<p>After a beautiful start to the day, things turned sour by the end of it as the Toronto Blue Jays gave up a run in the ninth inning to fall to the Chicago Cubs Saturday afternoon.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The day kicked off great with 42,585 on hand to watch Jose Bautista join the Jays&#8217; Level of Excellence in a tremendous pre-game ceremony, and the good vibes continued early into the game with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. driving in the first run of the game in the bottom of the third.</p>
<p>That, however, was short-lived.</p>
<p>When the inning turned over to the top of the fourth, Cody Bellinger tied it up at one of a line-drive single, then a Dansby Swanson three-run jack poured it on.</p>
<p>Toronto would rally with a Whit Merrifield two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, and Santiago Espinal tied it up at 4 in the bottom of the six with a deep ground-rule double. Christopher Morel, however, would spoil things in the top of the ninth with a double that would win the game.</p>
<p>Here are a few things from the game worth talking about.</p>
<h1>Joey Bats gets honoured</h1>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="FULL CEREMONY: José Bautista joins our Level of Excellence!" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O_5vHkiLRcA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>I was never big into baseball around the time that Jose Bautista was a Blue Jay. It&#8217;s not to say I didn&#8217;t know who he was, or what he was doing, because everybody in Canada who was even a casual sports fan was aware of his presence.</p>
<p>And it goes without saying the legacy he left behind in Toronto, and it was on full display on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful ceremony, which you can watch above if you missed it, and it&#8217;s a shame the Jays couldn&#8217;t pull out the win for him today.</p>
<h1>Sliding back in the wild card race</h1>
<p>Not been an ideal week here for the Jays. Entering their series against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, the Seattle Mariners were 2.5 games back of the Jays and the New York Yankees were 4.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race.</p>
<p>Now, with the results of a Baltimore Orioles and Mariners game still hours away from the time of writing, the Jays have seen Seattle jump ahead of them in the race.</p>
<p>While we sat and talked about how crucial the Jays sweep of the Red Sox was last weekend, the fact Toronto has let it slip away entirely this week is, quite simply, unacceptable. The Jays have a chance to get one back on Sunday against the Cubbies, and it will be ever more important they do that.</p>
<hr />
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i></p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center"><a href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h2>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-61491 aligncenter" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="614" height="341" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png 727w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px" /></p>

After a beautiful start to the day, things turned sour by the end of it as the Toronto Blue Jays gave up a run in the ninth inning to fall to the Chicago Cubs Saturday afternoon.



The day kicked off great with 42,585 on hand to watch Jose Bautista join the Jays' Level of Excellence in a tremendous pre-game ceremony, and the good vibes continued early into the game with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. driving in the first run of the game in the bottom of the third.

That, however, was short-lived.

When the inning turned over to the top of the fourth, Cody Bellinger tied it up at one of a line-drive single, then a Dansby Swanson three-run jack poured it on.

Toronto would rally with a Whit Merrifield two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, and Santiago Espinal tied it up at 4 in the bottom of the six with a deep ground-rule double. Christopher Morel, however, would spoil things in the top of the ninth with a double that would win the game.

Here are a few things from the game worth talking about.
<h1>Joey Bats gets honoured</h1>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_5vHkiLRcA

I was never big into baseball around the time that Jose Bautista was a Blue Jay. It's not to say I didn't know who he was, or what he was doing, because everybody in Canada who was even a casual sports fan was aware of his presence.

And it goes without saying the legacy he left behind in Toronto, and it was on full display on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful ceremony, which you can watch above if you missed it, and it's a shame the Jays couldn't pull out the win for him today.
<h1>Sliding back in the wild card race</h1>
Not been an ideal week here for the Jays. Entering their series against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, the Seattle Mariners were 2.5 games back of the Jays and the New York Yankees were 4.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race.

Now, with the results of a Baltimore Orioles and Mariners game still hours away from the time of writing, the Jays have seen Seattle jump ahead of them in the race.

While we sat and talked about how crucial the Jays sweep of the Red Sox was last weekend, the fact Toronto has let it slip away entirely this week is, quite simply, unacceptable. The Jays have a chance to get one back on Sunday against the Cubbies, and it will be ever more important they do that.

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i>

<hr />

<h2 style="text-align: center"><a href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer external nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h2>
<img class=" wp-image-61491 aligncenter" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="614" height="341" />

Toronto Blue Jays drop 5-4 decision to Chicago Cubs as wild card spot slips away

Blue Jays Nation: Christmas wish list for the remaining offseason

Blue Jays Prospect Spotlight: Connecting with pitcher Colby Martin about his draft experience and first taste of pro ball

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates after hitting a double in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium

Recent articles from Zach Laing

Breaking News