The Blue Jays And The Battle To Get Above .500

The Blue Jays have spent the first half of the season chasing one goal. Trying to get above .500

On Thursday evening, they did it again. After falling behind 6-0, the team clawed its way back before ultimately falling one run short. It was another comeback that almost was.

They keep fighting their way back to the doorstep; they just haven’t found a way to walk through it. 

After 81 games, the Blue Jays sit at 39-42, third place in the division, and are in a four-way tie for the third and final wild card spot, even with all the injuries and underperformances from key players on the roster. It's still a spot that very few people around baseball thought the Blue Jays would be at.

But before you can become a winning baseball team, you first have to get above .500. The Blue Jays have spent the first half of the season chasing the milestone over and over again. Four different times the Blue Jays have fought their way back to even, and four different times they’ve walked away still searching for answers.

Here are the four times they’ve had a chance to do so and what happened:

Opening Day, March 27th, (0-0) vs Athletics, 65.2% Playoff Odds

This was the only time this season the Blue Jays actually went above the .500 mark, but even then, the warning signs were there.

Kevin Gausman struck out 11 over six dominant innings, Andres Gimenez supplied the offence, and Toronto appeared poised for a smooth win on Opening Day. But after handing the ball to Jeff Hoffman with a one-run lead in the ninth, Shea Langeliers tied the game with a home run, the Blue Jays had a blown save, and the team was forced to walk it off in the bottom half

The Blue Jays ultimately won the game and, in turn, started the season 1-0. The Blue Jays climbed above .500 for the first time on the season. But even in the victory, the warning signs were there, and as we’d soon find out, it wouldn’t last.

Second Attempt:  April 5th @ White Sox, (4-4), Playoff odds 51.4%

After sweeping the Athletics and losing two of three from the Rockies, the Blue Jays entered the finale of the first road series at 4-4 with an opportunity to climb back above .500 after dropping the first two games in Chicago.

The offence never gave the team a chance. The Blue Jays managed just six hits, all singles, went 0-6 with runners in scoring position and were shut out for the first time all season. Eric Lauer allowed three runs over 2+ innings, but the lack of offence proved to be the bigger story as the Blue Jays were swept and fell back below .500.

Third Attempt: May 30th @ Baltimore (29-29), Playoff Odds 55.3%

It took nearly two months for Toronto to fight its way back to .500, but after series wins against the Pirates and Marlins and taking the first two against the Orioles, the Blue Jays had an opportunity to finally get over the hump.

They appeared to do everything right. Trey Yesavage battled through five innings, Kazuma Okamoto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. helped build a 5-1 lead late, and after Jeff Hoffman struck out the Orioles ' lead-off hitter, the Blue Jays had a 99.4% win probability to get over the hump.

Then everything unravelled.

Hoffman allowed six straight Orioles to reach base, turning a four-run lead into a tie game before Connor Seabold was called in to try to escape the jam, before Pete Alonso completed Baltimore's stunning comeback with a walk-off single, and yet again the Blue Jays found themselves on the doorstep of .500.

Fourth Attempt: June 23 VS Houston, (39-39) Playoff Odds 56.4%

Less than a month later, Toronto found itself back at .500 once again.

Despite falling behind early in Shane Bieber's season debut, the Blue Jays rallied behind home runs from Luis Urias and Daulton Varsho before Kazuma Okamoto delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning. With Louis Varland unavailable, Tyler Rogers was tasked with protecting a two-run lead in the ninth.

He couldn’t.

The Astros pieced together three singles and benefited from a costly catcher's interference to tie the game. After the Blue Jays couldn’t score with a runner in scoring position in the bottom half, Joey Loperfido’s three-run home run completed another heartbreaking loss.

Just like that, the Blue Jays had another blown save and yet again fell below .500.

This has been the underlying story of the Blue Jays' 2026 season so far. Kevin Gausman said it best: " It feels like we take four steps forward and two steps back." Since that loss, the Blue Jays have lost their next two games, falling behind again.

Every baseball season has its peaks and valleys, but championship teams know how to capitalize when momentum finally arrives. That’s been the difference for Toronto. Every time the Blue Jays have climbed back to the doorstep of a winning record, they’ve stumbled before they could walk through the door.

If there’s a reason for optimism, it's that the Blue Jays don’t need to prove they can fight back; they’ve already done that four different times. What the second half will determine is whether they can finally turn those comebacks into sustained momentum.

The American League remains wide open. The opportunity is still there. The Blue Jays just can’t afford to let their next chance to get above .500 slip away like their previous four.