2026 Padres Tie Series with Devastating 8-7 Blue Jays Loss
The Blue Jays were looking to extend a three-game win streak in their second-to-last game before the All-Star Break. In a battle of the two best closers in the league, unofficial closer Louis Varland got the first save of the series last night as Toronto won 5-3. While the 28-year-old may be unavailable in this game, Mason Miller has yet to emerge from the bullpen in this series for a true comparison. These two teams should be doing much better than they are this season. The Padres tend to rival the Dodgers’ spending habits, but a 46-48 record does not reflect that. Similarly, the Jays started 2026 with a lineup similar to the one that almost won Game Seven of the 2025 World Series, yet sit at 45-49. Postseason hero who held onto his rookie status, Trey Yesavage, faced Walker Buehler, who has given up 16 runs in his last two starts. With a 3.31 ERA and a 5.07 ERA, respectively, this could be a high-scoring game.
Buehler and his defense held off their opponents in the first, but Yesavage’s crew wasn’t so lucky. Only throwing 11 strikes in 32 pitches, totaling four walks, will often lead to a two-run lead for the other team. Luckily, Alejandro Kirk’s RBI double didn’t let the Padres have their lead for too long, making the score 2-1 in the second. Andrés Giménez followed it up with a sacrifice to make it 2-2. It doesn’t stop there, however, because Jonatan Clase got a two-run homer to make it 4-2. Buehler took his turn throwing four walks, and the Jays wasted no time capitalizing. However, the walks continued, and Manny Machado hit in two to tie the game at 4-4 and end Yesavage’s night in less than two innings.
That messy pair of innings meant neither starter made it to the third. As a result, Adam Macko took over for the Blue Jays and Matt Waldron for the Padres. The pitching change didn't work for Toronto, however, as Sung-mun Song hit in two more to make it 6-4 in the third. At this point, three singles had scored six runs for San Diego. With Braydon Fisher on the mound in the fourth, yet another single scored a seventh run for the home team. However, at the top of the sixth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer to tie the game 7-7. Not long after, Ty France regained the lead for the Padres with a solo homer. Though the Blue Jays had the winning run at the plate, Miller threw three straight 100+ mph pitches to strike out Kazuma Okamoto to save the 8-7 lead. The teams will face off one more time on Sunday to determine the series winner.
Walk Central
By the end of the game, both pitching staffs combined for 17 total walks. The number of walks from both starters tonight was unacceptable, but Yesavage’s night ended after one and two-thirds innings due to seven walks and four earned runs. This is nothing new for the 22-year-old, as he has had 32 walks in just 16 starts this year. He has a pattern of throwing a game with two or fewer walks, then throwing five or more the next. Four of the rookie’s eight starts resulted in five to seven walks, and all of those games ended in losses, including this one. He had a late start to the season, not making his 2026 debut until April 28th after a right shoulder impingement sidelined him, but now the injury can no longer be blamed.
He threw three types of pitches tonight as usual: splitters, sliders, and four-seam fastballs. Of 59 pitches, only 20 were strikes. Those strikes included six four-seamers, ten sliders, and four splitters. Though that count doesn’t reveal the whole story, it could be a sign that the splitter needs some work. This year, stats show his slider is actually his least accurate pitch at only 23.8% accuracy. That could, however, be a sign that the splitter struggles are more recent and therefore explain the excessive walks. Regardless of the exact cause, Yesavage needs to practice hitting his spots to give his offense a fighting chance.
A Fiery Good Luck Charm
On Canada Day, the Blue Jays debuted a new red home run jacket to go with their red Canadian-themed jerseys. The 2025 American League Champions had two blue jackets last year: one for the regular season and one for the postseason. 2026 introduced a third blue jacket, but when the first red jacket game resulted in beating the New York Mets 9-3 to win a series on July 1st, the team decided, why not keep using it? A few games ago, the jacket gained a mascot: a red dragon on a stick. Conveniently, that game started the win streak. Toronto will do anything to win after the rough season they’ve had, and superstitions have worked for many athletes and teams in the past. For a bit, many of the players even made an effort to wear red accessories even before the jacket arrived, since they seemed to play better with them. To complete the trifecta, should the Jays wear their Canada Day jerseys more than just one game? Should they just add more red to their uniforms overall?
In Saturday’s game, Toronto had two homers: the first was a two-run shot by Clase, bringing his total to two since his 2026 Major League debut. The second was a three-run homer, this time from Guerrero Jr., who’s been in an extra-base slump this year. The six-time all-star has almost doubled his home run total since the red jacket’s debut. In 2026, the Jays have hit 96 home runs. 10 of those have been hit in eight games since July 1st. This whole season, Toronto has averaged 1.02 home runs a game. Since Canada Day, it’s 1.25. Despite the drastic difference in sample sizes and the fact that you can’t get a quarter of a home run in a game, math does seem to be on the good luck duo’s side. While not everyone believes in superstitions, if a new fashion taste and a sidekick can turn things around for the Blue Jays, the city of Toronto might just believe in magic.
