Blue Jays’ slim playoff hopes grow dimmer following dispirited loss to Texas Rangers

Spencer Arrighetti is scheduled to start Sunday for Toronto

Published Sep 19, 2026  •  Last updated 5 minutes ago  •  5 minute read

Wyatt Langford of the Texas Rangers leaps over Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk to eventually score during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field on Sept. 19, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. Photo by Sam Hodde /Getty Images

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Run the table or risk getting run out of town, the stakes and potential consequences are pretty clear.

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Following a 6-2 loss to the host Texas Rangers on Saturday, the Blue Jays have seven games remaining, including a season-ending three-game home set against the Cincinnati Reds.

By the time the Jays return from their current six-game road trip, they could be eliminated from the playoffs.

Losing on a day when both the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox each won, losing a game that dropped Toronto’s record to 76-79 and the Jays are only adding more dirt to their grave.

A 5-2 season-ending record equates into a .500 season, but even that doesn’t seem sufficient, knowing the Jays do not hold the tiebreaker over the White Sox, currently holding the third AL wild card spot.

The Rangers have dealt the Jays six successive defeats and are poised to complete a season-series sweep.

The math looks awfully bad for the Jays, but their play has also been awful.

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The following are three takeaways on a night the Rangers scored six runs on five hits, a night when Davis Schneider hit a first-pitch leadoff pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning.

1. Don’t feel sorry for Soriano

With Dylan Cease hitting the proverbial wall amid some chatter he will get shut down if his next start means absolutely zilch, Jose Soriano is the best the Jays have when it comes to starting pitching.

There’s no doubt Soriano has the stuff, no question he is more than capable of going deep into games, no denying his potential going forward.

Once his early blunder — he gave up a solo homer to Josh Jung three batters into his outing — was behind him, Soriano settled in and pitched like a staff ace before turning into a question mark.

Take, for example, the third inning, when Soriano struck out the side in a clinical display of efficient and effective pitching.

He retired the side in order in the fourth.

A leadoff double to Danny Jansen in the fifth inning forced the Jays to bring in their infield. Soriano worked around the double by completely silencing the Rangers.

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Soriano hit his second batter on the night to lead off the home half of the sixth before yielding a single.

An RBI double ended Soriano’s night.

At times electric, but in the end Soriano didn’t live up to a moment that required him to be very good.

His offence did Soriano absolutely no favours.

2. Error of their ways

Once the postmortem is written, and it could arrive sooner than later, among the Blue Jays’ season-long deficiencies that were never sufficiently addressed involved self-inflicted wounds.

On Friday, the Blue Jays committed three errors in a 7-1 loss to the Rangers, compounded by 10 walks issued.

On Saturday, Andres Gimenez was back in the lineup, starting at shortstop, following a hamstring issue.

His second-inning error opened the door to the Rangers scoring two runs as they took an early 3-0 lead, one game after Texas took an early 4-0 advantage.

Gimenez made a fine play by going to his right in fielding a ball hit sharply by Danny Jansen, only to throw across his body in an attempt to get the force out at second.

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The ball ended up in right field.

A ball that bounced away from Alejandro Kirk in a sequence ruled as a wild pitch would lead to Texas scoring its second run in the second when zero balls left the infield other than on the Gimenez throwing error.

3. Springer’s B-day

His future with the Blue Jays very much in doubt, every game featuring George Springer in the starting lineup must be relished.

His six-year deal with the club expires once this season is officially in the books amid all kinds of talk a mutual parting of the ways will be initiated, which shouldn’t be viewed as a bad thing, knowing all good things come to an end.

Springer’s dinger in Game 7 of last fall’s ALCS against the Seattle Mariners will forever live in Jays’ lore, arguably among the top-three homers hit in club history, at worst top-five.

He turned 37 on Saturday and hit cleanup in the order.

When he arrived in Toronto, Springer became the club’s incumbent leadoff hitter.

No one expected Springer to repeat last season’s renaissance, but he has persevered and continues to leave everything out on the diamond.

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As fate would have it, Springer was the last hitter Cal Quantrill would face.

Springer led off the second inning on a first-pitch groundout, which would mark Quantrill’s final pitch of the game.

The Canadian right-hander has been battling tightness in his back, but it was right lat tightness that led to his abrupt exit Saturday, forcing the Rangers to go to their bullpen very early.

The unfortunate set of circumstances did allow Jordan Montgomery, a left-hander, to warm up for as long as required.

The first batter he faced was left-handed hitter Nathan Lukes, who grounded out to Montgomery, who would provide Texas with 3.2 innings before 36-year-old Nathan Eovaldi started the sixth inning.

He faced Springer with two outs and two runners on base after Kirk knocked in Toronto’s first run.

Springer struck out swinging to end the inning.

On his 37th birthday, Springer went 0-for-4.

Up Next

Spencer Arrighetti has pieced together his finest stretch with the Blue Jays, albeit a combined 4.2 innings across two appearances when zero earned runs were allowed. That is a very positive development for someone who has not pitched well for Toronto; four combined walks in his past two outings must be cleaned up, but the right-hander figures to be front and centre in Sunday’s series finale. The Jays resort to yet another bullpen day; mind you, this late in the season knowing what’s at stake and every game looms as one of those patented all hands on deck scenarios. Texas is scheduled to start RHP Jacob deGrom (2:35 p.m. first pitch), an elite pitcher who enters Sunday four strikeouts shy of 200 on the season, a milestone deGrom has reached four previous times in his career. On Monday, Trey Yesavage is scheduled to make his return in the series opener against the host Baltimore Orioles in what looms as a bullpen day.

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