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Series Recap: Blue Jays win series against Angels, but were unable to complete the sweep
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Photo credit: © David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 10, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: May 10, 2026, 21:13 EDT
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There was some good and some bad in the Toronto Blue Jays most recent series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Over the weekend, the Blue Jays took two of three from the Los Angeles Angels, which is their fourth series win in their last six. Since April 20th, the Blue Jays have lost just one series, as they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Returning home, the Blue Jays picked up a 2-0 victory on Friday. Both runs that they scored came in the bottom of the third, as Kazuma Okamoto hit an RBI single, before Ernie Clement flew out with the bases loaded to drive in the other run.
Okamoto’s hit was just one of three the Jays were able to muster. George Springer hit a single, as did Yohendrick Piñango before he was optioned to the Buffalo Bisons to make room for Addison Barger.
Pitching was terrific in this game. For the second time this season, Dylan Cease reached double-digit strikeouts against the Angels, going seven innings with five hits allowed and no walks. Jeff Hoffman worked around a lead-off double in the eighth, and Louis Varland picked up his fifth save of the season.
Despite the lack of hits in Friday’s game, it managed to snap a four-game losing streak. Saturday’s game was an inverse of their offence performance, as the Blue Jays defeated the Angels 14-1.
It was a tale of two halves in this game, as the two teams had traffic in the first three innings, but couldn’t plate a run. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth got the Jays on the board, but Brandon Valenzuela and George Springer popped out to end the inning.
Thankfully, the Jays pulled away in the bottom of the seventh, bringing home seven runs which was capped off by Valenzuela’s fourth home run of the season. That briefly tied Jesús Sánchez and Daulton Varsho for second most on the team. Ernie Clement hit a solo home run in the seventh, his second, before Sánchez moved into sole possession of second in home runs in the bottom of the eighth with a home run off a position player.
Similar to his last start, Trey Yesavage faced traffic in the second, third, and fourth innings, but found a way to minimize damage over his four innings of work. Tyler Rogers allowed the lone earned run of the game, but Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Joe Mantiply, and Tommy Nance all hurled scoreless innings.
On Sunday, the Blue Jays had a chance to sweep their first series since the series opener against the Athletics. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Okamoto hit a double. The Blue Jays held on to that lead first the first four innings, but Eric Lauer gave up four earned runs in the top of the fifth, and then gave up two more home runs, both to Jo Adell, as the Jays lost 6-1.
Lauer and the offence both struggled in this game. After Sunday’s performance, Lauer’s ERA sits at 6.69, while his FIP is even worse, 6.96. It didn’t help that the bats went cold, with Okamoto’s double being the lone extra-base hit, and just one of five hits.
More worrisome is the start to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s season. Despite batting over .300, the first baseman has a slugging percentage that starts with “3”. He had a chance to tie the game, as the Jays loaded the bases down four with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Guerrero Jr. softly grounded out.
At some point, he and the rest of the offence have to get going, and do it consistently as well. Throughout the season, they’ve shown glimpses of what made them so successful in 2025, but it just hasn’t clicked for them.
They’ll be in tough to start the week, as the host the Rays for a three-game series that begins on Monday.
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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