The Blue Jays dug themselves a hole almost immediately and never fully climbed out.
Dylan Beavers set the tone by homering on the second pitch of the game, and the first inning only got uglier from there. Toronto had two on with one out in the bottom half, but Vladimir Guerrero was picked off first in a play that never looked close.
With a runner on second, he wasn’t going anywhere. It appeared the Orioles had the play on, with a pitch low and outside to the right-handed-hitting Alejandro Kirk and Samuel Basallo throwing straight to first to catch Guerrero leaning.
The second inning turned into the kind of frame a team wants to erase from memory. Baltimore opened with four straight singles to make it 2-0, added a double to push it to 4-0, and then followed with another single for a 6-0 lead. Max Scherzer settled down after that and retired the next 12 hitters without allowing a hit, but the damage was already done.
Scherzer finished with 5 innings pitched, 7 hits allowed, 6 earned runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. The one silver lining was simply that he got through five.
Toronto did get on the board in the fourth when Kazuma Okamoto hit his 31st home run of the season. They added another run in the sixth after Nathan Lukes led off with a single, Okamoto doubled, and Andrés Giménez brought Lukes home with a groundout.
The Jays made things interesting in the ninth. With two outs, Ernie Clement doubled and Brett Bateman followed with a homer to cut it to 7-4. George Springer and Guerrero then each singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Kirk grounded out to end it.
A Guardians win along with this loss leaves Toronto two games back of the final Wild Card spot.
The Blue Jays finished with 10 hits. Bateman had three of them, including the home run. Springer and Okamoto had two hits apiece, while Kirk, Smith and Giménez finished 0-for.
Ricky Tiedemann, Braydon Fisher, Paul Sewald and Brendon Little each worked an inning of relief, with Fisher allowing a run.
Jay of the Day went to Okamoto, who posted a 0.08 WPA with his 2-for-4 night and home run. Other Award went to Scherzer at -0.34, and Guerrero also got one at -0.04 after the base-running mistake.
Tomorrow’s matchup is Kyle Bradish (7-13, 3.91) against Spencer Miles as opener and Spencer Arrighetti as the bulk guy.
The Blue Jays are not at the “have to run the table” stage yet, but they’re getting closer.
In Other News...
Bo Bichette Could Reopen A Blue Jays Storyline Fans Know Well
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The timing matters because Bichettes second-half surge came at just the right moment, and it could make him more attractive in a thinner free-agent market. For Toronto, it is the kind of familiar storyline that tends to linger around a player who once felt central to the clubs future, especially if his next decision opens the door to another round of speculation. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Offseason Bat Search Comes With One Huge Dilemma
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CJ Abrams brings the appeal of a breakout bat, even if the defensive questions come along with it, while Jarren Duran offers a very different kind of case after a down 2026 following stronger seasons before that. For the Blue Jays, the dilemma is familiar: chase the upside that could help now, or lean toward the steadier fit that might make more sense once the offseason really begins. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Just Extended Their Reach To One Incredible Canadian Community
The Blue Jays have been extending their footprint well beyond the AL East through Jays Care Foundation, and one of the most striking examples now sits in Arctic Bay, Nunavut. A new baseball diamond there has been completed as part of the 2022 Jays Care Field of Dreams program, giving the remote community a field that stands as the northernmost baseball diamond in the world.
Toronto backed the project with a $50,000 donation, while additional support came from the local community, and the build was handled by Synthetic Turf International despite the logistical hurdles that come with working in such a remote location. It is the kind of undertaking that reflects how much the Blue Jays have leaned into grassroots baseball across Canada, even in places where simply getting a field built is an accomplishment. [Read more 🡒]