Blue Jays: A Loss Attributed to Jeff Hoffman and Luis Urias

It's true that the Toronto Blue Jays have had to deal with their share of injuries since the start of this Major League Baseball season. But the fact that they currently have a record below .500 isn't just because the infirmary has been overflowing.

And we saw further proof of that yesterday (Wednesday) in the game against the Houston Astros. Jeff Hoffman replaced Tommy Nance—who had come in to relieve Trey Yasavage—with two outs in the seventh inning. He intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez before ending the inning on a groundout.

Then, with one out in the eighth inning, former Blue Jays player Joey Loperfido hit a triple off the center-field fence. Up to that point, nothing to write home about—credit where credit is due to Loperfido.

But where it really hurt was when the 27-year-old scored on an errant throw from Hoffman to Kazuma Okamoto at third base while Yainer Diaz was at bat. A throwing error.

And if you thought that was the Jays' only blunder in this game, wait a minute. In the bottom of the next half-inning, Astros pitcher Bryan King gave up a single to Luis Urias with one out.

Urias then reached second base on a walk. However, the inning ended when Cam Smith made a spectacular catch at the right-field fence on a hit by George Springer.

You might be thinking that's only two outs. But no—Urias was doubled off second base by Smith's throw like a schoolchild. A total disaster.

Manager John Schneider later publicly defended Hoffman and Urias after the game, but let's hope for Blue Jays fans that the message is different in the locker room, because this kind of thing simply cannot happen.

• Tony Vitello threatens to pinch-run for Rafael Devers at first base, prompting him to hit a home run.

• Dalton Rushing and Shohei Ohtani don't have chemistry.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.