The Toronto Blue Jays appeared to be in good stead on Saturday, until Jeff Hoffman ran into trouble in the ninth.
It was a familiar sight as the hard-throwing right hander allowed five earned runs, blowing a four-run lead as the Blue Jays lost 6-5 to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Hoffman first allowed a string of hits, before losing the zone and walking consecutive batters. He gave Orioles leadoff hitter Taylor Ward a free pass on four pitches and then bounced a slider to Gunnar Henderson that walked in a run.
Recent Blue Jays acquisition Connor Seabold entered with a 5-4 lead, then walked in a run and gave up a walk-off single. Both runs were charged to Hoffman.
Hoffman started the inning strong, striking out Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo — who appeared to suffer an injury while swinging — on a sharp splitter. However he then hit Coby Mayo with a pitch and the Orioles followed with three straight hits that put a Blue Jays lead that seemed safe in peril.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 4-for-5 in the game and scored a pair of runs while Kazuma Okamoto extended Toronto’s lead in the eighth inning with a two-RBI double.
But it was all for naught as the meltdown snapped a four-game Blue Jays winning streak and dropped them back below .500 at 29-30.
Entering play Saturday Hoffman’s 31-per-cent strikeout minus walk rate was fifth among qualified relievers and his .492 batting average on balls in play was first.
However despite strong underlying metrics and numbers that indicate bad luck, his results — a 6.31 ERA and seven combined losses and blown saves — tell a different story.
Toronto will be aiming to win the four-game series in the finale on Sunday. Watch the game on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT.