The Toronto Blue Jays blew a winnable game.
On Saturday afternoon, the Blue Jays played their second of three games against the Cleveland Guardians, falling 5-3 to the American League Central team to snap their three-game win streak. Let’s take a look at what happened in this game.
Things started well for the Blue Jays. On the first pitch the team saw, Bo Bichette hit his first home run of the season to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. They added another run in the bottom of the third thanks to Nathan Lukes’ walk with the bases loaded. In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Heineman hit a sacrifice fly to give the Jays a 3-0 lead.
First pitch, first home run of the season for Bo Bichette 💪 pic.twitter.com/BHwv2A2ngj
— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2025
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It looked as if the Jays were going to coast to their fourth consecutive win and move above .500, but Daniel Schneemann hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth to make it a 3-1 game.
Schneemann’s next turn to bat in the top of the ninth was with the bases loaded. He received a fastball in the middle of the zone, driving in four runs with the swing of the bat for the 5-3 lead. The Blue Jays went quietly in the bottom of the ninth and lost the game.
Daniel Schneemann’s 2nd home run of the day is a GRAND SLAM to take the lead in the 9th! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/PuVyuvhy4Y
— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2025
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Takeaways…
The Blue Jays had so many opportunities to blow the game open. In the top of the first after Bo Bichette’s home run, the Jays had runners on second and third with one out – they failed to score a run. The bottom of the second saw them have runners on first and second with two outs – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. struck out.
They may have scored a run in the bottom of the third, but they could’ve had so much more as they had the bases loaded with one out. In the bottom of the fourth, they had two runners on with two outs, no runs. Their last base runner was in the fifth inning, who they cashed in.
Overall, the Blue Jays were 1-10 with runners in scoring position, just not good enough. With that being said, it’s not the only reason why the Jays blew this game.
In the top of the ninth, Yimi García was struggling, walking Bo Naylor to load the bases with two outs. Ball four was his 30th pitch of the outing, and even though Yariel Rodríguez appeared ready, García faced Daniel Schneemann. This is bad bullpen management.
There were certainly some positives from this game. Kevin Gausman started this game, pitching six innings of one-hit ball with nine strikeouts and one walk to bring his season ERA to 3.83. Mason Fluharty pitched a three-up, three-down inning, striking out a batter in the process.
Both Anthony Santander and George Springer had multi-hit games, while the team combined for four extra-base hits. One of which was Bo Bichette’s first home run of the season, a positive sign.
The Jays play the rubber match on Sunday at 1:37 PM ET, with Bowden Francis expected to get the start.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.