Daulton Varsho of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts as he rounds the bases on his walk-off grand slam in the tenth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.Cole Burston/Getty Images
When he came up to bat in the 10th inning on Wednesday, Daulton Varsho had just one home run in the previous dozen games and two over the past 25.
On top of that the scuffling Blue Jays were two outs away from being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays for the second time in as many weeks.
“It’s no secret that all of us have been grinding a little bit,” Varsho said after he cranked a grand slam 375 feet to left field to give to Toronto a much-needed 5-3 victory. “Hopefully it will loosen up the club a little bit and give guys time to take a deep breath and relax.”
The Blue Jays had suffered a painful defeat to the first-place Rays in the 10th inning Tuesday. It has been a season full of setbacks for the 2025 American League champions so far, whether it is losing players to injury or being seemingly incapable to put together a solid winning streak.
They were two outs from falling into last place in the AL East when the left-handed-hitting Varsho lined a pitch over the fence to the opposite field at Rogers Centre.
“That was a big hit for Varsho and a big win to end a tough series,” manager John Schneider said afterward. “The more we can take these big moments and grasp onto them the better we will be.
“I liked the fact that we kept going and kept passing the baton and waited for the big hit and Varsho came through.”
The home run was Varsho’s fifth of the season and the sixth in his career with the bases loaded. It was the club’s third walk-off win and improved its record to 19-24.
Dylan Cease had another brilliant start for the Blue Jays, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and three walks.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Tampa Bay fell to 28-14 and leads second-place New York by two games. After a day off on Thursday, Toronto travels to Detroit for three contests starting Friday and then moves to the Bronx for four outings against the Yankees.
Varsho’s blast made a winner out of Jeff Hoffman, who gave up two runs in the top of the 10th and handed the Rays a 3-1 lead. Hoffman is 2-2.
Dylan Cease had another brilliant start for the Blue Jays, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and three walks.
The team kept blowing chances to go ahead when he was in the game. It hit into three double plays in the first four innings and four on the night.
Toronto went into the eighth inning trailing 1-0, loaded the bases with nobody out, tied it at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly by Kazuma Okamoto but couldn’t push across another run.
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Somehow or other Tampa Bay nearly escaped with a win despite walking 10 batters, including four in the seventh by Bryan Baker. Varsho’s four-bagger put a dagger in that.
“I was working out in the clubhouse and watching on television,” Cease said of the 10th inning comeback. “I was rooting. We have been struggling a little bit and every win is important for us.”
The Rays had won three straight, 10 of 11, 16 of 18 and 26 of their last 34 games. With a triumph on Tuesday they would have swept Toronto in back-to-back series for the first time.
Toronto plays 17 games over the next 17 days starting on Friday and could use a little help on the injury front but it might not happen.
Right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios met on Tuesday with orthopedic specialist Keith Meister in Dallas but Schneider said the club had not received the result of the examination as of game time on Wednesday.
Berrios, 31, was injured near the end of last season and has not pitched in a game in 2026. During spring training he was slowed down by an injury to his right elbow.
Dr. Meister is one of the pre-eminent experts in Tommy John surgery.
“There is nothing concrete yet but it is always a concern when you have an in-person visit with an orthopedist,” Schneider said. “We know [Berrios] is going to be down for some time, we just don’t know how long.”
Berrios has gone 53-44 since he joined Toronto in 2021 and it hoped he would rejoin the pitching rotation soon.