TORONTO — It’s been a weekend of uncertainty for the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Friday trade of Yimi Garcia marked the beginning of the club’s roster churn and that was followed by Nate Pearson and Danny Jansen being shipped out the next day. There’s more to come, as well.
Yusei Kikuchi will also be dealt ahead of the July 30 deadline and so could fellow pending free agents Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier.
All told, there’s a level of unsteadiness pervading the Blue Jays clubhouse at the moment, but the outing from starter Jose Berrios on Sunday offered a dose of stability.
Berrios rebounded from a string of rough outings to shut down the Texas Rangers during a 7-3 win in front of 40,052 at Rogers Centre. With the win, the Blue Jays picked up just their second series sweep of the season.
The future of many players on the Blue Jays roster is unclear. What the team will look like, say, two years from now, is not known. However, Berrios has a seven-year contract that will keep him here through the 2028 season. He does have an opt out after 2026, but either way, his tenure with the Blue Jays figures to last beyond that of some of his current teammates.
And so, getting the right-hander on track for the rest of the 2024 campaign season would be a necessary and encouraging sign.
Berrios enjoyed a strong two months to open the season but was uneven in June and struggled all through July. He’d allowed 17 runs over 19.2 innings across his previous four starts and, in his last start, tied a career-high by issuing six walks.
On Sunday, though, his command returned and the right-hander looked more like himself.
Berrios twice pitched out of jams in the early going, escaping first-and-third situations unscathed in both the first and third innings. The right-hander induced key strikeouts in each of those situations, relying on an effective sinker and slurve.
His only blemish was Nathaniel Lowe’s run-scoring single in the sixth and, in total, Berrios allowed just the one run on six hits over seven frames, striking out five. Perhaps most importantly, he didn’t allow a walk.
The Blue Jays’ offence gave Berrios plenty of margin for error by putting up early runs against a Rangers pitching staff that was at a disadvantage before its first pitch.
var adServerUrl = “”;
var $el = $( “#video_container-456355” );
var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’).data(‘permalink’);
/*
if ( “1” == true && ‘undefined’ !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) {
var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}};
adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( ‘http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384’, so, permalink);
} else {
adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384”;
}
*/
adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384”;
var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes(“cust_params”);
var queryString=”;
if(adServerUrl_result){
var gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem(“theRED_loc”)
if(gettheDUFI){
queryString += “dufiid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
queryString += “ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
var ppid = “ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
}
var DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem(“DUFI_IP”)
if(DUFI_IP){
queryString += “dufiip=” + DUFI_IP + ‘&’;
}
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + ‘cust_params=” + encodeURIComponent(queryString) );
}
$el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=\”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\” %3E%3C/script%3E”) );
$( document ).one( “ready’, function() {
$( “#video_container-456355” ).SNPlayer( {
bc_account_id: “1704050871”,
bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”,
//autoplay: true,
//is_has_autoplay_switch: false,
bc_videos: 6359528151112,
is_has_continuous_play: “false”,
adserverurl: adServerUrl,
section: “”,
thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/6359528151112-1024×576.jpg”,
direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/video/blue-jays-varsho-crushes-homer-in-second-consecutive-game/”
});
});
var adServerUrl = “”;
var $el = $( “#video_container-532246” );
var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’).data(‘permalink’);
/*
if ( “1” == true && ‘undefined’ !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) {
var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}};
adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( ‘http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384’, so, permalink);
} else {
adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384”;
}
*/
adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6359528151112&cmsid=384”;
var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes(“cust_params”);
var queryString=”;
if(adServerUrl_result){
var gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem(“theRED_loc”)
if(gettheDUFI){
queryString += “dufiid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
queryString += “ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
var ppid = “ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’;
}
var DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem(“DUFI_IP”)
if(DUFI_IP){
queryString += “dufiip=” + DUFI_IP + ‘&’;
}
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + ‘cust_params=” + encodeURIComponent(queryString) );
}
$el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=\”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\” %3E%3C/script%3E”) );
$( document ).one( “ready’, function() {
$( “#video_container-532246” ).SNPlayer( {
bc_account_id: “1704050871”,
bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”,
//autoplay: false,
//is_has_autoplay_switch: false,
bc_videos: 6359528151112,
is_has_continuous_play: “false”,
adserverurl: adServerUrl,
section: “”,
thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/6359528151112-1024×576.jpg”,
direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/video/blue-jays-varsho-crushes-homer-in-second-consecutive-game/”
});
});
Texas starter Jon Gray was removed from the game with right groin discomfort after throwing his warm-up pitches in the first inning and was replaced by Jonathan Hernandez, who surrendered home runs to Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first and third innings, respectively.
Addison Barger added a double to right-centre field in the third inning off Rangers reliever Jacob Latz that plated two runs and pushed the score to 6-0.
Blue Jays reliever Genesis Cabrera surrendered a two-run homer to Josh Smith in the eighth that cut the lead to 7-3, but right-hander Zach Pop locked the game down from there.
The Blue Jays will now head to Baltimore for a four-game series against the Orioles, beginning with Monday’s double-header. Tuesday marks deadline day and so, the players inside the clubhouse will no doubt be braced for more goodbyes.
