Red-hot Blue Jays cool down as Royals avoid sweep

Spencer Arrighetti yields two homers, allows six earned runs as Toronto unable to secure season-high fifth consecutive win

Published Sep 06, 2026  •  6 minute read

Blue Jays' Andres Gimenez is unable to make a catch during the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sept. 6, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo by Jay Biggerstaff /GETTY IMAGES

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At no point this season have the Blue Jays been able to string together five wins in a row.

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At no point this season have the Jays been playing this well when such a first-time feat would be viewed as more than realistic.

The reality is the Jays’ margin for error hasn’t expanded, despite the winning and the accompanying percentage bump in making the post-season.

Series sweeps are never taken for granted, especially considering the Royals were guilty of self-inflicted wounds Saturday night rather than they were of simply being outplayed by the visitors.

In Sunday’s series finale, Kansas City jumped out to a quick 3-0 start before extending their advantage.

While all looked lost, the Jays had moments, but hit into three double plays, including one by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a leverage count with two runners on base.

The Jays decided to go with a very inferior starting lineup and it showed.

Add in poor position and the 6-1 loss seemed inevitable as the Royals avoided getting swept in a three-game series they could have easily won had they not booted the ball around.

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The loss dropped Toronto’s record to 72-72 and out of a playoff berth.

In Cleveland, the Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in extra innings to improve to 73-71 as the back-and-forth jockeying for the third and final wild card continues and likely will continue until the regular-season finale on Sept. 27.

The following are three takeaways on a day George Springer, Ernie Clement and Alejandro Kirk were not in the starting lineup, a day when Vlad Jr. served as DH, a day when leadoff hitter Brett Bateman recorded three hits, while reaching base when hit by a pitch.

1. Getting to know Arrighetti

When he pitched for the Houston Astros, Spencer Arrighetti was named AL pitcher of the month for May, a well-deserved recognition given his dominant body of work.

With the Jays, the right-hander has shown no signs of his previous form.

In fairness, it’s hard to glean whether he has fully been built up from a nerve issue that delayed his availability with the Jays following the deadline day deal that sent Daulton Varsho to the Astros.

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Either way, the Jays need any kind of length from a pitcher not named Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano or Max Scherzer.

Is Arrighetti best served in a bulk role?

Perhaps.

In the absence of five legitimate starters, the Jays are left to manage the club’s arms as best as possible.

Sunday’s series finale at Kauffman Stadium underscored the dilemma facing the Jays when Arrighetti was thrust into the role of opener.

A similar predicament will unfold Wednesday when the Jays wrap up their series against the Athletics.

Prior to Sunday, Arrighetti pitched in three games for the Jays, each game resulting in a loss.

Heading into Sunday, Arrighetti pitched a total of 11 innings, while surrendering eight earned runs and allowing three home runs.

Suffice to say his brief time with the Jays didn’t exactly inspire much confidence as Toronto attempted to complete its series sweep of the Royals.

An infield single followed by a walk to begin the first inning would be capped off by Vinnie Pasquantino homer as K.C. jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.

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Two innings later, Salvador Perez took Arrighetti deep for a two-run blast.

If the Jays’ starting rotation was fully healthy and available, it’s doubtful Arrighetti would be asked to shoulder more than he should.

Then again, this is the big leagues and players need to perform, regardless of the circumstances.

A third ball nearly left the park in the fifth inning when the Royals had two runners on base.

The end result was long out into right field for the inning’s second out.

A fielding error by second baseman Josh Smith, Toronto’s second defensive miscue on the day, would score K.C.’s sixth run.

The call to the bullpen was then made, Arrighetti’s outing had officially ended.

It was then ruled that the error charged to Smith would be listed in the official scorecard as a hit.

As a result, the run would be charged to Arrighetti, who officially gave up six earned runs across 4.2 innings.

2. Sanchez in the spotlight

The error didn’t come back to bite the Jays, but watching Jesus Sanchez play left field with so much uncertainty and indecisiveness did evoke memories of previous missed plays that have unfolded this season.

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And to use the sun and stifling weather conditions as excuses represent complete and utter nonsense.

Sanchez is a terrible outfielder who shouldn’t be asked to even start, but such is the state of the Jays when off days are necessary to keep veterans off their feet, especially on an afternoon game following an evening matchup.

Regardless, Sanchez looked completely lost when Kyle Isbel reached base with two outs in the second inning.

Whether it was taking a bad route on routine ball that wasn’t hit hard and then showing absolutely no resolve in locating the ball, the whole sequence looked very amateurish.

It will be interesting to follow how many games Sanchez plays in the outfield as the regular season winds down when the margin for error gets even thinner, when errors of any kind cannot be tolerated.

Sean Keys started at first base and struck out in his first two at-bats.

The rookie has played the outfield, albeit briefly, but anyone other than Sanchez would make for a better and more competent option.

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3. Pen pals

Tyler Rogers worked around two hits with none out in the eighth inning when the submariner was asked to start the eighth inning Saturday night.

Louis Varland would start the ninth inning and preserved the Jays’ 4-3 win to record his 33rd save of the season.

The events in the series finale didn’t merit either of the Jays’ high-leverage relievers to be used.

Monday looms as a Cease outing, which may also mean neither Rogers nor Varland will be asked to pitch.

We’ll soon see, as they say.

Braydon Fisher relieved Arrighetti and immediately issued a walk.

Ricky Tiedemann, who had been optioned and then recalled in the wake of Jameson Taillon’s unfortunate set of events, started the home half of the sixth inning.

After two quick outs, the lefty Tiedemann faced one of baseball’s very elite in Bobby Witt Jr., who bats right-handed.

Witt Jr. lined a ball up the middle for a single on a 2-1 changeup.

A balk advanced Witt Jr. to second, but Tiedemann escaped the inning unscathed when he induced Pasquantino to flyout to left field where, shockingly, Sanchez made the catch for the inning-ending out.

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It was a mixed bag for Tiedemann, a 31-pitch appearance across 1.2 innings featuring two walks issued, two strikeouts recorded, one hit and no runs allowed.

There was the one balk and a wild pitch just to make his day even more interesting.

Read More

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   Blue Jays reach .500 following win over K.C. Royals as wild-card race heats up
2. 

   Blue Jays stalking wild card playoff spot after winning two of three in Cleveland

3. 

   Blue Jays' winning record vaults them into a tie with Cleveland for a playoff wild card

Up Next

Rewind all the way back to opening weekend when the Athletics came to town, a team that dropped the opening two games of the series to the Jays by a combined margin of two runs before Toronto completed its sweep by taking the series finale 5-2. Toronto begins its three-game stay in Sacramento Monday night (10:05 p.m. first pitch) when Cease is scheduled to get the start. In his past 11 starts, Cease has allowed a combined 11 earned runs across 76 innings;. The Athletics are beset by injuries and bear little resemblance to the club that first played the Jays in late March.

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