NATHAN LUKES KNOCKS IN A COUPLE RUNS AND IT’S 3-1 BLUE JAYS!
Instant Reaction: Blue Jays ride four-run fifth inning to series victory over Guardians
Photo credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Sep 3, 2026, 16:42 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays took care of business on Thursday afternoon, defeating the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 to claim a series victory.
The win improved the Blue Jays’ record to 70-71 through 141 games and puts them a 0.5 game back of the Guardians for the American League’s final Wild Card spot. The win ensured the Blue Jays hold the season-series tiebreaker.
The Guardians struck first on Thursday afternoon on an RBI single by rookie infielder Angel Genao off Blue Jays starter José Soriano. Genao drove in Jo Adell, who worked a two-out walk before advancing to second on a single by Nathaniel Lowe.
After Guardians starter Tanner Bibee worked his way through three scoreless frames, the Blue Jays knotted the game up in the top of the fourth inning. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. worked a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a Jesús Sánchez groundout.
With a runner on second base, recently recalled Sean Keys lined a soft single to left field to bring home Guerrero for his sixth RBI of the season with the Blue Jays. After a massive month of August in Triple-A with Buffalo, in which Keys batted .358 with seven home runs, he could factor in as a key power bat for the Blue Jays down the stretch.
After a pretty easy four innings, Bibee ran into trouble to begin the top of the fifth. The right-hander issued back-to-back walks to open the frame before Brett Bateman dropped down a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out.
Nathan Lukes stepped up and drilled an 0-1 sinker from Bibee into the right centre gap to bring home both Ernie Clement and Brandon Valenzuela to make it a 3-1 game and end Bibee’s afternoon. Right-hander Colin Holderman entered, and Guerrero followed with a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Bateman before Sánchez capped the inning with an RBI single in front of centre fielder Steven Kwan.
The Guardians struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Soriano ran into trouble. Soriano put two runners on with two out before being lifted in favour of left-hander Mason Fluharty. Unfortunately for Soriano, Fluharty allowed a walk and a single to bring home both of Soriano’s runners and make it a 5-3 game.
Soriano finished his afternoon with a pitching line of 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K and tossed 98 pitches in the difficult inning. Through six starts with the Blue Jays, Soriano has gone 2-1 with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. The 27-year-old has struck out 24 batters across his 33 innings with the Blue Jays and been hit at a .276 clip.
With runners at first and third base in the top of the ninth inning, Ernie Clement lined a single up the middle off of Carlos Hernández to bring home Josh Smith and make it a 6-3 game and give the Blue Jays some much-needed insurance.
The Blue Jays rode their big three of Spencer Miles, Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland to hold the Guardians off the board over the final 2.1 innings. Varland picked up his 32nd save of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.16 through 63 outings this season.
The Blue Jays will head to Kansas City on Friday to begin a three-game set with the Royals. Jameson Taillon is expected to come off the 15-day injured list to start for the Blue Jays, while the Royals are expected to counter with Daniel Lynch IV.
First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET at Kauffman Stadium.
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