TORONTO – This game was right there for the Toronto Blue Jays.
George Springer continued his renaissance season with four hits, including two home runs, Chris Bassitt held the Minnesota Twins in check into the sixth inning and the Blue Jays handed the game over to the bullpen with a 4-2 lead.
But Louis Varland allowed one run – the fifth consecutive outing in which opponents have scored off him – and Jeff Hoffman imploded in the ninth, allowing four runs while recording just two outs before leaving the field to a rarely heard sound at Rogers Centre this season: loud boos.
Soon afterwards, the Blue Jays had lost 7-5 to the Twins, letting an entirely winnable game slip away to fall to 77-56 on the season.
Because the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees won Tuesday, the Blue Jays lost a game in the standings over their two closest pursuers in the American League East, and now lead Boston by 4.0 games and New York by 4.5 games with 29 to play.
While Varland’s recent issues are cause for some concern, it’s Hoffman whose struggles stand out the most here. He allowed two home runs, the first of Mickey Gasper’s career to lead off the ninth, followed by the third in two games for Matt Wallner, who broke the game open with a three-run shot.
All season, the Blue Jays have stood by Hoffman throughout his ups and downs. When he’s on, he can dominate opposing hitters. But only two relievers have allowed more home runs this season: Chad Green, who was released by the Blue Jays, and Jackson Rutledge, a long reliever for the Nationals. With the playoffs approaching, the Blue Jays need to find a way to address Hoffman’s home run issues.
The late runs by the Twins overshadowed another big night from Springer, who continues putting together an exceptional bounce-back season. After a strong start to his Blue Jays career, Springer’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage had declined for three consecutive seasons, so it wasn’t clear whether he had much left at age 35. But while most players decline into their mid-thirties, Springer has done the opposite.
After Tuesday’s showing, Springer has a team-leading 24 home runs and a .929 OPS that ranks fifth among all MLB hitters behind only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber. Now 35 years old, and in the fifth year of his six-year, $150 million contract, Springer’s playing his best baseball in years.
With 24 home runs on the season, he’s one away from tying his Blue Jays high of 25, set in 2022. Each passing day it becomes more apparent that he’s still a difference maker – one of the most important players on one of the American League’s top teams.
In fact, when manager John Schneider was asked to name a team MVP before Tuesday’s game, Springer’s name was one of a few he mentioned, along with Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Eric Lauer (ultimately, Schneider’s answer was the team as a whole).
Thanks to Bassitt, this game stayed close through the middle innings before the Blue Jays’ bullpen took over. Over the course of 5.2 innings, Bassitt allowed two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out six.
This is the kind of outing that the Blue Jays have come to expect from Bassitt, who’s now in the final season of his three-year, $63 million contract. Replacing that kind of consistency won’t be easy, but that’s a problem for the off-season. Until then, the Blue Jays can expect outings like this from the right-hander.
Thanks to the likes of Bassitt and Springer, the Blue Jays have lots of reasons for optimism as they head down the stretch in search of a first-round bye and the home-field advantage that would come with it. But first, it’s time to figure out the bullpen.
