The Toronto Blue Jays are now on the brink of elimination from World Series contention in the 2023 MLB playoffs. That's after losing to the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card series to the tune of a 3-1 score Tuesday night. After the game, Toronto manager John Schneider lamented his team's misfortunes on offense.

“Chappy hits the ball farther than Lewis and it's caught. It happens,” Schneider said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “He threw the ball well. I thought that we adjusted pretty well along with him. You give him credit. We hit some balls really hard that didn't find any holes.”

Royce Lewis stepped up big time for the Twins in the series opener, as he hit back-to-back home runs in his first two plate appearances. The Blue Jays also had some real chances to create more damage offensively, but Minnesota's defense also came out to play. Matt Chapman could have earned an extra-base hit in the sixth inning but that was foiled with a leaping grab at the wall by the Twins. Chapman finished the game 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

Kevin Gausman took the pitching loss in Game 1, as he got charged for three runs on three hits with three free passes issued and five strikeouts in four innings of work on the mound. The only run scored by the Blue Jays was off a Kevin Kiermaier single RBI that drove Bo Bichette home and moved Alejandro Kirk to second.

Blue Jays looking to extend the series vs. Twins

Blue Jays, John Schneider

With their season on the line this Wednesday, the Blue Jays will turn to Jose Berrios to start in Game 2.  Toronto is hoping that Berrios would pitch as sharp as he did when he silenced the Twins in a 3-0 victory in Minnesota late last May. In that game, Berrios allowed zero earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts, albeit with five walks issued, in 5.2 innings.

As for the Twins, they will be sending veteran right-hander Sonny Gray to the mound with the hopes that they will close the series out in two games and move on to the next round of the MLB playoffs.