Big picture for Blue Jays: Loss just a blip in momentum-changing run

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays nearly pulled off another stunner in Sunday’s finale in the Yankees, but another series win over an American League East rival will have to do.

The 4-3 loss in 10 innings finally got a jolt of late life when the Blue Jays scraped across the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth with a little help from a Ben Rice error. But Rice quickly made up for that by launching a two-run shot off Braydon Fisher in extras.

Now, the Blue Jays drop to one game back of the Orioles and the Rangers, who play Sunday night, in the tight AL Wild Card race.

This is what mattered most from Sunday’s finale:

1. No sweep, but another series win
Just like their recent four-game series against the Red Sox, the Blue Jays fell one win short of the sweep. But series wins are going to be their ticket to the postseason if they keep playing like this.

“That’s a tough 17-game grind [in 17 days] for everyone. To come out 11-6 is really impressive,” manager John Schneider said, “with the travel and the teams we’re facing.

“I always say you want to keep stacking series wins. Today’s a tough one because there were some chances to finish off a sweep, which is hard against any team. We just need to continue to play as hard as we’re playing.”

Inside the Blue Jays’ clubhouse, you’d be surprised at just how well players and coaches are able to compartmentalize from day to day. They’re certainly aware of the standings, but they might not be checking the standings tab on the MLB App as often as Toronto fans are. It’s one game at a time and one series at a time, which is serving them well recently.

Now comes the biggest challenge left on their schedule, a three-gamer against the Rays at Tropicana Field beginning Tuesday before they travel to Yankee Stadium for three more against the Yankees. This is the Blue Jays’ shot to set themselves up for their final 30 games, a stretch during which they don’t face a single team with a current winning record.

2. Cy Young watch: Cease lands the counterpunch
One day after Cam Schlittler held the Blue Jays to one run over 5 1/3 innings, Dylan Cease answered back with something even better.

Cease held the Yankees to two runs on just two hits over 6 1/3 innings, racking up another 10 strikeouts. The second run scored with Brendon Little on the mound, after Cease had departed. This performance nudged Cease’s ERA up to 2.42, continuing what’s on track to be one of the greatest single-season pitching performances in Blue Jays history.

The race between Cease and Schlittler is fascinating. Schlittler’s 2.19 ERA over more innings (152) than Cease (137 2/3) gives him a strong case, but so does Cease’s strikeout total (201). In such a tight race, every inning is going to matter down the stretch, with one ugly start on either side of this race having the potential to flip it completely.

Cease’s ninth strikeout of the night, to end the sixth inning, was also his 200th of the season. This is the sixth consecutive season in which Cease has struck out 200 batters, and doing it on Aug. 16 after missing two starts for a brief IL stint earlier in the season is absurd. Only the strikeout king Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers has more (210).

“The durability element is important, then having good stuff and getting strikeouts is great,” Cease said. “This year has been the biggest jump in development I’ve had in a long time. That’s been a lot of fun and really exciting.”

Those six consecutive seasons are a true accomplishment, too. Only five pitchers in MLB history have longer streaks:

Tom Seaver (9): 1968-76
Max Scherzer (8): 2012-19
Chris Sale (7): 2013-19
Roger Clemens (7): 1986-92
Walter Johnson (7): 1910-16

3. The next step? Stealing games with power
The Blue Jays aren’t about to hit 14 home runs over three games against the Rays, but there’s still room for a realistic uptick here. Charles McAdoo’s RBI double from Saturday’s win is a great example, anything to give the Blue Jays a boost of energy and shake up the march of singles.

If the Blue Jays are going to play all of these 2-1 and 3-2 ballgames down the stretch, that’s just fine. Perhaps they can scrape out more wins than losses, but along the way, they’ll need to steal a game or two. Right now, Toronto ranks 29th in home runs (116).