2026 Blue Jays Give Up Crucial Series with 2-0 Shutout Loss to Athletics
On Tuesday night, Toronto tied up their series against the Athletics with a 4-2 win. They now look to win the series without an official starting pitcher. Luckily, the Blue Jays have plenty of practice and success with bullpen starts due to many pitching injuries this season. Braydon Fisher will open with a 3.20 ERA over 69 games. Since José Soriano pitched six innings last night and Spencer Miles followed him up with a six-out save, the entire bullpen is available. The Athletics started RHP Brady Basso, who has a 4.32 ERA. While the home team is essentially out of the playoff race, Toronto is one game out from the last AL Wild Card Spot. The Cleveland Guardians reclaimed the spot after the Jays lost the first game of this series. Tonight, the Guardians will face another member of the race, the Baltimore Orioles.
Henry Bolte has been a menace to Toronto this series, and that trend continued as he started the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, a wild pitch from Michael Lorenzen allowed Tommy White to score, making it 2-0 Athletics. At this point, manager John Schneider came out and called in Paul Sewald to replace Lorenzen. That was the last scoring play of the game, and the Athletics came away with a shutout win.
An Uncharacteristic Bullpen Start Loss
The Jays are no stranger to bullpen starts this year, and they usually work quite well. Fisher opened for Toronto and has been very reliable this season. The 26-year-old has the fourth-most appearances of any pitcher in the MLB, with 69. The Blue Jays have two more bullpen pitchers in the top ten of that stat: Tyler Rogers is 10th with 67, and Mason Fluharty is first with 76. Fisher only pitched one inning before the torch was passed to Lorenzen for two and two-thirds innings. Toronto picked up the veteran after he was DFA’d in late August. This was his third appearance with his new club, and the righty unfortunately earned the only two runs of the game. After a wild pitch brought in the second run, Sewald took over for three outs, allowing no hits or walks.
Next, Joe Mantiply pitched for one and one-third innings. The 35-year-old had been on the IL since late May and just rejoined his team on September 1st. After him, submariner Rogers came out for the seventh. With a 1.81 ERA, the righty has only 13 earned runs this entire season. Lastly, Toronto decided they would do anything to keep the game at 2-0 and brought out all-star closer Louis Varland in the eighth. The 28-year-old has the lowest ERA in Major League Baseball among pitchers with 70+ innings at 1.26. Despite two strikeouts and a flyout, the Jays just couldn’t come back today, and that isn’t the bullpen’s fault. Besides the newbie, who didn’t pitch terribly, Toronto’s pitching staff did their job today. Unfortunately, the offense didn’t.
Offensive Struggles Could Cost Toronto Their Postseason
This game could have been a lot more embarrassing for the Jays if they weren’t playing a team with a 59-88 record. Somehow, they actually outhit the Athletics 6-4. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked to make himself the first baserunner of the game. Despite his lack of power this season, the 27-year-old is 35th overall in walks in the MLB. That doesn’t compare to his number 18 spot last year, but it shows he can still help his team out even in a slump. The six-time all-star was left stranded in that first inning, however, as leadoff hitter Brett Bateman grounded out, rookie Charles McAdoo struck out, and Silver Slugger Alejandro Kirk lined out. The second inning was similar, as Ernie Clement had his 20th walk of the season to be the only baserunner. Third baseman Kazuma Okamoto struck out, shortstop Andrés Giménez grounded out, and catcher Brandon Valenzuela lined out, leaving the 30-year-old stranded. The Jays finally got their first hit of the game with an infield single from McAdoo. The pattern continued, however, as Golden Glover Myles Straw flied out, Bateman lined out, and Guerrero grounded out, unable to capitalize on yet another base runner.
The fourth inning was promising as Kirk started it out with an infield single. Though Okamoto struck out again, Giménez’s groundout moved the DH into scoring position. Clement even singled, moving Kirk to third, but with two outs, Valenzuela’s strikeout stranded them once again. In the fifth, the Jays started even better with a double from Bateman and a single from pinch hitter Nathan Lukes. Sadly, Guerrero grounded out into a double play for the 18th time this season, crushing any scoring hopes. The sixth was similar to earlier innings, with a walk from Kirk, but a GIDP from Okamoto and a third groundout from Giménez. The seventh had two strikeouts and a groundout, while the eighth had two flyouts and a groundout despite being the top of the order. Finally, one last single from Giménez was stranded by two strikeouts and a flyout to lose the game in the ninth. A bullpen game can’t be successful if the offense doesn’t score. Toronto had three runners in scoring position today; if they only took advantage of that, they could have won or even swept what should've been an easy series. If the Blue Jays tie the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot, they would get the tiebreaker and make the postseason. With only five series left, three against teams in that race, Toronto needs to fix their struggles at the plate and stop stranding runners if they want a chance to redeem their 2025 World Series loss.
