three solo home runs in the first inning and cutting the Orioles' division lead to half a game. The next day, the Toronto defeated Baltimore 9–1, after scoring seven runs in the fifth inning and took a half-game lead in the division. The Blue Jays would not complete the sweep and would lose their division lead in
12672-518: The All-Star game. J. A. Happ would lead the Blue Jays to a 6–0 victory that night, earning his twelfth win of the season and tying his career-high in wins. The Tigers would end Toronto's seven-game winning streak the following day, winning 3–2. After the game, Aaron Sanchez was named as Craig Kimbrel's replacement to the All-Star Game. In the final game before the All-Star break, R. A. Dickey would hold
12870-410: The Blue Jays in 2013 , was released on March 29, along with Randy Choate. The final roles left to be determined were the fourth outfielder, closer, and remainder of the bullpen pitchers. On March 30, John Gibbons announced that Ezequiel Carrera would be the fourth outfielder, Roberto Osuna would begin the season in the closer's role, and Arnold León , Joe Biagini , and Ryan Tepera would round out
13068-540: The Blue Jays 3–2, after Toronto was unable to score after plating two runs in the first inning. Returning home with an 8–9 record, the Blue Jays would battle the Oakland Athletics, who entered the series undefeated on the road in 2016. Hours prior to the game, MLB announced that Chris Colabello had been suspended for 80 games, after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in March. Aaron Sanchez struggled through
13266-544: The Blue Jays a 9–3 record over their run of 12 straight games against Boston and New York. The Blue Jays concluded their road trip with three games in Detroit. The Tigers' rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer held Toronto off the board in the first game, winning 11–0. Aaron Sanchez pitched a gem in the second game of the series, shutting out the Tigers over eight innings. In the ninth frame, Sanchez allowed two hits and one run, before turning
13464-434: The Blue Jays and Rangers were handed down by Joe Torre , MLB's chief baseball officer. John Gibbons and Jesse Chavez were each suspended three games (Gibbons for coming back onto the field after being ejected), while José Bautista and Tim Leiper were suspended for one game. Both Bautista and Chavez appealed their suspensions. Gibbons was also fined $ 5,000, and Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar were fined an undisclosed amount. For
13662-496: The Blue Jays bats were silenced once again by reliever Andrew Miller , who struck out another five batters in two innings. Cody Allen closed the game and gave the Indians a 2–0 series lead heading to Toronto. Trevor Bauer , who had to be scratched from his scheduled Game 2 start due to a finger injury suffered while repairing a toy drone , started for Cleveland in Game 3. The Blue Jays turned to Marcus Stroman, who had not pitched since
13860-425: The Blue Jays became the first MLB team to attract over four million fans , with an attendance of 4,001,526, followed by 4,028,318 in 1992. Each of those records were broken in 1993 by the expansion Colorado Rockies , although the Blue Jays' 1993 attendance of 4,057,947 stood as an AL record for 12 years until it was broken by the 2005 New York Yankees . Several Blue Jays became very popular in Toronto and throughout
14058-573: The Blue Jays in 2015, Josh Donaldson set a new major league record by receiving 14,090,188 All-Star votes. The team is popular throughout Canada, as the only MLB team based in the country following the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington. The team has played a number of exhibition games at BC Place in Vancouver including three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers prior to both
14256-404: The Blue Jays in a 2–0 hole to begin the second game, but regrouped and pitched seven strong innings. Russell Martin would hit a three-run home run late in the game to lift the Blue Jays to a 4–2 victory. Roberto Osuna earned his 46th career save in the win, tying Terry Forster 's record for saves prior to a pitcher's 22nd birthday. The Jays would take the series with a 9–2 win in the finale, led by
14454-409: The Blue Jays logo on a white panel in front. In 2008, the Blue Jays' powder blue road uniform from this era was restored as an alternate home uniform worn every Friday until 2010. The Blue Jays adopted buttoned uniforms upon moving to Rogers Centre (then SkyDome) in 1989. Aside from the additions of buttons and belts, the only change affecting the home uniforms was the relocation of the team logo to
14652-468: The Blue Jays recalled Danny Barnes, Darrell Ceciliani, Dalton Pompey, and Ryan Tepera due to the September roster expansion, and added Matt Dermody to the roster. In the game against Tampa that night, the Rays took advantage of a shaky night for the Toronto pitching staff, taking the opener 8–3. Blake Snell held the Jays offence to a single run in the second game of the three-game series. The Blue Jays mounted
14850-408: The Blue Jays sent Aaron Sanchez to the mound to face Jake Peavy , who entered with a 9.00 earned run average. Toronto would take the first game of the series, 3–1. J. A. Happ started the second game for the Blue Jays, taking on Matt Cain , who owned an ERA over 7 at the start of play. Happ earned his team-leading fifth win, lowered his ERA to 2.08, and came within one out of a complete game shutout as
15048-484: The Blue Jays signed Humberto Quintero to a minor league contract, and acquired Jesse Chavez from the Oakland Athletics for Liam Hendriks . 3 days later, the team signed Casey Kotchman , Jiovanni Mier , and David Adams to minor league contracts that included invitations to spring training. On November 24, Scott Diamond was signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training. J. A. Happ , who
15246-480: The Blue Jays the length of contract he was seeking as well as the compensation of said contract, and that he would not negotiate or agree to a "hometown discount". The following day, TSN 's Rick Westhead reported that Bautista had requested a five-year, $ 150 million contract. The report was later refuted by Bautista. While Bautista's contract situation was unfolding, the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim , and Cincinnati Reds were reported to be in agreement on
15444-479: The Blue Jays took on Tampa for the last time in 2016. Ezequiel Carrera would hit a go-ahead, pinch hit solo home run in the eighth inning to give Toronto a 3–2 lead that they would not relinquish. The Rays pitching, as they had done several times in 2016, shut down the Blue Jays offence in the second game of the series, pitching to a 6–2 victory. In their final game against the Rays, the Blue Jays managed just two hits in an 8–1 loss that dropped their September record to
15642-508: The Blue Jays took on the Yankees to close their road trip. R. A. Dickey allowed five runs in four innings pitched in the first game, giving the Yankees a 5–3 victory. Toronto held a 4–3 lead in the eighth inning before Jason Grilli yielded four runs to put the Jays down 7–4. The Blue Jays would battle back in the ninth, scoring two runs off Yankees closer Dellin Betances and loading the bases against his replacement, Blake Parker . Parker would end
15840-546: The Blue Jays traded away Yimi Garcia, Nate Pearson, Danny Jansen, Justin Turner, Yusei Kikuchi, Trevor Richards, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Kevin Kiermaier. In 1977, after just 50 home games, the Blue Jays set an MLB record for a first-year expansion team, with an overall attendance of 1,219,551 during those games. By the end of the season, 1,701,152 fans had attended. After setting an attendance record in 1990, with 3,885,284 fans, in 1991,
16038-410: The Blue Jays unveiled an alternate sleeveless white uniform, featuring the same lettering style as the regular home uniform. However, the chest numerals were replaced with the primary logo. Blue undershirts were worn with this uniform. Before the 2001 season, slight modifications were made to the uniforms, eliminating the tricolour stripes and adding a single colour piping along the chest and neck. While
16236-475: The Blue Jays were held in check by Clayton Kershaw , who earned the win over Toronto, 6–2. The Blue Jays fell in the rubber match, 4–2, with Drew Storen taking the loss after another poor performance in relief of Marco Estrada's seven strong innings. Continuing their interleague play, the Blue Jays travelled to San Francisco to battle the Giants in a three-game series. In the first of two favourable pitching matches,
16434-522: The Blue Jays winning multiple division titles and back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, making them the first team outside the US to achieve this feat. Key players during this golden era included Roberto Alomar , Joe Carter , and Dave Stieb . After the mid-1990s strike and subsequent downturn, the Blue Jays faced challenges but also saw the rise of talents like Roy Halladay and Carlos Delgado . The late 1990s brought brief revitalization with
16632-552: The Blue Jays won by a score of 4–0. The Blue Jays were denied their first sweep of the 2016 season, losing the finale 5–4 in the 13th inning. The team ended their six-game road trip in Arlington, Texas, to take on the Rangers. The Blue Jays won the first game of the series, shutting out the Rangers 5–0 in R. A. Dickey's best start of the season to that point. In the second game, Justin Smoak and Troy Tulowitzki hit back-to-back home runs to tie
16830-462: The Blue Jays' first pitcher with eleven wins prior to the All-Star break since Roy Halladay in 2008. The Blue Jays then battled the Kansas City Royals in a rematch of the 2015 ALCS. Aaron Sanchez earned his ninth win of the season in the first game of the three-game series, holding the Royals to one run over his eight innings pitched. The Blue Jays would prevail in the second game, 8–3, led by
17028-404: The Blue Jays, is owned by Rogers Communications. After Cheek's retirement in 2005, Jerry Howarth , who had been Cheek's broadcasting partner since 1982, took over as lead play-by-play announcer, with Mike Wilner as the secondary play-by-play announcer. During the 2007 to 2012 seasons, former Blue Jays catcher Alan Ashby was the colour commentator. Former Blue Jays pitcher Jack Morris served as
17226-556: The Chicago White Sox in 2016, losing the first game of their six-game road trip by a score of 3–2. In the second game, the Toronto pitching staff would yield seven home runs to the White Sox, however the Blue Jays would hold on to win 10–8. The White Sox would take the series with a 5–2 win in the third and final game, with ace Chris Sale earning his league-leading thirteenth win. The Blue Jays would then travel to Colorado to take on
17424-515: The Cleveland Indians, who swept the Boston Red Sox in the other half of the ALDS. On October 11, the Blue Jays named Marco Estrada their starter for the first game of the best-of-seven series. The following day, the Indians announced that Corey Kluber would start Game 1. Kluber and the Indians' bullpen would combine to shutout the Blue Jays, winning 2–0. Losing 2–1 in the second game of the series,
17622-458: The Jays scoring five runs off Kirby Yates and Nick Goody in the seventh inning. After a day off, Toronto began a six-game road trip with three games against the Red Sox. R. A. Dickey took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in the first game of the series, and the Blue Jays offence got the better of David Price in a 5–2 victory. The Blue Jays also ended a 26-game hitting streak by Xander Bogaerts in
17820-447: The Jr. Jay Saturday promotions until the end of the 2017 season . The promotions were moved to select Sundays since the 2018 season since the Blue Jays can no longer hold early Saturday afternoon games to accommodate American national broadcasts on Fox , though Fox did occasionally broadcast Blue Jays games at the Rogers Centre. Since 2012, every Sunday home game, the Blue Jays pay tribute to
18018-525: The Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Mike Bolsinger . Shortly after, the Jays made a trade with the Astros, sending minor league pitcher Guadalupe Chavez to Houston for Scott Feldman . With one minute remaining before the deadline, the Blue Jays traded Drew Hutchison to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Francisco Liriano , Reese McGuire , and Harold Ramírez . The game against the Astros that night went tied 1–1 into extra innings. Scott Feldman ended up taking
18216-524: The Minnesota Twins. The first game would see a resurgence for the Blue Jays offence, as Justin Smoak and Russell Martin each recorded 5 RBI to lead the Jays to a 15–8 victory. The Blue Jays trailed the Twins 5–1 in the next match of the series, before working their way back into the game. Down 7–6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Melvin Upton Jr. hit a triple and came in to score on an error by Max Kepler on
18414-524: The Pilots. The new Toronto franchise, purchased for $ 7 million, was named the Toronto Blue Jays following a contest that attracted over 4,000 suggestions. The name reflected Toronto's tradition of using blue in team colors and was influenced by majority owner Labatt Breweries' flagship beer, Labatt Blue. The franchise's first employee, Paul Beeston , began as vice president of business operations, and before
18612-450: The Rangers, Rougned Odor was fined and suspended for eight games (reduced to 7 games on appeal), and Elvis Andrus was suspended one game. Matt Bush, Sam Dyson , A. J. Griffin , and Robinson Chirinos were each fined an undisclosed amount. The Rays would again win by blow-out, defeating the Blue Jays 12–2 that night. Tampa Bay would complete the sweep with a 6–3 win in the finale, giving the Blue Jays their first five-game losing streak of
18810-404: The Rays. Marcus Stroman pitched into the ninth on Opening Day, and held the Rays to three runs in a 5–3 victory, closed out by Roberto Osuna. Osuna would earn the save in the second game of the series as well, finishing another 5–3 win over Tampa Bay. Jesse Chavez and Drew Storen made their debuts for the Blue Jays, each pitching one inning in the win. Brett Cecil also pitched a scoreless inning in
19008-459: The Red Sox leading 8–4 in the second game, the Jays battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, David Ortiz hit his 40th career home run at the Rogers Centre, giving Boston a 9–8 lead. With Craig Kimbrel on to preserve the lead, Justin Smoak hit a two-out single to put the tying run on base. After pinch runner Ezequiel Carrera advanced to third base on an error, Russell Martin drilled an RBI double to tie
19206-460: The Rockies. In 15 games between Toronto and Colorado, the road team had never defeated the home team. The Rockies would keep that streak alive in the first game, defeating the Jays 9–5 after scoring six runs in the seventh inning. Toronto would end the streak in the second game of the series, 14–9, with J. A. Happ earning his tenth win of the season in a game that was delayed for almost three hours due to
19404-434: The Rogers Centre for their final homestand of the 2016 regular season; first by taking on the Yankees. The Toronto offence exploded in the first game, and Francisco Liriano had his best start as a Blue Jay, shutting out New York through his six innings in a 9–0 victory. The second game went tied 0–0 into the eighth inning, before José Bautista launched a three-run home run off Yankees reliever Tyler Clippard to lift Toronto to
19602-471: The Royals in Kansas City, Missouri. Devon Travis hit a leadoff home run in the first game to give the Jays an early lead, and in the ninth inning, he would hit a go-ahead home run to lead Toronto to a 4–3 win. Aaron Sanchez had his ten-game winning streak spanned by the Royals in the second game, losing 4–2. The Royals would take the series with a 7–1 win over the Blue Jays in the finale. Returning home from
19800-461: The Tigers offence to a single run in a 6–1 Blue Jays victory. Edwin Encarnación sat out of this game after choosing to drop his appeal of the one-game suspension he received earlier in the month. Following the All-Star break, the Blue Jays visited Oakland to play three games against the Athletics. The Blue Jays lost the very back-and-forth first game 8–7, despite leading 7–3 earlier on. They also lost
19998-478: The Toronto Blue Jays hosted the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre in the American League Wild Card Game. The starters, Marcus Stroman for the Blue Jays and Chris Tillman for the Orioles, were announced on October 3. In the bottom of the second inning, José Bautista hit a solo home run to give Toronto a 1–0 lead. American League home run leader Mark Trumbo hit a two-run home run in the top of
20196-452: The Toronto skyline in royal blue, centred by the "Toronto" wordmark in red. The "pitch blue" colour is a reference to Lake Ontario 's reflection at night. The traditional Blue Jays logo patch on the sleeve is recoloured to match the uniform. The cap is also "pitch blue" and features a red maple leaf at the centre of a stylized red and blue "T" in split letters. The Montreal Expos were the Blue Jays' geographic National League rival, being
20394-515: The Twins the following day, however Minnesota would score five runs in the eighth inning to take a 5–3 lead that they would not relinquish. The Blue Jays ended the four-game series on a high note, winning the finale 3–1 thanks to another strong pitching performance from staff ace Marcus Stroman. The Jays ended their road trip playing the Yankees for three games. In 2015, Toronto played to an 8–2 record in New York. Their first game did not go as planned, as
20592-462: The United States and Canada. The minor leagues are divided into classes AAA, AA, High-A, A, and Rookie. These minor-league divisions are affiliated with major league teams, and serve to develop young players and rehabilitate injured major-leaguers. "Affiliated baseball" (archaically, " organized baseball ") is often applied as an umbrella term for all leagues — major and minor — under the authority of
20790-515: The Wild Card Game. Bauer was forced to leave in the first inning after the cut on his little finger opened and bled profusely. While Stroman would allow four runs in 5 1 ⁄ 3 innings, the Cleveland bullpen would combine to pitch 8 1 ⁄ 3 and allow just two runs to take the third game of the series, 4–2, and a commanding 3–0 series lead. The Blue Jays would avoid being swept out of
20988-406: The Yankees handed the Jays their second shutout of the season, 6–0. Russell Martin hit his first two home runs of the 2016 season in the second game, leading the Blue Jays to an 8–4 victory, their first of the season when allowing 4 or more runs. The game also saw the return of Devon Travis , who went 1–4 at the plate and scored a run. In their final road game of May, the Blue Jays held New York to
21186-450: The acquisition of Roger Clemens . In the early 2000s, general manager J.P. Ricciardi led a rebuilding phase, culminating in a competitive roster by the mid-2000s. The team's resurgence in the 2010s featured playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016, driven by stars like José Bautista and Josh Donaldson . The Blue Jays continue to build for future success, with young talents like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , Bo Bichette , and Cavan Biggio leading
21384-415: The alternate blue uniforms, split letters and numerals became red/blue/red. Red also appeared on the pant and sleeve stripes, while the new logo occupied the left sleeve. Player names also took on the new block split-letter style. An updated all-blue cap was paired with the home and road uniforms, while a red-brimmed blue cap (with a modified logo without a baseball) was used with the blue alternates. In 1999
21582-504: The alternate white uniforms brought back chest numerals. The "T-bird" logo depicts a blue jay flexing its biceps and is nicknamed "Muscle Jay." Before the 2004 season, the Blue Jays adopted a new visual identity, going with a black, silver and graphite motif. The home and black alternates simply read "Jays" in front and in a 3D-oriented diagonal arrangement, with the bird connected to the letter "J." Letters and numerals were in graphite with light blue and silver trim. The road uniforms featured
21780-464: The bullpen positions. Gibbons also announced that Marco Estrada and Aaron Loup would open the season on the disabled list. To close spring training, the Blue Jays returned to Montreal's Olympic Stadium for a two-game series against the Red Sox. The 2016 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 9–11. The Blue Jays opened the 2016 season in Tampa Bay for a four-game series against
21978-411: The charge. During the off-season, the Blue Jays re-signed Kiermaier and signed utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa , designated hitter Justin Turner , and pitcher Yariel Rodríguez . The Blue Jays also traded Santiago Espinal for a pitching prospect. During the regular season, the Blue Jays designated Cavan Biggio for assignment and traded him for a prospect afterwards. Before the 2024 trade deadline,
22176-418: The city name in a similar letter style as the logo, with graphite letters and numerals trimmed in light blue and silver. In 2008, however, amid complaints of illegibility, the Blue Jays tweaked their road uniforms to include 3D-style block letters and numerals in light blue trimmed in black and white, along with chest numerals. The "J-bird" alternate was added to the left sleeve. A red maple leaf would be added on
22374-434: The city name was rendered in bold blue letters before gaining a white outline the following season. By 1979, it was replaced by the team name in a split-lettered white/blue/white style. Player numerals also used the split-letter style, except on the road uniform during its first two seasons. Player names in blue were added to both uniforms for the 1980 season but were dropped from the road uniform in 1981. The caps were blue with
22572-680: The club has hosted a pair of exhibition games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal prior to the start of the season against the New York Mets (2014), Cincinnati Reds (2015), Boston Red Sox (2016), Pittsburgh Pirates (2017), St. Louis Cardinals (2018), Milwaukee Brewers (2019). A series against the New York Yankees was scheduled for 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The club also has discussed playing more games at BC Place with
22770-534: The club was founded in Toronto in 1977. Originally based at Exhibition Stadium , the team began playing its home games at SkyDome upon its opening in 1989. They are the second MLB franchise to be based outside the United States, and currently the only team based outside the U.S. after the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , became the Washington Nationals in 2005. Since 2000, the Blue Jays have been owned by Rogers Communications and in 2004, SkyDome
22968-402: The death of his father—a streak of 4,306 consecutive regular-season games and 41 postseason games. Cheek later died on October 9, 2005, and the team commemorated him during their 2006 season by wearing a circular patch on the left sleeve of their home and road game jerseys. The patch was adorned with the letters 'TC', Cheek's initials, as well as a stylized microphone . Cheek is also honoured with
23166-428: The eighth inning of the finale, and protect a 2–1 lead. Cecil would allow a two-run home run to José Ramírez that gave the Indians a 3–2 lead they would not relinquish. Coming back to Toronto with a 3–3 record over their road trip, the Blue Jays battled the last-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the first time in 2016. R. A. Dickey held the Angels to a single run over 6 2 ⁄ 3 innings, leading Toronto to
23364-425: The eighth inning, Carlos Gómez hit an RBI single that struck Francisco Liriano near the back of the head. Roberto Osuna came on and closed out the game, 5–3, with a five-out save. The Blue Jays took a 2–0 series lead with the win, heading back to Toronto. With the series moving to the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays sought to eliminate the Rangers from the postseason for the second consecutive season. Aaron Sanchez got
23562-569: The end of the month, Josh Thole was re-signed by the Blue Jays, allowing him to maintain his postseason roster eligibility. To make room on the roster, Devon Travis was optioned to the Rookie-Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays . After an off-day to begin September, the Blue Jays battled the Rays at Tropicana Field . As the Bluefield season ended on September 1, Devon Travis was able to be recalled without waiting ten days. In addition,
23760-582: The face, which resulted in a bench-clearing brawl. Bautista was called for an illegal slide, which ended the inning. Bautista, Odor, and Josh Donaldson were ejected in the brawl. Donaldson got ejected for attempting to tackle Odor in the brawl after Odor punched Bautista. In the bottom half of the inning, Jesse Chavez hit Prince Fielder with his first pitch, which resulted in the ejections of Chavez, Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale , and Rangers bench coach Steve Buechele . Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and first base coach Tim Leiper were also ejected earlier in
23958-533: The final game of the series 2–0. J. A. Happ earned his thirteenth win of the season, establishing a new career-high in wins. Shortly before the start of the third game against Seattle, Drew Storen was designated for assignment. With trade rumours swirling, the Blue Jays took on the San Diego Padres for three games, which were the first games for the Padres in Toronto in franchise history. Aaron Sanchez earned his tenth consecutive winning decision, leading Toronto to
24156-475: The final match of the series, giving up a 2–0 lead and eventually losing 6–2 in the twelfth inning. Troy Tulowitzki suffered a chip-fracture in his right thumb after being hit by a pitch, and left the game. The Blue Jays opened August with a four-game series in Houston. Prior to the game, the Blue Jays made three trades before the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. The first trade sent Jesse Chavez and cash considerations to
24354-449: The first game, 5–3, after Brett Cecil surrendered what would be David Ortiz 's final regular-season home run. Baltimore also defeated New York, causing the Blue Jays to fall a game behind the Orioles for the top wild-card spot. The next day, Toronto defeated Boston, 4–3, thanks to a three-RBI night from Kevin Pillar. They also pulled back into a tie with Baltimore for the top wild-card after Baltimore lost to New York, enabling them to clinch
24552-479: The first sports organization to have our games provided through this revolutionary approach to accommodating the needs of the blind and low-vision community." On June 27, 2013, Rogers' over-the-air Toronto multicultural Omni Television station CJMT-DT simulcast a Blue Jays game, scheduled to be started by Taiwanese player Chien-Ming Wang , with commentary in Mandarin , marking the first ever Canadian MLB broadcast in
24750-401: The first-place Orioles. The first game of the series saw Marcus Stroman earn his third win of the season, as Toronto gave the Orioles their first loss at home in 2016. The second game of the series went into extra innings tied 3–3. Rookie Joe Biagini loaded the bases in the tenth inning, and allowed the Orioles to score the winning run on a wild pitch. In the rubber match, the Orioles would beat
24948-421: The following night, 7–2, holding the opposition to fewer than two runs for the 11th time in his last 12 games. José Bautista also recorded his 800th career RBI in the game. Toronto would also take the rubber match, 4–2, led by 8 strong innings and 17 groundball outs from Marcus Stroman. After travelling to Boston, the Blue Jays took on the Red Sox at Fenway Park . Edwin Encarnación hit his first two home runs of
25146-409: The fourth inning to give Baltimore a 2–1 lead. Ezequiel Carrera singled in a run in the fifth inning to tie the game at 2–2. In the seventh inning, Melvin Upton Jr. pinch-hit for Michael Saunders and flew out to Hyun-soo Kim in left field. A person in the outfield seats, later identified by Toronto police as Kenneth Pagan, threw a beer can in the direction of Kim, landing several feet away and causing
25344-418: The fourth inning, but in the sixth, Brock Holt hit a grand slam for the Red Sox, and the Blue Jays bullpen would blow their third lead in as many games to take the loss, 8–7. In the second game, R. A. Dickey would yield seven runs in an 8–4 loss, while José Bautista hit two home runs to record his 29th career multi-home run game. Marco Estrada, who began the season on the disabled list with a back injury, made
25542-400: The game 5–5 in the ninth inning. However, Drew Stubbs would hit a walk-off home run in the tenth to even the series. The final game of the series, a 7–6 loss for the Blue Jays, was filled with controversy. In the eighth inning, José Bautista, who had given the Blue Jays a 5–2 lead earlier in the game with a bases-clearing double, was hit by a pitch from Rangers reliever Matt Bush . The move
25740-488: The game over to the bullpen, who were unable to hold the lead. The Tigers would win the game in the tenth inning, 3–2. Toronto avoided the sweep with a 7–2 victory, led by Josh Donaldson, who finished a double shy of the cycle . Returning home, the Blue Jays squared-off against the first-place Orioles. Baltimore would come out on top of the first game, 6–5, taking advantage of a struggling Marcus Stroman. Game two went into extra innings, tied 3–3, before Edwin Encarnación hit
25938-425: The game to be briefly delayed while police searched for the perpetrator. Pagan, a 41-year-old copy editor for Postmedia Network from Hamilton, Ontario , was later charged with mischief after surrendering himself to Toronto police amid the publication of his face from Rogers Centre security footage. With the game still tied, Roberto Osuna came in to pitch the ninth and tenth innings, but left after recording an out in
26136-591: The game, getting Justin Smoak to flyout to the left field warning track and giving the Yankees a 7–6 win, which would be credited to relief pitcher Chasen Shreve . The Blue Jays would be swept for the first time on the road this season, losing the finale by a 2–0 score. Coming home after a disappointing 3–6 road trip, the Blue Jays set their sights on the division-leading Red Sox. Marco Estrada continued to struggle, pitching just 2 2 ⁄ 3 innings and allowing four runs. The bullpen fared much worse, as Boston starter Rick Porcello became MLB's first 20-game winner of
26334-463: The game, his 38th consecutive game played without allowing an earned run, which tied the MLB record set by Craig Kimbrel in 2011. Cecil's streak would end the following night, as he yielded a two-run home run to Logan Forsythe to give the Rays a 3–2 lead that they would not relinquish. In the ninth inning, the Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out for Edwin Encarnación, who hit a ground ball to Evan Longoria , who threw to Forsythe at second to begin
26532-441: The game. In the second game, Marcus Stroman was hit hard by the Red Sox offence. He allowed six earned runs for the third time in his last four games and took the loss, 6–4. In the rubber match, Marco Estrada took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before yielding a solo home run to Chris Young . Roberto Osuna would close out the 5–4 win with a rocky ninth inning, in which he surrendered two runs on four hits. The series victory gave
26730-468: The game. Tampa Bay would split the series in the finale, defeating the Blue Jays 5–3. Reigning American League MVP Josh Donaldson left mid-game after injuring his right calf. After an off-day, the Blue Jays began a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox , with Marcus Stroman taking the mound in the home opener. The Blue Jays led the game 7–2 following Josh Donaldson's second-career grand slam in
26928-407: The game. Leiper was ejected for arguing with first base umpire Dale Scott , and Gibbons was ejected by Iassogna for arguing balls and strikes. Following their brawl with the Rangers, the Blue Jays went home for a short, three-game home stand against Tampa Bay. The Rays took the first game of the series, 13–2, giving J. A. Happ his first loss of the season. Prior to the second game, punishments for
27126-425: The game. Martin advanced to third base on a passed ball, before Devon Travis hit a walk-off single to complete the comeback, 10–9. David Price got the start in the final game of the series, making his first appearance in Toronto since signing a seven-year, $ 217 million contract with the Red Sox. Boston would take the game, 5–3, after scoring two runs in the eleventh inning to take the lead. The Jays closed out May with
27324-404: The home uniforms remained mostly intact, the road uniforms gained blue sleeves in a faux-vest design. On the alternate white uniform (now a faux vest instead of a straight sleeveless design), the new "T-bird" logo replaced the primary "jay leaf" logo, which moved to the left sleeve. In 2003, the "T-bird" logo became the primary, taking over the previous logo's placement on the caps and sleeves, while
27522-728: The inaugural 1977 season, Peter Bavasi and Pat Gillick were appointed as president and assistant general manager, respectively. The Blue Jays debuted on April 7, 1977, with a win against the Chicago White Sox amid a snowstorm, marking the beginning of a journey from early struggles to eventual success. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Blue Jays showed gradual improvement, highlighted by their first winning season in 1983. The team's fortunes rose significantly under manager Bobby Cox in 1985 when they won their first American League East title. The late 1980s and early 1990s, under manager Cito Gaston , were particularly successful, with
27720-693: The language. In June 2018, Omni announced that it would air Sunday afternoon games in Tagalog , the most spoken language of the Philippines , through the remainder of the season. Sportsnet and Omni announced a regular season of Sunday broadcasts in Tagalog for the 2019 season. TVA Sports has aired games in French since 2011, with Denis Casavant and François Paquet on play-by-play and Rodger Brulotte on colour. The channel currently has rights to 81 Blue Jay games per season in
27918-590: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, players of black African descent were barred from playing the major leagues , though several did manage to play by claiming to be Cubans or Native Americans . As a result, a number of parallel Negro leagues were formed. However, after Jackie Robinson began playing with the major-league Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the Negro leagues gradually faded. The process of integration did not go entirely smoothly; there were some ugly incidents, including pitchers who would try to throw directly at
28116-434: The lead. The Jays rally would fall short, as the Yankees avoided the sweep, 7–5. Holding the first wild-card position, the Blue Jays played their final regular season home series against Baltimore, who held the second wild-card spot entering play. Aaron Sanchez held the high-powered Orioles offence to a single run in the first game, striking out ten in a 5–1 victory. The Blue Jays would drop the second game, 3–2, despite taking
28314-424: The left chest. The road uniforms changed from powder blue to grey, while the city name and numerals in blue/white/blue split letters were emblazoned, and the logo moved to the left chest. Player names were also added to the road uniform. All-blue caps were worn with their road uniform while keeping the white-panelled blue caps at home. By 1993, the all-blue caps were worn universally, supplanting and eventually retiring
28512-414: The loss for Toronto, yielding a lead-off single to Jose Altuve before Carlos Correa knocked him in with a walk-off double in the fourteenth inning. Marcus Stroman set a new career-high with 13 strikeouts in the game. José Bautista hit his 300th career home run in the second game of the series as Toronto won 2–1, aided by a strong pitching performance from R. A. Dickey. Marco Estrada would hold Houston to
28710-404: The major leagues, starting with Dave Stieb , whose seven All-Star selections is a franchise record. He is closely followed by Roy Halladay and José Bautista , who were selected six times each, and by Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter , who were selected five times each. Bautista set a major league record in 2011 (which only stood for a year), with 7,454,753 All-Star votes. In his first season with
28908-462: The oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in both Major League Baseball and all of American professional sports. In addition to the major leagues, many North American cities and towns feature minor league teams. An organization officially styled Minor League Baseball , formerly the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, oversees nearly all minor league baseball in
29106-528: The original cap design. In 1994 the Blue Jays began wearing blue alternate uniforms with the team name and numerals in white/blue/white split letters. The Blue Jays updated their logo prior to the 1997 season with a new bird design and an enlarged red maple leaf at the back. The usage of red was greatly increased on the team's new uniforms. On the home uniforms, the letters and numerals were changed to blue/teal/blue split letters, while road uniform letters and numerals were changed to blue/red/blue split letters. On
29304-405: The original logo used from 1977 to 1996. The bird's head was also made sleeker than its 1977–1996 predecessor. The uniforms are similar to the ones used from 1989 to 1996, the team's most successful era. New serifed split letters were also released. In 2015, the Blue Jays began wearing a modernized version of the white-panelled blue caps they originally wore from 1977 to 1993 as an alternate. Before
29502-518: The other Canadian MLB team before it was relocated. From 1978 to 1986, the teams played an annual mid-season exhibition game known as the Pearson Cup , named after former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson . The teams began facing each other in the regular season in 1997 with the advent of interleague play . During the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Expos' last two seasons before relocating to Washington, D.C., as
29700-405: The play, giving Toronto an 8–7 lead that they would successfully hold. The Blue Jays would complete the sweep with another come-from-behind victory, winning 9–6, and taking a two-game lead over the Red Sox for the division lead. Josh Donaldson hit three home runs for the first time in his career, and was showered with baseball caps from the fans after completing the hat-trick . Bringing August to
29898-410: The playoffs as a wild card team in 2020 , 2022 , and 2023 . From 1977 to 2024, the Blue Jays' overall win-loss record is 3,761–3,788–3 (.498). The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976, as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the following season, via the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion . Toronto had been mentioned as a potential major league city as early as
30096-646: The playoffs where they defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the AWC Game and for the second year in a row, besting the Texas Rangers in the ALDS , reaching the ALCS , before losing in five games to the Cleveland Indians . General manager Alex Anthopoulos rejected a five-year contract extension on October 29, 2015, and team president Paul Beeston retired on October 31. New Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro , who assumed
30294-537: The president of the Vancouver Canadians. During the seventh-inning stretch of home games, before singing " Take Me Out to the Ball Game ," Blue Jay fans sing and clap to the pop song " OK Blue Jays " by Keith Hampshire and The Bat Boys, which was released in 1983. The song was remixed in 2003, and since then, the new, shortened version has been played at home games. At home games, the "Let's Go Blue Jays" chant
30492-584: The primary colour commentator; on select series, Toronto Raptors play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin calls the game in place of Shulman, and Joe Siddall works colour commentary in place of Martinez. Prior to that, Martinez had been the primary play-by-play announcer alongside colour commentator Pat Tabler , with Shulman only calling games sporadically since 2016. In previous years, the colour analyst role rotated between Pat Tabler, Rance Mulliniks , Darrin Fletcher , and from 2011 to 2017, Gregg Zaun . Sportsnet became
30690-419: The right sleeve starting in 2009. The Blue Jays wore all-black caps with the "J-bird" logo for much of the uniforms' existence, save for the 2004 and 2005 seasons when they wore all-graphite caps at home, and in 2007 when an alternate all-black cap with the "T" from the previous road uniform was used. Prior to the 2012 season, the Blue Jays unveiled new uniforms and a new logo. The logo is a modernized version of
30888-417: The roles on November 2, 2015, announced that Tony LaCava was assigned as the interim general manager and that John Gibbons would remain as the manager. On November 6, 2015, a $ 15.8 million qualifying offer was extended to Marco Estrada . David Price was not eligible for a qualifying offer, as he was acquired mid-season. Estrada signed a two-year, $ 26 million contract on November 13. On November 20,
31086-469: The roster. The Orioles would take the second game, 5–3, with Matt Wieters hitting a go-ahead, two-run home run off Jason Grilli in the eighth inning. Aaron Sanchez was recalled from Advanced-A Dunedin to make the start in the series finale, and held the Orioles to a single unearned run through six innings of work. Sanchez would earn his 13th win of the season, as the Blue jays took the series, 5–3. Shortly before
31284-474: The season but the Red Sox would prevail, taking the opener 5–3. David Price made the start in the second game of the series, his first start against the Blue Jays since signing with Boston in the offseason. He would hold the Jays to two runs over seven innings and earn the win, 4–2. Aaron Sanchez recorded his third consecutive quality start of the season by holding the Sox to two hits and one run over seven innings in
31482-407: The season, beating the Blue Jays 10–1. Chicago would complete the sweep of the Blue Jays with a 4–0 win in the third game of the series. After a day off, the Blue Jays closed out April in Tampa Bay, where their season began. Michael Saunders recorded his first two home run game as a Blue Jay, and Aaron Sanchez rebounded from his previous start, throwing seven shutout innings to lead the Blue Jays to
31680-409: The season, defeating the Rays 5–1. The Blue Jays were held to just 15 hits in the three-game series, but hit 8 home runs. The Blue Jays then returned to Toronto to face the Texas Rangers for the first time since defeating them in the 2015 American League Division Series . The Rangers would win the first game of the series, 2–1, and give the Jays their fourth loss in a row at home. In the second game of
31878-447: The second game of the series, winning 10–2. Russell Martin and Michael Saunders each hit home runs in the fourth inning to become the first Canadian teammates in MLB history to have 20 or more home runs in a season. The Mariners would avoid the sweep, taking the final game 2–1 in the twelfth inning. With the Orioles being swept by the Red Sox on Toronto's off day, the Jays moved into the first wild card position. The Blue Jays returned to
32076-482: The second game, 5–4; as R. A. Dickey allowed all of Oakland's runs on three home runs. The Jays avoided getting swept, winning the finale 5–3 after Josh Donaldson doubled in the ninth inning to take the lead. Following an off day, the Blue Jays played a two-game series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. In the first game, Aaron Sanchez pitched seven innings and only surrendered one run, while Edwin Encarnación, who has
32274-435: The second half of the series, Marco Estrada lead the Jays to a 7–2 win with his tenth consecutive start allowing five or fewer hits, which extended his franchise record. The Blue Jays offence would again prove to be too much for Phillies pitching to handle, as a five home run game led Toronto to a 13–2 win in the series finale. The win came at a price, as José Bautista left the game with a left foot injury. The following day, he
32472-569: The series with Baltimore, the Philadelphia Phillies would come to Toronto for a home-and-home series against the Jays. The potent Toronto offence was stymied by Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff , losing the first game 7–0. They would get back on track in the second game, knocking around Zach Eflin in his Major League debut. Josh Donaldson would hit a grand slam, and Ezequiel Carrera, Kevin Pillar, and Edwin Encarnación also hit home runs in an 11–3 trouncing. After travelling to Philadelphia for
32670-578: The series with an 11–6 win in the final game of the series, driving Marcus Stroman's ERA to a career-high 5.23. The Blue Jays opened a brief two-game homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks after an off-day. Marco Estrada and the Toronto bullpen held the Diamondbacks to just three hits in the first game, but Arizona would win 4–2. The Jays would split the series, taking the final game 5–2 thanks to home runs from Russell Martin, Troy Tulowitzki, and Edwin Encarnación. Toronto would fall to 0–4 against
32868-469: The series, Justin Smoak hit his first home run of the season to tie the game in the ninth inning, and in the tenth, hit a walk-off two-run home run to give the Blue Jays a 3–1 victory. Russell Martin gave the Blue Jays their second-consecutive walk-off win the following night, 4–3, after knocking in the winning run with a single to right field in the ninth inning. Toronto would take the series finale, tagging Rangers starter Derek Holland for 11 earned runs in
33066-417: The start for the Jays, while the Rangers started Colby Lewis . Lewis lasted only two innings, yielding five earned runs on five hits including home runs by Edwin Encarnación and Russell Martin. Sanchez would go 5 2 ⁄ 3 innings, but was responsible for six earned runs after Joe Biagini allowed a two-run double by Mitch Moreland . The Blue Jays would tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, after
33264-400: The start in the final game of the series looking to avoid a sweep. Estrada would pitch seven shutout innings in his season debut, earning the win over the Red Sox, 3–0. The Blue Jays then battled the New York Yankees for the first time in 2016. The first game of the series went to the Yankees, who took advantage of Brett Cecil's early season struggles to win 3–2. J. A. Happ would earn the win
33462-420: The strike zone. Toronto would end Cleveland's 14-game winning streak with a 9–6 win the following day. Prior to the series finale, Edwin Encarnación was suspended for one game after bumping into umpire Vic Carapazza on Canada Day. Encarnación appealed the suspension, and was allowed to play. In the game, the high-octane Toronto offence would crush Corey Kluber and the Indians by a score of 17–1. J. A. Happ became
33660-539: The team also became back-to-back World Series champions in 1992 and 1993 , led by a core group of award -winning All-Star players, including Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar , Joe Carter , John Olerud , and Devon White . The Blue Jays became the first (and, to date, only) team outside the U.S. to appear in and win a World Series and the fastest AL expansion team to do so, winning in its 16th year. As of 2019 , they are one of only two MLB franchises that are undefeated through multiple World Series appearances, along with
33858-515: The team as the Toronto Giants and play at Exhibition Stadium . However, a court ruling halted the move, and the Giants remained in San Francisco. Despite this setback, Toronto's ambition for an MLB team persisted, leading to their successful bid in the 1976 American League expansion, driven by a need to balance the league after Seattle was granted a team as a result of a lawsuit over their loss of
34056-461: The team's inception until the late 1990s. The Blue Jays have not appeared over-the-air in Canada in English since 2008. Professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Major League Baseball in
34254-470: The team's primary carrier soon after it launched in the late 1990s and became the team's exclusive broadcaster in 2010. As of August 2010, Sportsnet One also broadcasts Blue Jays games (often in case of scheduling conflicts with the main Sportsnet channels). Rogers was, however, criticized by fans and critics due to Sportsnet One only being carried by Rogers Cable systems on launch. Sportsnet's broadcasts of
34452-403: The tenth with minor shoulder tightness. With one out in the bottom of the eleventh, Orioles manager Buck Showalter elected to use Ubaldo Jiménez in relief, still having Cy Young Award candidate Zach Britton available. Jiménez allowed a single to Devon Travis, followed by a single by Josh Donaldson which was misplayed by outfielder Nolan Reimold , allowing Travis to advance to third base. With
34650-438: The third game of the series, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. The Blue Jays would win the game, 5–3. The final game of the series, played on Patriots' Day , saw the Blue Jays hang on to win, 4–3. Drew Storen recorded his first save with Toronto, as Roberto Osuna was unavailable for the game. Nearing the end of 17 consecutive games against AL East opponents to open the season, the Blue Jays travelled to Baltimore to play
34848-466: The time but with red as the primary colour. On a few occasions, the Blue Jays added red trim to an existing white uniform (or, in the case of the 2006 uniforms, their black alternates) and sometimes added the flag of Canada or a red maple leaf on the uniform. In 2024, the Blue Jays unveiled a City Connect uniform inspired by Toronto's nightlife. The jersey is nicknamed "Night Mode" and is a "pitch blue" (dark blue) uniform that features an illustration of
35046-483: The top wild-card spot with a win in the season finale. In the season finale, Aaron Sanchez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and both Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki contributed with two-out hits, helping the Blue Jays win, 2–1. With Baltimore's win over New York, Toronto and Baltimore finished the season with identical 89–73 records; however, Toronto clinched the top wild-card spot based on their 10–9 head-to-head record against Baltimore in 2016. On October 4,
35244-404: The twelfth inning, where Matt Kemp hit a two-run home run to give the Padres a 6–4 lead. However, the Blue Jays would battle back, scoring on a bases-loaded walk by José Bautista and a fielder's choice groundout by Josh Donaldson, before Devon Travis would score the winning run on a wild pitch to take the game, 7–6. Immediately following the game, the Blue Jays announced another trade. Drew Storen
35442-539: The unofficial first half of the season, Toronto took on the Detroit Tigers for four games. The Blue Jays would come from behind in the first game of the series, with Troy Tulowitzki driving in the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Roberto Osuna would close out the 5–4 victory. Prior to the second game, Saunders was announced as the Final Vote winner, and became the fourth Toronto representative for
35640-530: The west coast, the Blue Jays played a crucial series against the Seattle Mariners. Entering play, Toronto held the second wild-card spot, while the Mariners were two games back. With thousands of western Canadians making the trip to Seattle given Seattle's proximity to the Canadian border, Marco Estrada led the Jays to a 3–2 win in the first game. J. A. Happ became the sixth 20-game winner in Blue Jays franchise history in
35838-498: The winning run 90 feet away, Edwin Encarnación hit a walk-off, three-run home run on the first pitch to give the Blue Jays a 5–2 victory and send them to the American League Division Series. Encarnación became only the fourth player to end a winner-take-all postseason game with a walk-off home run, joining Bill Mazeroski ( 1960 World Series ), Chris Chambliss ( 1976 ALCS ) and Aaron Boone ( 2003 ALCS ). In
36036-416: The worst start of his young career, allowing six earned runs in 4 1 ⁄ 3 innings pitched, as the Blue Jays lost 8–5. The Blue Jays offence, which lead all of MLB in 2015, appeared to get back on track in the second game, as Troy Tulowitzki recorded his 12th career multi-home run game and Josh Donaldson also homered and drove in four runs in a 9–3 victory. In the final game of the series, Drew Hutchison
36234-500: Was acquired from the Oakland Athletics for cash or a player to be named later. Three days later, outfielder Ben Revere and a player to be named later were traded to the Washington Nationals for reliever Drew Storen . On January 12, pitchers Brett Cecil , Jesse Chavez, Steve Delabar , Drew Hutchison , Aaron Loup , and Drew Storen filed for salary arbitration , along with position players Josh Donaldson and Michael Saunders . Cecil, Delabar, Loup, Hutchison, and Storen agreed to
36432-463: Was an additional location in the Toronto Eaton Centre shopping mall. The Blue Jays wore pullover uniforms during their first decade of existence. The front of the home white uniforms contained the team name in a unique blue/white/blue split-letter style, with the team logo centred below. The road uniforms were powder blue, with the city name in front and the team logo centred below. Initially,
36630-488: Was announced that Chavez had won his arbitration case, and will receive a $ 4 million salary for the season. In addition, Gavin Floyd signed a one-year, $ 1 million contract with the Blue Jays, and Chad Jenkins was designated for assignment. On February 10, Donaldson avoided arbitration by signing a two-year, $ 28.65 million extension that will pay him $ 11.65 million in 2016, and $ 17 million in 2017. Colt Hynes , who spent most of
36828-403: Was ejected for arguing the warning. In the bottom half of the second, Severino threw behind Justin Smoak and then hit him, leading to the second brawl. Severino was immediately ejected, and after order had been restored Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bench coach Rob Thomson were also ejected. Toronto led 3–2 heading into the ninth inning, but New York would score five runs to take
37026-415: Was going to feel, but my body couldn't handle it anymore. So I decided this is the last time I'm going to be playing baseball." He had appeared in one game for the Blue Jays to that point, going hitless in two at-bats. On March 18, Brad Penny , who had joined the Blue Jays on a minor league contract, announced his retirement. Two days later, Rafael Soriano announced his retirement as well. Soriano signed
37224-503: Was largely considered as retaliation for Bautista flipping his bat after hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the 2015 American League Division Series, and resulted in both benches being warned by the home plate umpire, Dan Iassogna . Justin Smoak later grounded into a would-be double play, however Bautista slid hard into second base, taking out Rougned Odor and preventing the double play from being completed. Odor took exception to Bautista's slide, and retaliated by punching Bautista in
37422-526: Was not tendered a contract by the December 2 deadline, and became a free agent. On December 3, Ross Atkins was named the new general manager replacing LaCava. Thole signed a one-year, $ 800,000 contract with the Blue Jays on December 4. Mark Lowe signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Tigers on December 8, for $ 11 million. In the Rule 5 draft on December 10, the Blue Jays selected pitcher Joe Biagini from
37620-429: Was placed on the 15-day disabled list. In the first game of the Blue Jays road series against Baltimore, Michael Saunders became the fourth Canadian player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a game, and led the Toronto offence to their fifth game with double-digit runs scored in their last seven games played. Baltimore would end the Jays four-game winning streak the following day, winning 4–2. The Orioles would take
37818-565: Was purchased by that company, which renamed it Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays and the Atlanta Braves are the only two MLB teams under corporate ownership; the Blue Jays are the only American League team to be under such ownership. Due to border restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic , the Blue Jays played home games at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida for April and May of the 2021 season , and Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York for
38016-470: Was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to make a spot start for the Jays. He held the Athletics to 2 runs over 5 2 ⁄ 3 innings as the Blue Jays won the series, 6–3. Toronto then battled the first-place Chicago White Sox in a three-game series. The Jays held a four run lead in the first game, only to have their bullpen yield the lead in the seventh inning, and take a 7–5 loss. In the second game, White Sox ace Chris Sale earned his league-leading fifth win of
38214-424: Was sent to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Joaquín Benoit . The Padres would come out on top in the final game of the series, hitting two home runs off starter R. A. Dickey to win 8–4. The two home runs increased Dickey's total to 26 on the season, which tied him for the league-lead in home runs allowed. The Blue Jays wrapped July by hosting the Baltimore Orioles, whom they trailed by 1 1 ⁄ 2 games for
38412-442: Was signed to a minor league contract. Maicer Izturis , who was under contract with the Blue Jays for the 2015 season but did not play for the team due to various injuries, was signed to a minor league contract on January 29. On February 2, outfielder Darrell Ceciliani was acquired from the New York Mets for a player to be named later. David Aardsma was added to the list of non-roster invitees on February 5. On February 6, it
38610-480: Was stymied by James Paxton and the Seattle bullpen, losing the first game 2–1. R. A. Dickey had the shortest outing of his Blue Jays career in the second game, going only three innings and allowing six earned runs, including a grand slam to Nelson Cruz . Seattle would score five more runs off Jesse Chavez and three off Drew Storen to take the second game of the series, 14–5. The Blue Jays would avoid being swept, winning
38808-455: Was sung in French, English, and Blackfoot . For Blue Jays road games, "O Canada" is sung before the "Star Spangled Banner" as all road games (since the Expos moved to Washington, DC) for the Blue Jays are in the United States. The Blue Jays traditionally host an afternoon home game during Canada Day . During the game, the team wears red jerseys instead of blue jerseys. During the pre-game ceremony,
39006-464: Was terminated amid accusations of improper conduct from several female employees. Following Howarth's retirement in the 2017 season, Ben Wagner was hired as the primary radio play-by-play announcer, splitting said duties with Dan Shulman and Mike Wilner. In November 2020, Mike Wilner was laid off by the team. In February 2021, it was announced that "in an effort to minimize travel and closely adhere to team, league, and government protocols related to
39204-615: Was traded by the Blue Jays to the Seattle Mariners for Michael Saunders before the 2015 season, was signed to a three-year, $ 36 million contract on November 27. David Price agreed to a seven-year, $ 217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox on December 1. Justin Smoak , who was eligible for salary arbitration, was signed to a one-year, $ 3.9 million contract on December 2. Third baseman Josh Donaldson , outfielders Ben Revere and Michael Saunders , and pitchers Jesse Chavez , Drew Hutchison , Steve Delabar , Brett Cecil , and Aaron Loup were also tendered contracts. Catcher Josh Thole
#600399