Heading into this weekends three game set with Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays have 35 games left to play. Joe Thornton Jersey . They have to make up a four game deficit on Detroit for the second Wild Card spot. Theyre also 3.5 games back of Seattle, are tied with the Yankees and are sitting just a half-game ahead of Cleveland. It will take a 23-12 stretch run, just to finish at 88 wins and there is no guarantee even that will be enough, But I suppose the key point is, they are still alive with just 38 days remaining in the season and are still playing "meaningful" ball. I decided to look back at six of Jays most significant seasons to see just how they did from August 15 up until the regular seasons final day. Lets start with 1984, the year the Blue Jays had the best team of their young history. Detroit started out that season 35-5 and looked unbeatable. The Jays, to their credit stayed relatively close for most of the season. In mid-August, they were (68-51), But from that point on they went (21-22) and didnt win two in a row after September 12 to finish at (89-73). In 1985 the Blue Jays won their first division title, eliminating the Yankees and clinching the top spot with a victory over Billy Martin and company on the final Saturday of the regular season at Exhibition Stadium. On August 16th of that season, the Jays were (72-43), while this years Jays were 63-60 on the same date. The Jays went 27-19 down the stretch, though they did drop five of their last six to give the Yanks one last fleeting chance. Bobby Cox and the troops finish with a franchise record 99 victories. 1987 was the year of the heartbreak. The Blue Jays lead the AL East over Detroit with just seven games to play. Rocked by injuries to Tony Fernandez and Ernie Whitt, they dropped all seven including the final three at Tigers Stadium and finished second to Detroit. That year they were 69-48 in mid-August and went (27-18) the rest of the way. In 1989, the Blue Jays won their second division title, and ultimately lost the ALCS in five games to Oakland. Still, the season featured a great stretch run. They were just (60-59) on August 15, two games worse off than they are this season. Cito Gastons crew went 29-14 the rest of the way to take the East with an 89-73 mark. In 1991 they laid claim to their third division title, before losing to Minnesota in five in the ALCS, dropping the last three at home. They did play well over the last six weeks, going 28-18 to finish at 91-71. In 1992 it all came together as they won their first World Series title beating Atlanta in six games. They were 20 games over .500 on August 15 at 68-48 and finished with another 28-18 run to wind up at 96-66, the second best record in club history. In 1993 the Blue Jays made it a repeat by beating Philadelphia in six, winning the series at home on Joe Carters "Touch em all, Joe" walk off homer against Mitch Williams. The Jays went 27-16 down the stretch that season to finish at 95-67. The bottom line is this: If the Blue Jays need to finish at 23-12 at the very least, they have only done that twice before in franchise history in the years they made the post-season. In 1989 when they were won 15 more games than they lost and 1993, when they won 11 more than they lost. Those were decidedly stronger teams and won division titles and the 93 World Series. If the Blue Jays make the playoffs now even as a Wild Card, it would be an epic achievement considering the odds. Cuban Option A number of teams had been monitoring the workouts of Cuban defector Rusney Castillo with the Red Sox agreeing to terms with him on Friday on a reported seven-year, $72.5 million deal. Castillo has a bit of pop in his bat and can play either 2B or CF. It puzzles me why the Blue Jays havent been in on this 27-year-old. They have needs in both those areas, and they wouldnt have to give up anything but money to get him. On The Farm Big night for the kids Thursday night at Buffalo. Lefty Daniel Norris ran his record to 3-0 with the Herd and dropped his ERA to 1.08. He struck out nine over five innings in Buffalos 5-1 victory over Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Norris has 32 strikeouts in 16-plus innings with the Bisons. Anthony Gose batting second and playing right field tied a Buffalo modern record by stealing four bases in the game and 21-year-old Dalton Pompey made his Triple-A debut in front of a crowd of 11,134 batting leadoff and playing centre field. The 21 year old Mississauga, ON-native went 1-for-4, with his first Triple-A hit coming in the fifth inning on a single. At the very least, all three figure to be September call-ups. Custom San Jose Sharks Jerseys .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Jannik Hansen Jersey . The veteran fighter will be squaring off with Henderson in a five-round lightweight bout as part of another network televised card at the United Center on Saturday night. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/martin-jones-jersey/ . Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists.CINCINNATI (8-4-1) at CLEVELAND (7-6)Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox.OPENING LINE — Bengals by 2 1/2.RECORD VS. SPREAD — Cincinnati 6-7, Cleveland 8-5.SERIES RECORD — Bengals lead 43-39.LAST MEETING — Browns beat Bengals 24-3, on Nov. 6.LAST WEEK — Bengals lost to Steelers 42-21; Browns lost to Colts 25-24.AP PRO32 RANKING — Bengals No. 12, Browns No. 20.BENGALS OFFENSE — OVERALL (17), RUSH (10), PASS (20).BENGALS Defence — OVERALL (28), RUSH (27), PASS (21).BROWNS OFFENSE — OVERALL (13), RUSH (15), PASS (16).BROWNS Defence — OVERALL (20), RUSH (26), PASS (9).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — This installment of Battle of Ohio has extra spice with playoff implications, trash talk and Johnny Footballs first career start. ... AFC North-leading Bengals have won past three road games. ... Bengals WR A.J. Green had career-high 224 yards receiving last week vs. Steelers. ... Bengals QB Andy Dalton, who had 128.8 rating last week, had career-low 2.0 passer rating in previous meeting with Browns. He had just 10 completions and three interceptions. ... Bengals coach Marvin Lewis apologized for calling Browns rookie QB Johnny Manziel a midget earlier this week. ... Bengals rookie RB Jeremy Hill leads club with 729 yyards rushing and six touchdowns. San Jose Sharks Jerseys. ... Bengals P Kevin Huber leads league in net average (44.0). ... Bengals have not allowed punt return of longer than 11 yards this season. ... Bengals LB Vincent Rey had 15 tackles last week and leads team with 97. ... After first game, Hill ripped Browns by saying, theyre probably worse than I thought. Browns were aware of his comments. ... Browns switched QBs this week, benching Brian Hoyer in favour of Manziel, who will make first career start. ... Manziel has only been on field for 18 plays this season. No. 22 overall pick came in during fourth quarter two weeks ago at Buffalo. ... Browns playing home finale. ... Browns forced four turnovers last week and are third in league with 26 takeaways. ... Browns K Billy Cundiff has missed one attempt in each of past five games. ... Browns lead league with 19 interceptions and 88 passes defenced. ... Browns rushed for 170 yards in win over Bengals last month. ... Browns held Bengals to 179 net yards in previous game. ... Browns hoping to make playoffs for first time since 2002 and second time since 1999 expansion rebirth.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '