The games against the Houston Astros were supposed to be a game-changer for the Blue Jays because they are in competition with each other for the last AL Wild Card spot. But after losing 9-7 in the first game and the 2nd game ending in a close loss, Trey Yesavage was not happy with how the team played.

“Just gotta do the little things right,” said the Blue Jays ace after the Jays handed another game to the Astros and the series.

Yesavage went for 5.2 innings, giving away 2 hits, walking 5 batters, and going over 100 pitches. And that is the story of the last few games for Yesavage. In the last 6 games, the Jays’ ace has an ERA of 5.35 and has earned a total of 21 runs in 35.1 innings.

For this game, the Toronto Blue Jays went down 3-1 on Wednesday night, but this score doesn’t show the full extent of how the Jays botched this game. Until the 8th inning, the game looked like it could go either way, but when the Jays took the field in the 8th inning, everything changed. Joey Loperfido’s deep shot to center turned into a triple when Daulton Varsho could not bring it in at the wall.  

Blue Jays suffer tough loss to Astros as costly errors and Trey Yesavage struggles again hurt Wild Card race hopes.

That one swing set up the moment that flipped the entire game away from Toronto. On the next play, closer Jeff Hoffman attempted to pick off the runner, and the throw sailed past Okamoto at third. This allowed the Astros to bring in the go-ahead run and take the lead in the game.

And the Jays’ base running made it worse when they came out to bat. Luis Urías was in the 8th to put the tying run on base and even advanced to second on a wild pitch. But everything went wrong when George Springer hit a deep fly ball to right field. Looking at how the ball was going, Urías thought the ball was going to land safely, but Cam Smith made a leaping catch.

Smith made a throw to second, and what should have advanced the runner to third ended up being a double play. This killed the entire momentum the Jays had in that inning, and Toronto never looked like they could score after that.

This season, Yesavage appears to be just trying to survive in the league and looks completely different from what we saw during the 2025 postseason. But this game’s result had a lot riding on both the Astros and the Blue Jays.

If we look at the AL Wild Card standings, the Blue Jays hold the last spot on the table. But with this narrow win, the Astros are now just 1 game behind the Jays. And it’s not only them because the Rangers and the Athletics are also just a game behind.

So, the equation for the Jays is very simple: either sort out their mess, or this is going to be a very long season for the team, especially given their current struggles.

The Blue Jays’ offense is also a major reason for the team’s struggles.

Things keep going from bad to worse for this Blue Jays offense in 2026. They entered the season with the expectation of some good offense and consistent at-bats, but the season has completely fallen apart.

The Toronto Blue Jays rank 22nd when it comes to team OPS and 23rd when it comes to runs scored. And things get even worse when they have runners in scoring positions. They have just 14 home runs with RISP and a .236 average in those moments.

The main problem has been a total failure to hit when runners are in scoring position.

This is not a one-hitter struggling, but the entire lineup fails in clutch situations. Toronto has also been even worse with two outs, where rallies die far too often. Every big scoring chance seems to end with weak contact or strikeouts at the wrong time.

And this is a sharp contrast from the 2025 season, when Toronto’s offense was one of the best.

Last year, they led the AL in batting average, OPS, and wRC+. They also struck out at one of the lowest rates in MLB. That version of the lineup looked controlled, confident, and strong in almost every close situation.

Players like George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were expected to lead the offense in 2026 but have been a complete failure. Springer OPS with RISP has fallen by almost . 500 points when compared to 2025. And this is because he has now started to chase pitches.

Valddy also has fallen well short of his expectations. He is not struggling like Springer, but his OPS is now at .724 and has an OPS of only .750 with RISP.

The Blue Jays’ offense relies heavily on these batters, with others chipping in. But scoring chances are being wasted, and close games are slipping away too often this season. Even simple chances in late games are not being converted into runs.

So, unless this group improves in the next couple of games, Toronto’s offense will keep dragging the team down further.