The Toronto Blue Jays could not salvage a late-inning lead as they lost 3-2 to the Chicago Cubs in a makeup game from June 21. The Blue Jays led 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning but failed to hold on.
The game was started by right-hander and Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease. He threw seven innings in a stellar outing, not allowing a run on two hits and 10 strikeouts.
Toronto put in their closer Louis Varland to start the bottom of the ninth, where he surrendered a game-tying two-run home run to Chicago’s Alex Bregman. They went on to lose in the 11th inning.
Following the crushing loss, manager John Schneider had some news on second baseman Luis Urías. He apparently sustained a quad injury before coming out of the game in the fourth inning, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
Urías suffered the injury when rounding the first base bag trying for a double, and was able to make it to second after the ball got stuck in the outfield fence ivy. Newly acquired utility Josh Smith replaced him, going 0-for-3 for the rest of the game.
Urías was traded to the Blue Jays from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations on June 20. In 25 games this season, he is slashing .240/.316/.460 (.776 OPS) with three home runs and eight RBIs.
The 29-year-old has played exclusively at second base whenever Schneider takes middle infielder Andrés Giménez out of the lineup. In 128 ⅔ innings on defense, Urías has one defensive run saved.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The injury has been labeled as “right quad discomfort” for the time being. The Blue Jays will next travel to play the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Friday. It is unclear yet if Urías will be active, though more information should be available pregame.
Toronto is 54-62, last place in the American League East and 15 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays. Even with selling at the trade deadline, they are only three and a half games back of the third Wild Card spot.
