Louis Varland didn’t have it easy, but he pulled off a save

The Blue Jays announced yesterday that Jeff Hoffman would no longer be the closer for the time being.

In yesterday's game, the team trailed for the entire match. John Schneider therefore didn't get the chance to make his debut in the first game of the club's “closer-by-committee” era.

But today was a different story.

Kevin Gausman (thank goodness he's here) pitched well: he allowed just two runs over 6.2 innings against the Guardians' batters. Mason Fluharty finished the seventh, and Tyler Rogers came in to get the next three outs.

In the ninth, Louis Varland came in with a three-run lead. And as the closer, he made things… interesting.

After striking out Jose Ramirez, he let Rhys Hoskins and George Valera reach base. Kyle Manzardo drove in a run with a double, and Juan Brito drew a walk.

With the score 5-3, he struck out the last two batters of the game. But still: it wasn't easy. He made things more complicated than he usually does. John Schneider must have been sweating.

Did the pressure get to him in his second career save?

The Blue Jays hold on for the win to even up the series against the Guardians! pic.twitter.com/qcUoDbfqYI

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 25, 2026

Luckily, Varland was working with a three-run lead. Otherwise, it could have been more complicated. But since Varland is having a good season, he would have been forgiven more easily, let's say.

We'll see how the manager plays his cards in the short term.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.