TORONTO — Mistakes proved costly for the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night in a 5-3 loss to the surging Kansas City Royals at Rogers Centre. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made a throwing error in Kansas City’s two-run sixth inning and Nathan Lukes was thrown out at second base to end the game after hitting a two-run single. “Everything gets magnified when you’re not scoring and then you get a little bit over-anxious I think when you try to make something happen,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. The sellout crowd of 43,245 came to life when Lukes stroked a ball to left-centre field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Brett Bateman and Daz Cameron scored but Isaac Collins threw to cutoff man Bobby Witt Jr., who fired a strike to Tyler Tolbert at second base for the tag. Instead of staying at first base with Guerrero coming to the plate, it was game over as the Royals extended their winning streak to nine games. “If it’s going to be that close, I think you just put the brakes on and try to keep the inning going,” Schneider said. Toronto didn’t take advantage of its opportunities in the opener of the three-game series, going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. It was a tough result for a team that’s fighting to stay in the American League wild-card race. Toronto (64-69) started the day two games out of a wild-card spot. With 29 games remaining, the Blue Jays — who have won 16 of their last 27 games — need to continue that kind of pace to have a shot. “Everybody’s got to play well,” said Toronto starter Max Scherzer. “That’s how you win ball games at the big-league level. You’ve got to pitch, got to hit, got to play defence, bullpen, bench guys, you name it.” Scherzer (1-7) issued a season-high five walks but kept the damage to a minimum over his five-inning appearance. With the score tied at one, Salvador Perez drove in a go-ahead run with a fifth-inning single. The Royals tacked on two more runs in the sixth after Guerrero fielded a bunt cleanly but was wide with a throw to first. Toronto loaded the bases in the eighth inning but Ernie Clement flew out to end the threat. “I think it’s just little things,” Schneider said. “It seems tough to get a hit with runners on right now. You want to have that category tick up a little bit and then just playing clean, playing tight. “We gave away some runs today and missed pitches to hit.” Bateman had three of Toronto’s 10 hits. Shortstop Andres Gimenez, who returned after sitting out a weekend series in New York with a hamstring issue, had a double and reached base three times. The Blue Jays announced after the game that Spencer Miles would get the start for a planned bullpen game on Wednesday night. Right-hander Randy Dobnak was tabbed to start for the Royals. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026. Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
