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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays match 2024 win total with 7-3 victory over Pirates
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Photo credit: © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Aug 19, 2025, 21:45 EDTUpdated: Aug 19, 2025, 22:29 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays are back in the win column.
On Tuesday evening, they played the second of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates, defeating them 7-3 to move to 74-53 on the season. With the win, the Jays match their win total from the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one!
In the top of the first inning, the Blue Jays opened the scoring. With the bases loaded, Alejandro Kirk hit a 0-2 single over the head of Bryan Reynolds, but was caught in a rundown. That didn’t matter much, as Nathan Lukes also hit a single on a 0-2 pitch, driving in two more runs for a 3-0 lead before the Pirates even had a chance to bat.
The Jays added two more runs in the top of the second, as George Springer hit his 20th home run of the season, a two-run blast to give the Jays a 5-0 lead. Former Blue Jay Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit an RBI groundout to put the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the second.
It was a 5-1 game for the majority of the game, as the next run scored came in the top of the seventh. Kirk hit his 10th home run of the season, a two-run blast to give them a 7-1 lead. The Pirates added a run in the bottom of the seventh and the bottom of the eighth, but ultimately fell 7-3.

Takeaways…

With the win, the Blue Jays now have 74 wins. Last season, they finished with a 74-88 record, so to match with 32 games to spare shows huge improvement.
No Vladimir Guerrero Jr., no problem for the Jays. Alejandro Kirk had a three-hit game with a home run, while Nathan Lukes and George Springer each had two hits, the latter hitting his 20th home run. Springer’s 20th home run surpasses his total from last season.
Myles Straw hit the team’s other extra-base hit, a double. That wasn’t his best play of the game, as he made a terrific diving catch in centre to save at least one run. His inclusion on the Blue Jays’ roster has been a huge benefit.
Max Scherzer pitched six innings, giving up one earned run, three walks, and four strikeouts to bring his ERA to 3.60. Scherzer now has six quality starts in his last seven games.
Louis Varland gave up another earned run, striking out a batter. Tommy Nance continued to pitch well, striking out two and giving up an unearned run in his inning of work. Jeff Hoffman also pitched in this game, throwing a clean inning with a strikeout.
The Blue Jays return to action on Wednesday afternoon with Chris Bassitt on the mound. Start time for the rubber match is 12:35 PM ET.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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