Frustration is mounting in Toronto

During the All-Star break, it was said that the team had to play at an unsustainable pace to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Actually, no: the first step was mainly to string together wins so the front office could consider making trades at the deadline.

And racking up wins didn't necessarily mean winning 14 in a row like the Red Sox are doing right now.

That's pretty crazy.

What it meant was staying in the standings and showing Ross Atkins that the team is hungry.

And let's just say that's not what's happening.

Since returning from the break, the Blue Jays are 1-3. Yesterday, they were lifeless in a 7-1 loss.

Dylan Cease (three earned runs in six innings) was let down by his defense and his team's lack of offense. He knows it's not the coaches' fault—what's happening…

He finds the situation frustrating. And that's normal.

John Schneider, too, has shown his frustration. He's not frustrated with the guys' effort—which he believes is there. But he's upset about the results, of course.

And Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is frustrated, too. We saw him wanting to smash his helmet after yet another unsuccessful at-bat.

The manager may have tried to show confidence in him in front of the media, but the problem runs deeper than that.

The Blue Jays are 5.5 games out of the playoffs, and it's becoming increasingly likely that the team will make trades at the deadline.

Buying wouldn't make sense at this point.

• The National League standings. The Brewers have the best record in baseball.

• Things got heated in New York.

• Andrew McCutchen, Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Paul Goldschmidt, and Manny Machado are the other active players with 2,000 hits.

• Shohei Ohtani is set to throw a session in the bullpen this weekend, if all goes well.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.