The Blue Jays' series loss to the Royals was embarrassing on several levels

Whatever momentum the Toronto Blue Jays had came to a screeching halt over the last few days in their series against the Kansas City Royals, culminating in what was one of their most embarrassing losses of the season—for more than one reason. 

Toronto didn't just get pounded 13-2 by one of the worst teams in baseball. They got booed off the field while they got smacked around, and, to add insult to injury, got closed out on the mound by former Blue Jays' outfielder Anthony Gose. 

The Blue Jays slipped to 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Wild Card race after the loss, further shrinking their margin for error over the next month of baseball if they intend to make the playoffs. 

Have the Blue Jays finally hit rock bottom?

Toronto actually entered Thursday’s game with a chance to win the three-game series after winning another bullpen game on Wednesday night. They dropped game one on Tuesday after once again stranding an unfathomable number of runners in scoring position.

Things quickly unravelled, however, as Spencer Arrighetti surrendered a lead-off home run to Carter Jensen. That set the tone for the entire game, and the Blue Jays were eventually undone by a disastrous outing from Simeon Woods-Richardson.

The fans let them hear it in the top of the ninth when Charles McAdoo and Brandon Valenzuela misplayed a routine pop-up between first and second base. 

Somehow things got even worse in the bottom of the ninth when the lineup failed to muster a run against Gose. The former outfielder needed just 12 pitches to complete a clean inning against an offence that remains among the most lifeless in baseball. 

While it would have taken a herculean effort from any offence to win a game in which they received such terrible pitching from Arrighetti and Woods-Richardson, the complete and utter lack of any fight ultimately earned them the ire of the fans. 

Not all losses are created equal. The Blue Jays lost plenty of games in 2025, but more often than not they did so while clearly fighting tooth and nail for every inch. There’s no shame in losing when you’ve given your best effort—and this was nobody’s best effort. 

Between the latest injury to Shane Bieber, the continued struggles of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and some other teams in the race getting hot, nobody should be faulted for fearing it might be curtains for the 2026 Blue Jays. They have done very little to inspire confidence aside from a promising stretch earlier on in August against some good teams. 

There is no way around it: this team has been bad since April. They have to take more than a few steps forward without falling flat on their face. Blue Jays fans held out hope for as long as they could but appear to be finally accepting that this isn’t 2025 anymore.

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