Poor fielding and hitting undoing Blue Jays’ playoff push after MLB all-star break

TORONTO — Leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz lofted a deep fly ball to the Rogers Centre’s warning track with Toronto Blue Jays centre-fielder Daulton Varsho easily tracking it down.

Varsho, a former Gold Glove Award winner, took a little hop to get the ball into his glove, but the ball popped out and fell to the turf for a fielding error, allowing Diaz to reach second base.

The Tampa Bay Rays took full advantage of Varsho’s fielding error, scoring three runs — all unearned — in the sixth inning for a 4-2 win over Toronto on Wednesday.

Manager John Schneider had a hard time explaining the play that saw Varsho charged with his second error of the season, and only the seventh of his career in centre field.

“We’ve got so many good defenders that when stuff like that happens, you’re definitely surprised,” said Schneider. “Yandy hit it hard but Daulton will be the first one to tell you that if you get your glove on it, you’ve got to catch it.

“I think he maybe just took his eye off it for a split second, and, yeah, they took advantage of that.”

Sharp fielding was one of Toronto’s hallmarks in their run to the World Series last season, as was good hitting, but both have flatlined.

The Blue Jays (46-56) needed to string together some wins coming out of the all-star break to stay competitive in the American League’s playoff race. Instead, they have lost five of six, getting outscored 38-10, and have fallen to 6 1/2 games out of a wild-card berth.

Their 402 runs are the fewest in all of Major League Baseball this year, a sharp decline from 2025 when they finished the regular season with the fourth-best offence.

“It’s been a tough stretch for sure, collectively up and down,” said Schneider. “But hopefully, you make adjustments.

“I think guys are grinding, guys are pressing. You combine that with (Tampa’s) good pitching, and that’s that’s kind of where we’re at.”

Shane Bieber (1-1) takes the mound Thursday as Toronto tries to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Rays.

Ian Seymour (6-2) gets the start for the Rays.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press