TORONTO — For the first time this month, the surging Toronto Blue Jays will enjoy a well-deserved day of rest on Monday before embarking on a challenging six-game trip that will pit them against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. The 17th game in 17 days resulted in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees before 42,351 at Rogers Centre, but the back-breaking stretch that began with a win at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 31 finished at 11-6 to move the Blue Jays (61-65) firmly back in the hunt for an American League wild-card position. At the beginning of this arduous stretch, the Blue Jays also had to deal with the Aug. 3 trade deadline. “It’s a tough part of the schedule,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “They responded through some adverse times, saying goodbye to some teammates and that kind of stuff. “So you got to enjoy (Monday) for sure. They definitely earned the day off and deserve it. But we got to come out ready against a really good team on Tuesday.” The successful 5-2 homestand still saw the Blue Jays miss opportunities to sweep both the Boston Red Sox and Yankees with poor finales against their AL East Division rivals. Toronto has only two series sweeps this season, back in late March in their season-opening series against the Athletics and in mid-June against Boston. Still, the World Series finalists have turned their season around by winning six series in a row. Schneider was asked to pinpoint the change in his team’s course. “Pitching is always the most important,” he said. “I think the pitchers have done a great job. We’ve asked a lot of the starters, a lot of the bullpen. I think that’s what you grasp onto.” The offence has been inconsistent. In both series finales against the Red Sox on Thursday and the Yankees on Sunday, there wasn’t much pop in the Toronto lineup. In the series finale against the Yankees, the Blue Jays wasted another strong outing from starter Dylan Cease. He struck out 10 in his 104-pitch, 6 1/3 innings and only yielded two hits. But he did walk three, the first of which led to an early Yankees’ run. “It’s always more fun to be winning,” said Cease of the Blue Jays recent play. “The last six series have been a lot of fun.” The 30-year-old Georgian revealed he’s enjoying his best season. As evidence, his sixth-inning-ending strikeout was the 200th of his season. It was his swiftest run to the milestone, and set a Blue Jays record for accomplishing the feat in only his 23rd start. “I’ve really been taking the next step here,” said Cease, who has struck out at least 10 in nine starts in his first year with the Blue Jays. Both Cease and his manager agree that continuing to win series will keep the Blue Jays playing meaningful baseball in their remaining 32 games. “I mean, that’s a tough 17-game grind for everyone,” Schneider said. “To come out 11-6 is really impressive, with the travel and the teams we’re facing. So I think coming out of it you want to keep stacking series wins.” Up next Schneider confirmed Jose Soriano, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber will be the three starters against the Rays. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2026. Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press
