Max Scherzer will start Game 1 of today's doubleheader against the Orioles.

Game 2, and honestly the rest of the season at this point, remains TBA.

That's not just a scheduling quirk. It's an accurate summary of where Toronto actually stands with just five games left and elimination looming over nearly every result around the league.

Handing Scherzer the ball for the opener is the obvious call. He's been Toronto's steadiest arm since returning from his own injury issues earlier this season, and there's no reason to save him for a Game 2 that may not matter if Game 1 goes wrong.

Baltimore still hasn't named a starter for that opener as of this writing.

Why every remaining decision now carries the same weight

Toronto sits 3.5 games back of the final wild-card spot, needing to win essentially everything left while also needing help from Chicago and Texas stumbling down the stretch.

A doubleheader compresses that math further, forcing Toronto to find length from two different starters or bullpen arrangements in the same day, with almost no margin for a letdown in either game.

Scherzer taking Game 1 gives the Blue Jays their best realistic shot at that first result. What happens in Game 2 likely depends heavily on how the bullpen holds up after the opener.

The uncertainty attached to "the rest of the season" isn't really about the schedule. It's about whether Toronto is still playing meaningful baseball come next week, or whether this doubleheader ends up being one of the final chapters of a season that started with so much more promise.

For now, all anyone in Toronto can control is today. Scherzer on the mound for Game 1 is at least a start.