Baltimore handed Toronto a loss it had nearly spent the whole night avoiding. The Blue Jays were two outs from getting back over.500 on Saturday, led by four runs with no Orioles on base in the bottom of the ninth, and still walked off the field with a defeat after the Orioles scored five times in the inning.
Jeff Hoffman was on the mound to finish it and could not get the last two outs. He struck out Samuel Basallo, then hit Coby Mayo with a sinker on a 1-and-1 count. Leody Taveras followed with a first-pitch slider into the gap in right-centre for an RBI triple, Jackson Holliday singled to right to drive in a run, Colton Cowser doubled into the right-field corner and Taylor Ward walked on four pitches to load the bases before Gunnar Henderson worked the count full and drew the game-ending walk. Toronto had already added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and the cushion still vanished.
The result mattered because the Blue Jays had not been over.500 since April 3, when they were 4-3, and this was the closest they had come since then. Hoffman’s appearance also came with context that made the collapse harder to ignore: he had lost the closer’s job on April 21, but from that point until Saturday he had been sharp, posting a 2.45 ERA over 15 appearances with 20 strikeouts and two walks. He had even thrown two perfect ninth innings to save games against the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That form made Saturday’s ninth inning stand out even more. Toronto was playing its 16th consecutive day, had used a bullpen game the night before and got only five innings from starter Trey Yesavage, leaving only Hayden Juenger and Connor Seabold available in relief. Louis Varland had already retired Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Pete Alonso in order in the eighth inning while the Jays led 4-1, which made the late unraveling feel even more abrupt when Hoffman took over and gave it away.
The immediate question is whether Toronto keeps putting Hoffman in those high-leverage spots after this one. For one night, the answer from Baltimore was blunt: a lead that looked safe was gone before the final out, and the Blue Jays were left trying to explain how they lost a game they were two outs from winning.
