Series Recap: Blue Jays lose another series, dropping two of three to White Sox
Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Jul 20, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 19, 2026, 23:04 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays can’t seem to put it all together at the same time.
Before the All-Star break, it seemed as if the offence was turning it around, posting a 102 wRC+ in the final two series and scoring 36 runs, an average of six a game. However, aside from a gem by Dylan Cease in the series finale against the San Francisco Giants, their pitching wasn’t great in those six games.
Post All-Star break, they’ve received two quality starts, but mustered just five runs. Four of which came in Friday’s 12-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Their best offensive display (of the series), also happened to be the worst pitching display.
The positives from this game is that three Blue Jays managed to hit it over the fence, as Luis Urías hit his second home run of the season, George Springer hit his 10th home run of the season, and Brandon Valenzuela hit his eighth of the season, all off former Blue Jays pitchers.
Unfortunately, current Blue Jays hitters also had a rough go of things. Spencer Miles allowed six earned runs over four innings of work. The White Sox didn’t ease up once reaching the bullpen either, as Adam Macko surrendered two earned runs in his inning of work.
By that point, the game had been lost, but Patrick Corbin allowed three runs (two earned) in his inning and a third, and Braydon Fisher allowed one earned run. CJ Van Eyk was the only Blue Jay who had a scoreless outing, striking out a batter in his first two big league innings.
The Blue Jays’ pitching improved on Saturday, with Shane Bieber hurling six scoreless innings with two walks and six strikeouts, by far his best start of the season. Jeff Hoffman, Tyler Rogers, and Louis Varland all pitched a scoreless inning.
However, their bats went cold, managing just five hits in the game. None was bigger than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 15th double of the season, followed by an RBI single courtesy of George Springer, driving in the lone run of the game.
After posting a shut out on Saturday, then Blue Jays were shut out on Sunday. Trey Yesavage had a good start, striking out a season high nine batters, but surrendering two earned runs in the top of the sixth, despite being on strike away from getting out of it. The rookie finished with a line of 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K.
In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered all that much because the Blue Jays’ offence was non-existent. Their first base runner came in the fourth, and it took until the ninth inning to put a runner in scoring position.
The Jays actually threatened in the bottom of the ninth, as Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes led-off the innings with back-to-back singles. But Guerrero Jr. was robbed of a base hit, and Kazuma Okamoto grounded into a double play to end the game, dropping the Blue Jays record to 46-53.
With the trade deadline just over two weeks away, it’s not going to get any easier for the Blue Jays in their next series. Sitting four and a half games back of the final wild card, the Jays host the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays for four games. It’s a four-game series that’ll either get them back into it, or essentially solidify their fate as sellers. Monday’s game has a 7:07 PM ET start time.
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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