Toronto

Blue Jays

Truly bizarre. Bieber had never walked six in a game before, much less in an inning. Three of the walks came with the bases loaded to force in runs. Bieber said after the game that he was having a tough time gripping the ball after an hourlong rain delay to start the game, and he probably deserves the benefit of the doubt for now. He’s due to make his next start Monday against the Astros.

Springer is 12-for-34 with two homers, eight RBI and just two strikeouts in his last nine games. He’s batting cleanup right now, but since he’s heating up, the Jays could go back to him in the leadoff spot soon.

It feels like a precautionary move, but that’s purely speculation at this juncture. Guerrero will undergo further evaluation to determine the severity of the situation after being lifted for a defensive replacement in the fourth inning. He finished 1-for-2 at the plate. There should be an update on his status prior to Wednesday’s series finale at Nationals Park.

Not ideal. Guerrero was replaced by Kazuma Okamoto at first base in the fourth inning after going 1-for-2 at the plate. The 27-year-old has been battling a back issue throughout the entire season, so it’s possible that it flared up again on him. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

Toronto is making more of an effort to manage Okamoto’s workload after he played 93 games before the All-Star break. It’ll be Ernie Clement moving over to the hot corner in his place on Wednesday evening.

Urías’s home run was his third of the season. He hit a solo shot off Eddy Yean in the third inning. Urías has had a fall from grace in the past few years after putting up multiple seasons with at least 3.0 WAR earlier in his career. He’s seeing most of his starts with the Blue Jays against left-handed pitching, though this home run was off a right-handed pitcher. Urías is hitting .237 with an .826 OPS and four RBI.

Varland’s save was his 22nd of the season. He bounced back from a two-out single and a walk to strikeout Luis Garcia to end the game. Varland has a 1.02 ERA and still hasn’t blown a save in what continues to be a stellar campaign.

Scherzer allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four. He threw 75 pitches, which was likely his limit in his first start since June 10 due to back and thumb injuries. Scherzer was somewhat effective with four strikeouts and only one run allowed, but he couldn’t make it out of the third inning. The future Hall-of-Famer turned 42 on Monday. He’s lined up to face the Cardinals at home on Sunday, but not a recommended fantasy option at this stage of his career.

It’s been a nightmare of a season for the Blue Jays from an injury standpoint with García continuing to experience nerve-related symptoms in his neck. There should be some clarity on his status and next steps in the coming days, but it seems highly unlikely he’ll make it back with roughly two months left in the season.

Toronto manager John Schneider told reporters Barger didn’t require a full Tommy John ligament replacement procedure and is only facing a six-month recovery, which means he should be a full-go for spring training. The 26-year-old figures to be a popular late-round sleeper target in fantasy drafts next spring after a lost season where he was limited to just nine games due to ankle and elbow injuries.