The Toronto Blue Jays, to a man, will tell you that they always believed. That they knew, hidden among the ruins of last year’s 74-88 last-place finish, they were a first-place team.
Atop the standings in the American League East as May winds down, with a comfortable game-and-a-half cushion and the division’s best run differential, a quiet and confident sense of satisfaction has settled around the club as it prepares to officially end Toronto’s two-decades long playoff drought.
“I’m proud of this group, man” Gibbons said, with a smile, in his Texas drawl. “They competed. They came in here this season ready to play, ready to win. We knew it was only a matter of time before [brandon] Morrow and [Dustin] McGowan went down, and guys responded, took the ball, and pitched well.
The Blue Jays proved last year that a division – and a season – could be lost in April. This year, a playoff spot all but guaranteed in a weak AL East after a 15-7 May, they proved the opposite.
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/blue-jays-savoring-torontos-first-playoff-run-in-over-20-years/