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September 6 Gameday: Blue Jays hunt for second sweep in last three series

Photo credit: © Denny Medley-Imagn Images

By Ryley Delaney

Sep 6, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 6, 2026, 14:12 EDT

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The Toronto Blue Jays are in a playoff spot.

On Saturday evening, they defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3, and thanks to a bunch of help on the out of town scoreboard, the Jays surpassed the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild card spot. In late July, shortly before the trade deadline, the Blue Jays were six and a half games back of the final wild card spot.

But now, they have to keep winning. With 19 games remaining on the season, they don’t play another team currently above .500, while also facing the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers later this month, two teams that have a chance of overtaking the Blue Jays for the final wild card.

First of the 19 games is the series finale against the Royals. A win means their second sweep in their last three series. They’ve won seven of their last eight games since the Royals took two of three back in late August. The lone win against the Royals back at Rogers Centre came with Randy Dobnak on the mound, who is Sunday’s starter.

Entering this game, the right-handed pitcher has a 2.65 ERA and 4.03 FIP. Entering that last start against the Blue Jays, Dobnak had a 1.58 ERA, but has surrendered nine earned runs over 12 innings in his last two starts, with the Blue Jays accounting for three of those earned runs.

However, the Blue Jays will turn to the Spencer Arrighetti/bullpen game hybrid they’ve been running for a few weeks now. Last game they had this setup, the Blue Jays fell 6-1 to the Guardians, as Gavin Williams shut the down over seven innings of work. In his 11 innings with the Blue Jays, Arrighetti has a 6.55 ERA and 6.19 FIP with three home runs given up.

Two of the Blue Jays’ regulars are getting a day off. George Springer and Alejandro Kirk are available off the bench, meaning that Brandon Valenzuela is catching and bats ninth, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shifts to the designated hitter role and bats third.

With a righty on the mound, the Blue Jays have a lefty-heavy lineup. Brett Bateman leads off, followed by Nathan Lukes. Jesús Sánchez bats clean up, Sean Keys bats sixth, Josh Smith bats seventh, and Andrés Giménez bats eighth. Kazuma Okamoto is the only other righty in the lineup, batting fifth.

Let’s set up Sunday’s series finale!

Location: Kansas City, Missouri

First Pitch: 2:10 PM ET

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet, SN590