Losing a series to bad teams is not what playoff contenders should be doing.

This past weekend, the Toronto Blue Jays hosted the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series, dropping two of three to the American League Central team. It’s not a series the Jays should be losing, as the White Sox had a 23-52 record coming into the series.
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<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-early-inning-runs-sink-toronto-blue-jays-7-1-loss-white-sox">Things got off on the wrong foot on Friday</a>, as the Blue Jays fell 7-1 to the team with the third-fewest runs in the league. Spencer Turnbull gave up four earned runs in two + innings pitched, and Mason Fluharty gave up three earned runs in an inning. They were never able to recover.
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-vladimir-guerrero-jr-bo-bichette-homer-blue-jays-7-1-victory-white-sox">The Jays got their revenge on Saturday</a>, defeating the White Sox by the same score of 7-1. Bo Bichette hit a home run on the first pitch the Jays saw, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also hit a home run to reach double-digits. It helps that Jose Berrios had his best outing of the season.
You’d think that the Blue Jays would come ready to <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-blow-late-lead-4-2-loss-white-sox">play in the rubber match on Sunday</a>, right? Wrong. They had a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth, but Brendan Little put two runners on, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/jeff-hoffmans-struggles-who-could-replace-him-toronto-blue-jays-closer">Jeff Hoffman walked a batter</a>, and then committed an error on what would’ve been an inning-ending play. Not great.
The Jays benefited from strong starting performances by Berrios and Chris Bassitt. The former went seven and two-thirds innings with no earned runs allowed. Bassitt allowed an earned run but pitched six innings with seven strikeouts, leaving the game with the lead. Turnbull had a rough outing, as his four runs given up sunk the Blue Jays before they had a chance to get going.
What lost the Blue Jays the game on Sunday was their relief pitching. Both Hoffman and Little were tagged with unearned runs, but that error by Hoffman was what caused them to lose Sunday’s game. Fluharty had a rough outing, giving up three earned runs in his inning of work, the only Blue Jays&#8217; reliever to give up an earned run over the weekend.
Nick Sandlin returned to the Blue Jays’ 26-man roster, pitching in two games without giving up an earned run. It wasn’t smooth sailing, as he gave up two hits, two walks, and struck out two. He loaded the bases on Sunday, but Braydon Fisher got him out of the inning. Speaking of Fisher, he pitched two and one-third innings with four strikeouts. He’s so darn good.
Yariel Rodriguez had a successful weekend, striking out two of the four batters he faced. Chad Green also pitched a scoreless weekend, going two innings with a strikeout.
The bats had a quiet weekend, scoring 10 runs in three games, seven of which came on Saturday. Bo Bichette, Ernie Clement, and George Springer all finished with a wRC+ above 100, the three regulars who were able to do so.
Despite Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s home run, he finished with an 84 wRC+ thanks to registering just one hit in his 12 plate appearances. Nathan Lukes and Andres Gimenez each had rough weekends, as did Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger. Kirk and Barger combined for one hit in 17 plate appearances. Davis Schneider finished with a 380 wRC+ in his four plate appearances, and Alan Roden hit his first career triple to give him a 256 wRC+ for the weekend.
The Jays head back out on the road, heading to Cleveland to take on the Guardians starting on Tuesday. Eric Lauer is the expected starter for Tuesday, Max Scherzer makes his long-awaited return on Wednesday, and Kevin Gausman starts Thursday afternoon.
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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/author/ryley-delaney">Blue Jays Nation</a>, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/author/ryley-delaney">Oilersnation</a>, and <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/author/ryley-delaney">FlamesNation</a>. She can be followed on Twitter <a href="https://x.com/Ryley__Delaney">@Ryley__Delaney</a>.
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Losing a series to bad teams is not what playoff contenders should be doing.



This past weekend, the Toronto Blue Jays hosted the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series, dropping two of three to the American League Central team. It’s not a series the Jays should be losing, as the White Sox had a 23-52 record coming into the series.
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<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-early-inning-runs-sink-toronto-blue-jays-7-1-loss-white-sox">Things got off on the wrong foot on Friday</a>, as the Blue Jays fell 7-1 to the team with the third-fewest runs in the league. Spencer Turnbull gave up four earned runs in two + innings pitched, and Mason Fluharty gave up three earned runs in an inning. They were never able to recover.

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-vladimir-guerrero-jr-bo-bichette-homer-blue-jays-7-1-victory-white-sox">The Jays got their revenge on Saturday</a>, defeating the White Sox by the same score of 7-1. Bo Bichette hit a home run on the first pitch the Jays saw, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also hit a home run to reach double-digits. It helps that Jose Berrios had his best outing of the season.

You’d think that the Blue Jays would come ready to <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-blow-late-lead-4-2-loss-white-sox">play in the rubber match on Sunday</a>, right? Wrong. They had a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth, but Brendan Little put two runners on, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/jeff-hoffmans-struggles-who-could-replace-him-toronto-blue-jays-closer">Jeff Hoffman walked a batter</a>, and then committed an error on what would’ve been an inning-ending play. Not great.

The Jays benefited from strong starting performances by Berrios and Chris Bassitt. The former went seven and two-thirds innings with no earned runs allowed. Bassitt allowed an earned run but pitched six innings with seven strikeouts, leaving the game with the lead. Turnbull had a rough outing, as his four runs given up sunk the Blue Jays before they had a chance to get going.

What lost the Blue Jays the game on Sunday was their relief pitching. Both Hoffman and Little were tagged with unearned runs, but that error by Hoffman was what caused them to lose Sunday’s game. Fluharty had a rough outing, giving up three earned runs in his inning of work, the only Blue Jays' reliever to give up an earned run over the weekend.

Nick Sandlin returned to the Blue Jays’ 26-man roster, pitching in two games without giving up an earned run. It wasn’t smooth sailing, as he gave up two hits, two walks, and struck out two. He loaded the bases on Sunday, but Braydon Fisher got him out of the inning. Speaking of Fisher, he pitched two and one-third innings with four strikeouts. He’s so darn good.

Yariel Rodriguez had a successful weekend, striking out two of the four batters he faced. Chad Green also pitched a scoreless weekend, going two innings with a strikeout.

The bats had a quiet weekend, scoring 10 runs in three games, seven of which came on Saturday. Bo Bichette, Ernie Clement, and George Springer all finished with a wRC+ above 100, the three regulars who were able to do so.

Despite Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s home run, he finished with an 84 wRC+ thanks to registering just one hit in his 12 plate appearances. Nathan Lukes and Andres Gimenez each had rough weekends, as did Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger. Kirk and Barger combined for one hit in 17 plate appearances. Davis Schneider finished with a 380 wRC+ in his four plate appearances, and Alan Roden hit his first career triple to give him a 256 wRC+ for the weekend.

The Jays head back out on the road, heading to Cleveland to take on the Guardians starting on Tuesday. Eric Lauer is the expected starter for Tuesday, Max Scherzer makes his long-awaited return on Wednesday, and Kevin Gausman starts Thursday afternoon.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/author/ryley-delaney">Blue Jays Nation</a>, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/author/ryley-delaney">Oilersnation</a>, and <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/author/ryley-delaney">FlamesNation</a>. She can be followed on Twitter <a href="https://x.com/Ryley__Delaney">@Ryley__Delaney</a>.

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