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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays snap losing streak with a late rally in their 4-3 win over Dodgers
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 8, 2026, 18:15 EDTUpdated: Apr 8, 2026, 18:44 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays have finally won a game.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Jays played the third and final game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in their three-game series. It looked as if it’d be the same type of finish that we saw on Tuesday, but the Jays rallied late and won 4-3 to move to 5-7. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one.
For the first time since last Wednesday, the Blue Jays opened the scoring. With an out in the inning, Daulton Varsho drew a walk to give the Blue Jays a base runner. After a wild pitch and a pop out, Jesús Sánchez hit a two-out double to drive in Varsho and make it a 1-0 game.
It didn’t take long for the Dodgers to respond, as they tied it in the top of the fourth. Will Smith hit an infield single, but a throwing error by Kazuma Okamoto allowed the Dodgers’ catcher to advance to second. On the next pitch, Canadian first baseman Freddie Freeman drove him in to tie the game.
Dylan Cease ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth, giving up two walks and a single to load the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly drove in a run to give them the lead, but Louis Varland struck out the next batter he saw, before ending the inning with a ground out.
The bottom of the sixth started off well for the Blue Jays, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the inning with a double. Unfortunately, he was thrown out trying to advance to third on a ground out, then Okamoto popped out and Clement grounded out to end the threat.
Mason Fluharty ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh, giving up a pair of walks and a groundout, before John Schneider turned to Tyler Rogers. A liner into centre field scored the Dodgers’ third run, but Rogers got the next two outs to end the inning.
The turning point of this game was pinch-hitting Davis Schneider for Nathan Lukes. Schneider drew a six-pitch walk with some tough takes, giving the Jays a base runner. After Andrés Giménez flew out, Tyler Heineman hit a single to put runners on the corners with one out. Up came George Springer, who hit a double that just missed being a homer, giving the Jays their second run. 
Next up was Varsho, who hit a single off lefty Jack Dreyer to cash the game-tying run. After an intentional walk, Sánchez struck out and Okamoto softly grounded out to strand the bases loaded. More on that in takeaways.
Rogers had a strong top of the eighth, giving the Jays a chance to take the lead. Schneider drew a five-pitch walk to give the Jays a base runner, then Giménez hit a single to put runners on the corners with one out. Giménez attempted to steal second, and an errant throw allowed Schneider to come home for the lead.
It got hairy in the top of the ninth with Jeff Hoffman on the mound, but he stranded Kyle Tucker and Will Smith on the bases thanks to a strikeout and a ground out, giving the Jays their first win in over a week.

Takeaways…

Davis Schneider won the Blue Jays this game. His walk in both the bottom of the seventh and eighth was the reason that the Blue Jays scored, with the pinch-hitter scoring two of the Blue Jays’ four runs. Schneider needs to be in the lineup every day.
Earlier in the season, I was pretty critical of George Springer’s start, but he looked good this season. On Wednesday, he went 2-5 with a key double which brought the Blue Jays to within one. That was his second double of the series.
Jesús Sánchez hit a big double in this game, giving the Blue Jays their first lead in 33 innings. That said, he was a little over anxious with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, whiffing on all three pitches to give the Jays their second out. The other double belonged to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., his second extra-base hit of the season.
With the bases loaded this season, the Blue Jays are 1-19. Simply put, that’s just not good enough. They received a few big hits in this game, but were 3-13 with runners in scoring position. At least they had more hits with RISP than they did in all three games against the Chicago White Sox over the weekend.
Dylan Cease had a solid start, going 5+ innings while giving up just one earned run (two in total). At points, Cease struggled with command, walking four batters, but also managed to strike out eight batters.
The Blue Jays bullpen did well enough to give the Jays the win. Louis Varland entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs, but only allowed one of the runners to score. Mason Fluharty had a tough game, walking two and allowing a run to score. Tyler Rogers picked up the win, striking out two in his inning and two-thirds.
After what happened in Game 7, this was a big spot for Jeff Hoffman. He struck out Shohei Ohtani, allowed a walk and a single, before striking out Freddie Freeman and getting a ground out to end the game. It was his second save of the season.
The Blue Jays will be off on Thursday, but return for a weekend series at Rogers Centre against the Minnesota Twins. Patrick Corbin is expected to make his Blue Jays’ debut in that game.
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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