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Series recap: Blue Jays salvage finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Ben Wrixon
Apr 9, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 9, 2026, 17:30 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays appeared headed for a seventh straight loss and a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, but then they broke through. 
Timely hits by George Springer and Daulton Varsho tied the game at three in the seventh, then a throwing error on a stolen-base attempt allowed Davis Schneider to scamper home in the eighth to put them ahead. Jeff Hoffman worked around some traffic for the save in the ninth. 
This triumphant 4-3 win was quintessential Blue Jays baseball. Strong pitching, pesky at-bats, pushing the envelope on the bases—it took a bit of everything to end a truly nightmarish six-game losing streak. 
This highly anticipated World Series rematch began in a much darker place. Coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Chicago White Sox, the Blue Jays were looking to get back on track at home amid mounting injuries and a flu bug tearing through their clubhouse. 
Things got worse when Max Scherzer had to leave Monday’s game after just two innings with forearm tendinitis, giving the Dodgers’ bats seven innings of home-run derby off the Blue Jays’ low-leverage relievers. Tyler Heineman was the only “pitcher” to record a scoreless inning in what wound up being a 14-2 embarrassment. Scherzer is optimistic he’ll make his next start. 
Tuesday’s game saw the return of Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the Rogers Centre just months after his heroics nearly single-handedly won his Dodgers the World Series. He made easy work of the Jays’ lineup sans Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger, out-duelling Kevin Gausman for the third straight matchup between them. The Blue Jays chased him in the seventh yet stranded the bases loaded with nobody out en route to a 4-1 defeat. 
The pressure was on heading into Wednesday’s finale. The Blue Jays didn’t lose six straight games in 2025, and they’d have to beat Shohei Ohtani the pitcher to end their skid there. 
Dylan Cease proved himself up to the task, going toe-to-toe with Ohtani before exiting with the bases loaded in the sixth. Louis Varland kept the damage to one run, keeping the Blue Jays in the game at a point where things could easily have slipped away. Mason Fluharty and Tyler Rogers handled the next two innings as the bridge to Hoffman. 
Hoffman, meanwhile, took the mound against the Dodgers in a familiar situation: leading 4-3 in the ninth. He struck out Freddie Freeman on a high fastball with two runners on for the second out of the inning, then buckled down to retire Max Muncy to end the game. He pounded his chest in celebration while Vladimir Guerrero pointed at the sky. 
There are no true must-win games in April, but this one was as close as it gets. The Blue Jays desperately needed a win to get back on track and, more importantly, remind themselves that they can beat anyone when they play their brand of baseball. 
Next up is a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins beginning on Friday. 

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