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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays hang on for a 4-3 victory to even up the series in New York
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Photo credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Aidan Sinclair
Aug 22, 2026, 18:12 EDT
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After dropping the first of a three-game set in the Bronx Friday night, the Toronto Blue Jays, backed by another great Dylan Cease performance, were able to hang on for a 4-3 victory and even up the series. Let’s take a look at what happened in this contest!
The Blue Jays ace battled his command Saturday afternoon, walking five batters and throwing just 60 of his 111 pitches for strikes, yet grinded through six scoreless and hitless innings. When Cease took the ball for the seventh inning, he walked leadoff batter Luis García Jr. on what appeared to be a strike, though the Blue Jays had run out of challenges at that point. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells both singled, with George Lombard Jr. scoring on Wells’ hit, to bring in the Yankees’ only run off the Jays’ right-hander. 
Overall, Cease now boasts a 2.37 ERA on the season, with 209 strikeouts to lead the American League, remaining in the Cy Young conversation with Yankee starter Cam Schlittler, with about five weeks left in the season. Regardless of whether or not Cease wins the award, it has undoubtedly been a successful first season in Blue Jays blue for the 30-year-old. 
Ryan Weathers got the ball for the Yankees, coming off a fantastic start against the Blue Jays last weekend at Rogers Centre, going 7.1 innings and allowing just one earned run. This time out, Toronto was able to work the southpaw’s pitch count early, with Weathers throwing north of 20 pitches in the first frame. George Springer brought home the first run of the ballgame on a single to left field, scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr who returned to the lineup after missing seven days on the concussion injured list. 
After two scoreless innings, the Jays collected their second run of the ballgame via a Charles McAdoo single to score Kazuma Okamoto, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead at that point. Shortly after, Weathers was forced to leave the game after completing just 3.1 innings due to forearm discomfort, bringing in Yerry De Los Santos to cover the bulk of the rest of the game. In the top of the fifth, Nathan Lukes was brought in to face De Los Santos in place of Daz Cameron and subsequently brought home Alejandro Kirk on a single to make it a 3-0 game in favour of Toronto. 
Lukes had a great day at the plate Saturday, later hitting a home run off Bradley Hanner in the top of the eighth inning to give the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead at that point. Overall, Toronto finished with 15 hits on the day, going 4-for-18 with RISP and leaving 12 men on base, simply unable to produce a breakthrough inning and ease stress on the pitching staff. 
Tyler Rogers came into the game in the eighth inning in relief of Spencer Miles, who shut down the Yankees in the seventh, and immediately hit Ben Rice, before García hit a two-run home run to bring New York to within one, 4-3. Rogers hadn’t given up a home run the entire season to that point. The submariner was able to escape further trouble, and with the Jays not scoring in the ninth, it was up to Louis Varland to close the game with no room to spare. 
Toronto’s closer has been otherworldly this season and proved his worth yet again Saturday, striking out a pair and collecting his 29th save of the season, lowering his ERA to a sparkling 1.22.
Though the Jays struggled with timely hitting, they have a chance to win their eighth consecutive series tomorrow, when José Soriano squares off with Carlos Rodon at 1:35 p.m. ET in the rubber match of this three-game set.
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