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Inside The Blue Jays

What Went Wrong to Derail Blue Jays Shot at Five-Game Winning Streak

It was a brutal Saturday for the Toronto Blue Jays that went wrong in many ways.
Maddy Dickens|
May 5, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning at Tropicana Field
May 5, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning at Tropicana Field | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

It has been a tough season for the Toronto Blue Jays, which has been marred by injuries. Still, there have been plenty of opportunities for this team to steal wins, which were unfortunately on full display in Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, a game that should have 100% been a W for the Jays.

The Jays finally crossed through the threshold that was the .500 mark as a win Friday night put the team at 29-29, an even record which had eluded them since they were 4-4 way back in the first week of April.

To say the Blue Jays should now sit a game above .500 as opposed to looking up at the line would be an understatement. This is a team game, so pointing the finger at one player feels less than fair, but in this case, it is warranted.

Unfortunately for Jeff Hoffman, he was 100% exploited by the Orioles, even though he had looked much better since stepping out of the closer role. However, he was called upon in the bottom of the ninth when his team had a four-run lead.

Normally, Louis Varland has been taking the final inning of the game, but manager John Schneider decided that Varland would take on the bulk and best of Baltimore's order. The offense gave Hoffman and four run lead. This should have been a confidence-building opportunity for Hoffman.

However, the very opposite came to be.

Hoffman's Breakdown in the Ninth When the Score Was 5-1

Jeff Hoffman throws a baseball in a blue Blue Jays uniform
Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) pitches to the Miami Marlins during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

All of the momentum was in favor of Toronto as the defense had backed the pitching staff throughout the entirety of the game with four double plays to keep runs off the board. But the damage was far from saved with Hoffman.

Schneider was giving Hoffman a big opportunity this game, and what should have been a quick end to the game led to seven hitters he faced:

  • Strikeout
  • Hit By Pitch
  • Triple
  • Single
  • Double
  • Walk
  • Walk

When his time was done, Connor Seabold came into the game, but the bases were already loaded and the O's were only down a run. While he was not great by any means, he inherited a pretty horrid scenario.

Sometimes things just happen, and a game doesn't work out the way a ballclub wants. But this wasn't one of those times. This should have been a W for the Blue Jays, but it wasn't, and it feels safe to say that Hoffman will not be seen on the mound in the final inning anytime soon.

Apparently, he couldn't handle it.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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