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Series Recap: Blue Jays split series with Rays in penultimate road series
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Sep 19, 2025, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 19, 2025, 14:18 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays entered their most recent series in the driver’s seat to finish with the best record in the American League.
Starting on Monday, the Jays began their final road trip of the season, beginning with a four-game series against their American League East rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays. They won the first two games but lost the remaining two, dwindling their division lead to just three games. Let’s take a look at what went on in these games.
Trey Yesavage started Monday’s game and struck out nine over five innings of work. The Blue Jays’ top prospect allowed a run in the bottom of the first and left the game with the Jays down 1-0. In the top of the eighth, Andrés Giménez hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and George Springer singled in the top of the 11th for a 2-1 victory.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring on Tuesday, as Addison Barger hit an RBI single in the top of the first, followed by three runs in the top of the second. With a controversial home run in the bottom of the third, the Rays cut the lead to one, but Nathan Lukes and Joey Loperfido hit homers, which was enough to outlast the Rays by a score of 6-5.
Their six-game win streak came to an end on Wednesday, as the Rays defeated the Blue Jays 2-1. In the bottom of the first, the Rays took a 1-0 lead, but the Jays were able to even up the game in the top of the fourth as Alejandro Kirk hit a sacrifice fly. That doesn’t tell the whole story, as Chandler Simpson robbed the Jays’ catcher of a three-run homer. The Rays scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Simpson.
Thursday’s game wasn’t even particularly close, as the Rays scored three runs in the bottom of the second and added a fourth in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a solo home run from Carson Williams. In the end, the Jays fell 4-0 for a series split. They finished with just four hits in the game and only had two runners in scoring position.
In the Orioles series, everything (offence, starting pitching, relief pitching) clicked for the Jays. The same cannot be said for this series, as the offence went cold. Only three players who had 10 or more plate appearances finished with a wRC+ above 100: Davis Schneider (209 wRC+), Ernie Clement (146 wRC+) and Nathan Lukes (105 wRC+). Additionally, Joey Loperfido had a 234 wRC+ in four plate appearances.
The next highest wRC+ on the team belonged to George Springer, who finished with a 53 wRC+ in 18 plate appearances. Addison Barger had a 6 wRC+ in 15 plate appearances; he was the only other player with a wRC+ above 0. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a very tough series, slashing .176/.176/176 for a -8 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances.
Daulton Varsho sat out two games and finished with a -28 wRC+, while Alejandro Kirk had a -48 wRC+ in his nine plate appearances. The other regular, Andrés Giménez, had a -67 wRC+. Tyler Heineman, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Myles Straw, and Ty France all finished with a -100 wRC+. Again, an average wRC+ is 100.
The starting pitching was a mixed bag. Trey Yesavage’s debut saw him throw five innings with one earned run allowed, striking out nine in the process. Kevin Gausman also had a great outing, giving up an earned run in six innings, with the team eventually losing that game. José Berríos’ 6.75 ERA was the worst among Blue Jays’ starters in the series, but the Jays were able to find a way to win his start. The same cannot be said for Chris Bassitt, who allowed three earned runs over four and a third innings of work in an eventual loss.
Although relief pitching wasn’t great, Braydon Fisher was. He pitched three and one-third innings, not allowing a single run and striking out four. Two innings were pitched during Monday’s victory. Tommy Nance, Jeff Hoffman, and Louis Varland are the other three relievers who threw a scoreless outing. Seranthony Domínguez pitched three innings, giving up one earned run. Eric Lauer, Yariel Rodríguez, and Brendon Little also allowed an earned run in the series.
The Blue Jays’ division lead dropped to three games (four with a tiebreaker) over the Yankees, but things are still good as they need to go just 6-3 to finish with the top record in the American League. Next up is a three-game weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, their final road series of the season.
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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