The Toronto Blue Jays have gotten back into contention by winning five of their last seven games coming out of the All-Star break.
Toronto is now just three games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the top spot in the American League East. The Blue Jays are also tied with the New York Yankees for the second wild-card spot in the AL.
Things will only get tougher from here on out though, as Toronto will leave the confines of Rogers Centre and embark on a 10-game road trip starting Friday.
While the Blue Jays have a very good 30-23 record at home, the team has gone just 24-26 on the road and is 2-8 in its last 10 away games.
The main reason for these lopsided splits is an offense that has been very inconsistent on the road. While the Blue Jays are second in the AL with 258 runs scored at home, the team is ranked 12th with just 209 runs scored when playing outside of Rogers Centre.
Toronto’s hitters have a slash line of .273/.335/.463 when playing at home, compared to a line of .249/.321/.390 on the road.
Considering the Blue Jays are the only AL East team aside from the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox to have a sub-.500 away record, these road splits definitely need to improve.
The first stop on this upcoming road trip will be in New York City, where Toronto will play a three-game series against the Yankees. The Blue Jays will then go to Fenway Park to play three games against the Red Sox before rounding things off with a four-game set against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
With the Yankees also just being three games back in the AL East, these next three games have the potential to alter the landscape in the division and will be extremely important for both teams.
Considering that Toronto has gone just 4-27 in Yankee Stadium since 2011 and has lost 16 straight games there (including being swept earlier this season), this will no doubt be the toughest series that the Blue Jays will play all week.
As the regular season winds down and the games become more important, it’s time for Toronto to start reversing its road misfortunes if it intends to contend this season.
*All stats are from MLB.com
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