Series Recap: Blue Jays kick off July by winning series against Mets
Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Jul 3, 2026, 10:15 EDTUpdated: Jul 3, 2026, 10:16 EDT
June was a disaster for the Toronto Blue Jays.
After crawling back to .500 in late May, the Jays had a brutal June, capped off by a six game losing streak. Before the start of that losing streak, they had once again crawled back to .500 and were three outs away from going above .500 for the first time since early April, but they blew a ninth inning lead.
Entering Monday’s series opener against the New York Mets, the Jays were 1-6 on the homestand, allowing at least a first inning run in each of the seven games. They put a stop to that trend against the Mets, and even scored a first inning run of their own thanks to a little league home run courtesy of George Springer.
A sacrifice fly courtesy of Myles Straw in the bottom of the fifth put the Jays up 2-0, then Francisco Lindor’s solo blast cut the Jays’ lead in half. Thankfully, the bullpen did its thing, with both Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland pitching scoreless innings. Trey Yesavage had a strong start, going six and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts, and more importantly, he didn’t issue a walk.
Unfortunately, the Jays couldn’t start a winning streak in the final game of June. On Tuesday, the Mets opened the scoring, as Francisco Álvarez hit a solo home run off Kevin Gausman in the top of the fifth. Mason Fluharty came into the game in the top of the seventh, surrendering a solo home run to Luis Torres, then Brett Baty hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth, as the Mets won 3-0.
That loss set up a Canada Day rubber match. Last season’s Canada Day game was one of the defining moments of the season, as George Springer hit a grand slam which helped the Jays defeat the New York Yankees by a score of 12-5. That win brought the Jays to within one game of the division lead, and they’d go on to sweep the four game series against the Yankees.
The Jays have lacked that defining moment this season. But maybe, just maybe, they got it on Wednesday’s. Kazuma Okamoto hit an RBI single in the first to give the Jays an early lead. Then in the bottom of the third, Sean Keys hit his first career home run in what was a four-run inning.
That was the first of two four-run innings, as Myles Straw also hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Jays a 9-3 lead. The Mets added three in the remaining two innings, but the Jays were able to hang on for a 9-3 victory.
It was a rough 10-game home stand for the Jays, as they finished 3-7. It’s only going to get tougher from here, as they’ll head west to play a three-game series against each of the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres. With a 41-46 record, the Jays are three and a half games behind the final wild card, so they have to get going soon.
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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