This one will go on Jeff Hoffman, but realistically you also can\u2019t score seven runs in four games and expect anything good to happen. The team is a mess on all fronts right now, from pitching to hitting to defence and base running. One in the loss column is all that\u2019s keeping them above Kansas City and the Mets for the worst record in baseball.<\/p>\n
A couple of positive notes, because I\u2019m tired of wallowing:<\/p>\n
Both teams scored in the first before going quiet. Nathan Lukes and Vladimir Guerrero jr. hit ground ball singles to put runners on the corners with one out. Jesus Sanchez cracked a liner to centre field that plated Lukes before Zac Gallen was able to retaliate with a pair of Ks to end the inning. In the bottom, Corbin Caroll worked a walk and stole second, before a Geraldo Perdomo single brought him home to tied the score at one. That would be all the scoring for a while. Kazuma Okamoto singled in the Jays\u2019 second, and Ernie Clement singled in the third. Perdomo managed his second hit in the bottom of the fourth before being erased by a double play. The Jays briefly threatened in the top of five when Ernie Clement laced a two out double off the wall in left, but Vlad couldn\u2019t score him.<\/p>\n
The D-Backs pulled ahead in the fifth. Jose Fernandez singled and moved to second on a fielder\u2019s choice. Max Scherzer got the next two batters, but Alek Thomas hit a chopper up the first base line that clipped the back corner of the bag and scooted into the corner for the cheapest double you\u2019ll see. That put Arizona on top 2-1. The Jays responded with the help of some good luck of their own. Eloy Jimenez hooked a grounder around the third base bag but appeared to think Nolan Arenado was going to be able to glove it and so pulled up at first instead of digging for a double. That set up what looked like an inning ending double play, but shortstop Perdomo took his foot off the bag before recieving the ball and Jimenez was ruled safe at second on review. Okamoto lined a single to left that allowed Jimenez to come around to score, tying at two. That ended Gallen\u2019s evening, but Ryan Thompson was able to get Myles Straw to fly out to end it there.<\/p>\n
In the bottom of six, Perdomo hit a ground ball into right field. It looked like a double, but the ball kicked off the wall and right to Nathan Lukes, who made a great throw to allow Andres Gimenez to tag him at the bag. Combined with a pop out and a fly out, that got Scherzer through the inning. He went 6.0, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with one strikeout. It only took him 74 pitches to get there, but give that he\u2019s been battling forearm tendinitis John Schneider prudently decided not to push his luck.<\/p>\n
In the top of seven, Thompson got two outs while giving up a single up the middle to Lukes. Juan Morillo got the call to face Guerrero. He got him swinging to preserve the tie. Tyler Rogers took over for Scherzer and retired the side in order.<\/p>\n
Jimenez beat out an infield single in the eighth, but the rest of the lineup couldn\u2019t touch Morillo. Jeff Hoffman struggled again in the Diamondbacks\u2019 half, giving up two ground blal singles to lead off and then walking the bases loaded. They didn\u2019t stay that way long, as Corbin Caroll hit a grand slam to left field, cracking the game open. Kevin Ginkel breezed through the botto<\/p>\n
Jays of the Day: Scherzer (0.10), Okamoto (0.13)<\/p>\n
Less So: Hoffman* (-0.38), Gimenez (-0.16), Heineman (-0.10)<\/p>\n
*Tonight ran Hoffman\u2019s season WPA to -1.40, making him officially the most damaging pitcher in baseball so far in 2026. Congrats, Jeff.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll wrap the series tomorrow. Kevin Gausman (0-1, 2.42) will look to keep his hot start going and hopefully get some support from his offence to secure his first win. Ryne Nelson (1-1, 3.54) is off to a promising start himself for the Diamondbacks. First pitch is slated for 4:10pm ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This one will go on Jeff Hoffman, but realistically you also can\u2019t score seven runs in four games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302,218135],"class_list":{"0":"post-613812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-toronto","11":"tag-toronto-blue-jays-scores"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}