Blue Jays Trim Magic Number to Two

The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Friday as Nathan Lukes hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the fifth and George Springer scored twice, trimming Toronto’s magic number to clinch the AL East to two. Shane Bieber allowed two runs over five innings and the bullpen — including Mason Fluharty’s perfect relief outing and Jeff Hoffman’s 33rd save — preserved the win. The Rays had back-to-back solo homers from Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda (who had just returned from the injured list), but Toronto tied it in the second before Lukes' fifth-inning shot broke the deadlock. Toronto enters the final series tied with the New York Yankees for the AL’s best record but holds the tiebreaker, meaning two Blue Jays wins or any two Yankees losses in the remaining games will deliver Toronto’s first AL East title since 2015 and a bye past the wild-card series. Manager John Schneider said there were no structural issues with Jose Berrios’ injured elbow, and Toronto has leaned on depth and role players while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette have been limited down the stretch.