TORONTO – Jeff Hoffman stood on the mound at Rogers Centre, shaking his head as Christian Yelich rounded the bases.
It was the second consecutive home run that Hoffman, the Blue Jays closer, had given up in the ninth inning on Saturday, costing Toronto a 4-1 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers. Hoffman said he was shaking his head in disappointment as he allowed three runs in the inning and took his sixth loss of the season.
“Honestly, just want to be better,” said Hoffman, who took the mound with the game tied 1-1. “Whenever you give up a lead, or it’s a tie game and you give up that go-ahead run or whatever, it obviously doesn’t feel good.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that are trying real hard in there and you don’t want to be the guy that ruins it for everybody for the night. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
Jackson Chourio hit a solo home run to lead off the ninth, then Yelich followed suit. Four batters later, Isaac Collins hit a double to left field that scored Sal Frelick. Hoffman was then lifted in favour of Yariel Rodriguez, who got the third out for Toronto.
The win improved the National League-leading Brewers’ record to 84-52, best in Major League Baseball. The Blue Jays started the three-game series leading the American League but back-to-back losses to the Brewers coupled with the Detroit Tigers’ 5-3 win in Kansas City on Friday night put Toronto down to second in the AL, but it still leads the East division.
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The boos from the sold-out crowd of 41,424 at Rogers Centre grew with each run Hoffman allowed and continued when he trudged to the Blue Jays dugout. Hoffman said he actually appreciated the jeers.
“Everybody here’s trying to win. Everybody wants to win,” said Hoffman. “That’s a Blue Jays fan, so, I mean, it’s understandable.
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“That’s what happens when you’re on a good team: People expect you to win every night and that’s good that they’re booing. I like that.”
Hoffman (8-6) has 29 saves and 75 strikeouts this year but a 5.11 earned-run average over 59 games. He’s allowed eight runs in his past four appearances and has a total of seven blown saves.
“The only numbers I look at are the ones that I’ve blown. I don’t really care about how many games that I’ve won or saved or whatever,” said Hoffman “The one that I always look at are the losses, are the blown saves.
“Obviously, we need to do a better job of just coming in and doing my job and pounding the zone and doing it with good stuff.”
Kevin Gausman had a quality start for Toronto after he struck out eight, allowing just one run on four hits over seven innings. He defended Hoffman’s ninth-inning performance, noting that Chourio and Yelich both connected on tough pitches outside the strike zone.
“If you know anything about baseball, it’s more impressive about the two pitches that were hit for home runs,” said Gausman. “A slider off the plate, hit the opposite way. Next pitch is a fastball down and away, hit the opposite way.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap (to the other team). It’s unfortunate that, obviously, it happened in a big spot, but (Hoffman) is a professional, and we have all the confidence in the world in him.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that, despite Hoffman’s struggles, his job as closer was safe.
“We’re in the business of trying to win, right? You have to be aware of what’s happening in real time, for sure,” said Schneider. “You’re expecting the normal version of the guy to come out of the ‘pen. Hoff’s got 29 saves. He’s shown that he can do it.
“We’ve got to figure out, not just him, but multiple guys in the ‘pen, in terms of strike throwing, in terms of locating, but again, we’re going to try to make the best decision for everyone, to try to win every single night.”
Schneider then added: “But to answer your question, can Hoff close tomorrow? Yeah, sure.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press