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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays offence lacks big hit in series opening loss against Royals
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Aug 25, 2026, 22:16 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays started off their final 30 games of the 2026 season with a dud. 
The Kansas City Royals came into Toronto and picked up a 5-3 victory to push their win streak to nine games and drop the Blue Jays to 64-69 through 133 games. 
After Carter Jensen opened the top of the first by singling on the first pitch he saw off Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer, the righty lost control of the zone, issuing back-to-back walks to load the bases with nobody out. 
Scherzer rebounded by getting Salvador Perez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but Jensen came around to score to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead. 
Facing Seth Lugo, the Blue Jays offence responded by loading the bases with two singles and a walk to bring up Jesús Sánchez with one out. Sánchez slashed a 1-0 sinker from Lugo to left field for a sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1. 
From there Lugo settled in to turn in a pitching line of 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. After turning in an ERA of 5.09 over his previous seven starts, Lugo kept the Blue Jays off-balance to improve his record to 6-7 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. 
While Perez may have faltered in his first at-bat, he got the better of Scherzer in the top of the fifth inning. With runners on first and third with two out, Perez won an eight-pitch battle against Scherzer by lining a 3-2 single to left field to bring home Bobby Witt Jr. and give the Royals a 2-1 lead. In his career, Perez is a .368 hitter with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 38 at-bats against Scherzer.
Scherzer battled control issues on Tuesday night to turn in a pitching line of 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K. While it wasn’t the cleanest of outings, the 42-year-old gutted through his five innings to give the Blue Jays’ offence multiple opportunities to strike. 
Through 12 starts this season, Scherzer is now 1-7 with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. The right-hander has struck out 36 batters across his 50 innings pitched and has allowed opponents to hit .264 off him this year. 
Following Scherzer’s exit, the Blue Jays turned to Braydon Fisher, who allowed two singles in the three batters he faced to set up runners on the corners with only one away. 
Manager John Schneider opted to bring in Mason Fluharty to face the left-handed-hitting Kyle Isbel, who dropped down an 0-2 bunt that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielded but threw down the right field line to allow two runners to come home to make it 4-1. 
Outfielder John Rave drove home the Royals’ final run of the night by singling up the middle off right-hander Tyler Rogers. Rave got a 2-1 sinker from Rogers and just got it past a diving Ernie Clement to bring home Tyler Tolbert. 
Former Blue Jays first-round draft pick in 2017, Nate Pearson worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning for the Royals. Pearson worked around a walk, a double, and a hit batter to lower his ERA to 0.66 over his 13.2 innings pitched since being acquired from the Houston Astros.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Blue Jays struck for two runs off reliever Steven Cruz on a Nathan Lukes RBI single. Lukes was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double to leave Guerrero in the on-deck circle. 
The Blue Jays will look to rebound on Wednesday when they utilize a bullpen day to fill Shane Bieber’s spot in the rotation. Bieber was placed on the 15-day injured list after being diagnosed with right teres major inflammation. The Royals will counter with Randy Dobnak. 
First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre.
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