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September 14 Gameday: Blue Jays turn to José Soriano in series opener against Detroit Tigers

Photo credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

By Aidan Sinclair

Sep 14, 2026, 18:40 EDTUpdated: Sep 14, 2026, 18:17 EDT

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The Toronto Blue Jays are officially in their stretch run. Less than two weeks of regular-season play left to decide whether or not they make the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

After dropping the first of a three-game set to the Orioles Friday, the Blue Jays responded hugely over the next two days, putting up 15 runs on 21 hits. Arguably the most important swing was Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first home run at Rogers Centre this season on Sunday, as part of a 4-for-5 performance.

It has been known all season that if Guerrero can get his bat going consistently, this team has a chance to compete in the postseason. He is now batting .333 with an .898 OPS in September and has the support of many other productive bats surrounding him. Kazuma Okamoto now has 32 home runs on the season and 85 RBI, good for the Blue Jays rookie record. George Springer collected six hits over the weekend and Brett Bateman launched his first two career big-league home runs. With 12 games left, the offence will need to continue to assist an ailing pitching staff that is running on fumes.

The Cleveland Guardians did Toronto no favours over the weekend, taking a series from the Minnesota Twins, meaning the Jays remain one game out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League, while holding the tie-breaker with Cleveland. With a 75-75 record and a proven ability to score in bunches as shown against Baltimore, Toronto will need to continue hitting if they want to have a chance of playing in October.

José Soriano gets the ball for the Blue Jays in game one of this series, coming off a strong performance in Sacramento, going seven innings and allowing two runs against the Athletics. Soriano has experienced mixed results since joining Toronto at the trade deadline, providing great length by tossing at least five innings in five of his seven starts, but has tallied five or more strikeouts in an outing just twice in that same span. He’ll look to rack up the K’s against a Tigers offence that has the second-most strikeouts in the past 15 days with 131.

On the other hand, Troy Melton gets the ball for the Detroit Tigers, looking to bounce back to form after struggling over his past four outings. Melton got off to an astonishingly strong start posting a 1.49 ERA through his first 14 starts, but has slipped to a 5.70 ERA in 23.2 innings since August 21. He’ll have another tough task tonight, going up against a Blue Jays offence that has the fifth-best OPS in the league over the past 15 days with a .791 mark.

The Blue Jays‘ lineup features five right-handed hitters: George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement.

Lefties include: Brett Bateman, Nathan Lukes, Josh Smith and Andres Gimenez.

Location: Rogers Centre – Toronto, Ontario

First Pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590