JONATAN CLASE WITH ANOTHER CLUTCH RBI! THE BLUE JAYS LEAD 4-3! 🎥: Sportsnet | #BlueJays50
Instant Reaction: Blue Jays drop series finale in San Diego
Photo credit: © Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Jul 12, 2026, 19:30 EDTUpdated: Jul 12, 2026, 19:42 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays are entering the All-Star break on a two-game losing streak.
On Sunday afternoon, the San Diego Padres defeated the Blue Jays 5-4 to claim the series victory and drop the Canadian club to 45-51 through 96 games played.
Sunday’s effort was a gutty one by the Blue Jays as they rallied back from 3-1 to take a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning before the wheels fell off. In the top of the eighth inning against Padres reliever Adrian Morejon, the Blue Jays took a lead that looked like it would be enough to head into the All-Star break on a high note.
With Daulton Varsho on second base with two outs, Blue Jays manager John Schneider pinch-hit Alejandro Kirk for rookie Sean Keys. With first base open, the Padres opted to walk Kirk to bring up switch-hitter Jonatan Clase. After getting ahead 1-0 in the count, Clase stroked a line drive single to center field to bring home Varsho and give the Blue Jays a boost heading into the bottom half of the inning.
With a one-run lead, Schneider turned to right-hander Jeff Hoffman. Xander Bogaerts opened the inning with a single before stealing second base to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Manny Machado stepped up and won an eight-pitch battle with Hoffman by singling up the middle to tie the game at 4-4.
After a miscommunication on a groundball to Andrés Giménez allowed Machado to advance to second base, the Padres put in Jase Bowen to run for the veteran third baseman. Bowen stole third base, then came around to score on a Ty France sacrifice fly to center field.
For the second straight night with a one-run lead, the Padres summoned Mason Miller from their bullpen. Miller made quick work of the Blue Jays on Sunday, requiring only eight pitches to get Ernie Clement to ground out, get Myles Straw to pop out, and set down Vladimir Guerrero Jr. swinging on a wipeout slider in the dirt.
The loss takes away a strong bounce-back effort from Kevin Gausman. After allowing seven runs (four earned) during a 10-1 loss against the San Francisco Giants in his previous outing, Gausman rebounded by turning in a pitching line of 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. All three of the runs came during the second inning in which the 35-year-old battled control issues, and was charged with a questionable balk call.
Gausman enters the All-Star break after having made 20 starts. The veteran right-hander is 4-8 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Gausman leads the club with 112.1 innings pitched and has punched out 116 batters over those frames.
The Blue Jays’ offence relied on the long ball on Sunday as Nathan Lukes smacked his fifth home run of the season in the top of the first inning before Ernie Clement launched a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning. Clement will head to Philadelphia to be the American League’s starting second baseman after batting .296 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs.
After four days off, the Blue Jays will open the unofficial second half of the regular season at Rogers Centre against the Chicago White Sox. As of July 12, the Blue Jays sit 2.5 games back of the AL’s final Wild Card spot with 66 games to play.
Breaking News
- Instant Reaction: Blue Jays drop series finale in San Diego
- Blue Jays select Eddie Rosado Jr. 612th overall in 2026 MLB Draft
- Determining areas of improvement for the Blue Jays if they sell at the trade deadline
- Blue Jays select Cole Travers 582nd overall in 2026 MLB Draft
- Blue Jays select Jake McCoy 552nd overall in 2026 MLB Draft