Athletics walk off Blue Jays 6-5 on McNeil infield hit
Jeff McNeil's ninth-inning infield single beat Toronto after Andrés Giménez had just tied the game with a home run.
Walk-off in West Sacramento
The Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday night at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, according to MLB.com. Jeff McNeil beat out a bases-loaded infield chopper for a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning, just minutes after Toronto's Andrés Giménez had tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the inning.
MLB.com reported that Giménez watched his home run in flight before jogging around the bases and flipping his bat in front of the Blue Jays dugout. The celebration was short-lived. Max Muncy opened the Athletics' ninth by reaching on a 42.7 mph tapper to third base, and McNeil's game-ending hit off closer Louis Varland was clocked at 51.9 mph, per MLB.com.
A costly missed chance
The loss mattered beyond the final score. Toronto's Blue Jays On SI reported that a win over the 57-win Athletics would have moved the Blue Jays into the third American League wild-card spot, since the Cleveland Guardians had lost 6-4 to the Baltimore Orioles earlier that day.
Instead, Toronto starter Dylan Cease was tagged for five runs, four earned, over five innings, according to both MLB.com and Blue Jays On SI. MLB.com noted Cease has now struggled in both of his career starts at Sutter Health Park, having allowed a career-high nine earned runs there in April 2025 while pitching for the San Diego Padres.
Manager's message
Blue Jays manager John Schneider did not dwell on the defeat afterward. "We've got to shake this one off and come back tomorrow," Schneider said, according to MLB.com's Theo DaRosa, a quote also carried by Blue Jays On SI.
MLB.com reported that Varland's ninth-inning trouble stemmed partly from close pitch calls, noting that Donovan Walton and Henry Bolte both drew walks on plate appearances with several borderline pitches ruled balls. The Blue Jays had already used both of their available Automatic Ball-Strike system challenges by the fourth inning and had no way to contest the calls, per MLB.com. Schneider defended his closer after the game, saying, "No one else I'd rather have out there than Louis. Good placement by them."
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