Despite record, Blue Jays pitchers struggling to keep the ball in the park

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Blue Jays manager John Schneider has known it for weeks and, over the past three games in Los Angeles, the World Series champion Dodgers exposed the weakness.

If the Jays are going to make anything meaningful happen down the stretch and beyond, their pitching staff is going to need to find a way to keep the baseball in the ballpark, something the Toronto skipper has publicly acknowledged.

While Sunday’s series-salvaging 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers was an emotional highlight, it was going down an all-too-familiar road early on.

When Eric Lauer allowed a pair of first-inning homers — as uncharacteristic as that was for him and his terrific season to date in the rotation — it bumped the Jays total of dingers allowed so far this season to a somewhat-alarming 161.

Of note, that’s the fourth worst in the majors and the only three with higher totals — the Rockies (173), Athletics (170) and Orioles (164) are entrenched as last-place teams in their respective divisions.

And yes, that’s a concern, bordering on panic (with the fan base, anyway) if the Jays don’t get it fixed in time for the important games that await.

Dodgers hitters were just the latest to take advantage of starters (Chris Bassitt also allowed a pair of homers on Saturday and was chased after 4.2 innings of work). Again, not a crisis as the team and the pitching staff navigate the natural highs and lows of a season, but it will be a point of emphasis for Schneider and his staff to get in check.

Bassitt and Jose Berrios lead the team with 20 homers allowed each, followed by injury list resident Bowden Francis (19) and then Kevin Gausman (17). Closer Jeff Hoffman has surrendered the most among Jays relievers with 10.

Berrios led the team in that department in 2025 with 31, followed by Gausman (20) and Bassitt (18).

The Jays pitching situation will be the topic of a loud narrative for the remainder of the season with so many points, both fair or unfair. The struggles of Hoffman on Sunday — he walked in the tying run in the eighth and couldn’t locate the plate in the ninth — will be prominent, as will how the rotation will unfold when Shane Bieber returns to the big leagues at some point in the next week or two.

FAMOUS FLUHARTY

Buck Martinez nailed it on the Sportsnet broadcast when he introduced Mason Fluharty’s entrance into the game with the bases loaded and back-to-back former MVP’s due up.

“First save opportunity, it can’t get any bigger than this,” Martinez said in his first weekend back in the booth.

In what felt like an other-worldly sequence, the 23-year-old rookie first struck out four-time MVP Ohtani and then induced a meek groundout by Mookie Betts, who captured the 2018 AL MVP.

The nine-pitch battle with Ohtani was incredible theatre, including two full-count pitches from Fluharty that the Japanese superstar fouled off.

“The last thing I was thinking was he was going to strike out,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters in L.A. after a game in which Ohtani had belted his 41st homer of the year in the first inning.

It was that kind of game for the World Series champs, who were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 16 men on base thanks to 10 hits and 13 walks surrendered by the shaky Toronto pitching staff.

“This is frustrating,” Roberts said. “I felt there was no way we should lose that game. We had them on the ropes numerous times.”

And that last time, the Dodgers couldn’t get the knockout punch off a rookie pitcher in the biggest moment of his young career.

To that end, the stunned look on Fluharty’s face after finishing off the job was priceless. As Schneider noted afterwards, it was a cool moment, one that could have huge implications going forward when the young southpaw gets another opportunity in the highest of leverage situations.

HOME AGAIN

It certainly would have been a boisterous flight home from California and a welcome Monday off day before the Jays begin a six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs at Tuesday.

The Jays, who returned from SoCal with a four-game lead on the second-place Red Sox in the AL East, will enter that contest with a 38-19 mark at the Rogers Centre, the best home winning percentage in the majors.

The downtown dome has also become the place to be in Toronto this summer as the Jays are riding a season-high streak of 10 consecutive sellouts.

The early projection is that the streak will extend by at least three as it looks like the meetings with the Cubs will be sold out.

Despite coming off a last-place season, the Jays summer surge has boosted attendance to an average of 32,523, the sixth best in the AL.

For context, in 2024, the Jays drew an average of 33,102 for the third-best in the AL.

YESAVAGE ONE STEP CLOSER

A fast-track season from one of the Jays top prospects is now one step closer to the big leagues. According to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, pitcher Trey Yesavage has been promoted to triple-A Buffalo. The Jays No. 2 prospect — and a first-round draft pick (20th overall) in 2024 — has been a developmental star for the Jays with Buffalo being his fourth stop. While making the final step up the ladder is no guarantee this season, if the 22-year-old continues on this path, he could be an intriguing late-season option for the big team if needed.