Blue Jays clinch playoff berth after last-place AL East finish in 2024

The Toronto Blue Jays are returning to October.

Toronto became the first American League team to clinch a playoff berth by beating the Kansas City Royals 8-5 on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. The win completes a remarkable turnaround for the Blue Jays, who finished last in the AL East in 2024.

At 90-66, the Jays now own the AL's best record and a two-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the division with six games left. New York kept pace in the division race with a 7-1 win over Baltimore. However, Toronto holds the tiebreakers over both the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

The Blue Jays had chances to clinch in Kansas City all weekend but struggled to score during losses in the first two games of the series. That changed in a big way Sunday, as they rapped out 12 hits and never trailed en route to the win. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer each had two hits, while Addison Barger's fifth-inning RBI double brought home the winning run.

Closer Jeff Hoffman allowed one hit in the ninth but still managed to lock down his 32nd save of the season and start a party in the visitor's clubhouse by getting Vinnie Pasquantino to ground out.

The postseason berth marks Toronto's 11th playoff appearance in franchise history and the fourth of this decade. However, October success has been fleeting for the Blue Jays in recent years. The team is currently mired in a seven-game playoff losing streak that dates back to Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS.

"Today we go back to the postseason, but the journey is not over yet," Guerrero said, according to Avery Osen of The Associated Press. "We still want to win the division over the next six games. Since spring training, everyone has been together, and, when you see a team like that, you start believing."