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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays drop to a season-low eight games below .500 with a 7-1 loss to Rays
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jul 21, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 21, 2026, 12:12 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays’ time to get going is slowly ticking away.
After dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox out of the All-Star break, the Jays began a four-game series against the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. It went as expected, as the Jays fell 7-1.
In the top of the second, Victor Mesa Jr. took Dylan Cease deep to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. Then after a lead-off double in the top of the third, Cease committed a throwing error to bring the runner to third, who was promptly cashed in thanks to an RBI single from Jonathan Aranda.
The Jays got a little bit of hope in the bottom of the fourth after George Springer led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second base thanks to a stolen base, then another 90 feet thanks to a ground out. With two outs, Alejandro Kirk drove in the lone Blue Jays’ run of the game.
All that hope was quickly extinguished in the top of the fifth. Nick Fortes led off the inning with a single, then was moved to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt. Yandy Díaz put a ball in play, and Andrés Giménez committed an error to make it 3-1 for the Rays. Díaz stole second, and an RBI single cashed in the Rays’ fourth run of the game.
The wheels completely fell off from there. Cedric Mullins led off the sixth with a solo shot, then Junior Caminero drove in the Rays’ sixth run of the game with an RBI double. The game was well out of reach in the ninth, but Fortes led it off with a solo home run for good measure.

Takeaways….

After carrying a no-hitter into the ninth, then starting the All-Star Game, Dylan Cease had a tough start on Monday. He went six innings, giving up five runs (three earned) and striking out seven. His home run total of the season now stands at seven as well after the Rays took him deep twice.
The bullpen wasn’t great, Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little each gave up an earned run. This was Little’s best outing in the big leagues this season, giving up a solo home run but going two innings with a strikeout and a walk.
But at the end of the day, the Jays were never winning this game because of the offence. Since the All-Star break, they’ve managed to score six runs in four games, with four of those runs coming in a 12-4 loss in the series opener against the White Sox.
They had eight hits in this game, but all of them were singles. Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, and George Springer all had multi-hit games, but the Jays went just 1-5 with a runner in scoring position.
This season has been a polar opposite to last, they aren’t doing damage, they can’t hit with runners in scoring position, they’ve scored the fewest runs in Major League Baseball, and they don’t even take walks. It’s just bad baseball, and with the trade deadline two weeks away, there are basically no doubts about what they’ll do before the clock strikes 6:00 PM ET on August 3rd.
But before that, Kevin Gausman started Tuesday’s game, which has a start time of 7:07 PM ET.
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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