Two Blue Jays mistakes costly in 3-1 loss to Houston Astros

RHP Kevin Gausman is set to start Thursday (7:07 p.m.)

Published Jun 24, 2026  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts as he realizes that teammate Luis Urias (not pictured) is going to be doubled off second base during the eighth inning of his team's 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on June 24, 2026 in Toronto. Photo by Mark Blinch /Getty Images

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A deep fly ball that wasn’t caught, a deep fly ball that was caught, it was a tale of two plays that played key roles in the Blue Jays’ series rubber match Wednesday against the visiting Houston Astros.

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For most of the evening, the Blue Jays and Astros staged a snooze-fest, with little offence produced and some decent pitching on display, but the overall sense of despair was decidedly in the air with Rogers Centre roof open.

Then in the eighth inning came a rocket launched by Houston’s Joey Loperfido, who had exacted revenge on his former team on Tuesday when he hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning to give Houston a win. Loperfido ended up at third base when the ball eluded Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho.

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Toronto reliever Jeff Hoffman attempted an unnecessary pickoff throw, resulting in an error. That allowed Loperfido to score as the Astros took a 2-1 lead.

It got worse for the Jays.

After Blue Jays second baseman Luis Urias reached base on a single and advanced to second on a passed ball, he was doubled up to end the eighth inning.

The sequence began when George Springer sent a hard-hit ball to right field.

Cam Smith made a great catch at the wall, while Urias clearly thought the ball was going to drop.

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Those two plays in the outfield encapsulated the Jays’ night, an evening of near-misses and missed plays that ultimately cost Toronto in a 3-1 loss to the Astros.

Houston escapes town with a series win, while the Jays’ loss dropped their record to 39-41.

Each team produced only four hits, but it was the Jays’ two mistakes that ended up biting them.

Houston scored an add-on run in the ninth inning.

The game ended on a successful ABS challenge by the Astros with Varsho at the plate.

Varsho had two of his team’s four hits.

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The following are three takeaways on a night Nathan Lukes, who started in right field and batted second in the order, went deep for his third home run of the season as the Jays quickly responded in the home half of the first inning after the Astros took a 1-0 lead, a night when Ernie Clement, who wasn’t in the starting lineup, pinch-hit to leadoff the eighth inning and lined out to left.

BAD VLAD

The struggles for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. show no signs of ending.

Under any circumstance, moving him down in the order will be viewed as some panic move, but perhaps such a bold move might serve him well.

When he lined out to end the sixth inning, Vlad Jr.’s batting average slipped to .277.

His night began on a groundout to short followed by a popout to third. Vlad Jr. drew a one-out walk in the ninth.

HIGH/LOW FIVE

By far the best part of Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage’s outing were the two hits he surrendered.

By far the worst part were the five walks he issued in his 5.2 innings.

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Walks have been an issue for the right-hander, who has had games where he has walked as many seven, while issuing six free passes two starts ago against the New York Yankees.

A two-out walk to the Astros in the first inning came back to bite Yesavage when he yielded an RBI double to Isaac Paredes.

Only once did Yesavage pitch a clean inning.

He did record five strikeouts.

On his 105th pitch on the night, a career-high total, Yesavage walked No. 7 hitter Cam Smith.

When Yesavage walked toward the dugout, the announced crowd of 39,264 threw its full support as Yesavage departed amid a huge ovation.

Toronto’s over-used bullpen once again was thrust into action.

Enter Tommy Nance, who induced an inning-ending groundout to complete the sixth inning.

Once Nance retired the first two batters in the seventh, Hoffman was summoned.

Hoffman needed one pitch to record the third out.

TO ERR IS HUMAN

Routine plays, difficult plays, plays where range is required, plays  where athleticism is mandated, Andres Gimenez has shown an elite ability at shortstop to make every play.

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It’s rare for Gimenez to make an error.

He is, after all, human and mistakes do happen.

Gimenez entered Wednesday having committed two errors this season.

His third played out in the fifth inning with one out.

His missed play on a routine ball hit to Gimenez off the bat of Jose Altuve didn’t cost the Jays any runs, but it would set in motion a sequence that almost led to Houston taking the lead.

Interestingly, Gimenez was responsible for the inning-ending out when he cleanly fielded a grounder and promptly threw over to the bag at first.

The last time Gimenez made an error came on April 30.

His biggest strength can be found on defence.

At the plate, Gimenez has shown to be a streaky hitter.

He will flash occasional power, but he also will strike out with some regularity.

Gimenez leads the club with 10 stolen bases.

The 53 strikeouts rank second.

He went 0-for-2 Wednesday.

UP NEXT

The series opener against the Texas Rangers on Thursday presents an opportunity for RHP Kevin Gausman to bounce back from a poor outing in Chicago against the Cubs when he gave up seven runs on seven hits, while walking four in two innings; Texas comes to town having dropped two in a row in Miami against the Marlins; the Rangers are scheduled to start LHP MacKenzie Gore; Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.

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