The Miami Marlins (26-30) and Toronto Blue Jays (26-29) play the rubber match Wednesday afternoon at 1:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre. Eury Pérez (3-6, 4.91 ERA) takes the ball for Miami against Kevin Gausman (4-3, 3.38 ERA). The Marlins are fourth in the NL East. The Blue Jays are third in the AL East. Both records sit at 26-30 and 26-29 respectively after a Tuesday night in which Sandy Alcántara had the worst start of his 2026 season — 5.2 IP, 10 hits, 8 earned runs, three home runs allowed, four batters hit, in an 8-1 Toronto win.
The Marlins entered this series riding a four-game win streak after sweeping the Mets at home over the weekend. They are 4-2 in their last six. They sit four games out of the third National League Wild Card spot with the trade deadline 65 days away. Sandy Alcántara’s name remains on every July rumor list. The Wednesday afternoon getaway is a chance to take a road series and keep the math alive into June.
The Sandy Story From Tuesday
The grand slam off Jesús Sánchez in the sixth inning Tuesday was the moment. Sánchez, the 28-year-old Dominican right fielder, was acquired by Toronto from the Marlins in the offseason — and he hit his first career grand slam off Sandy on the 93rd pitch of the night, a fly ball to deep right that turned a 4-1 Toronto lead into 8-1. The Blue Jays’ Dominican former-Marlin prospect drove in four runs against his old organization’s ace. The bullpen pitcher who scouted and developed him on the way up.
Before the slam, Ernie Clement had homered in the second inning on a pitch 3.76 feet off the ground — the highest pitch Alcántara has ever allowed a home run on in the Statcast era. Yohendrick Piñango, the 24-year-old Venezuelan left fielder, hit his second home run of the season off Sandy in the sixth. Alcántara is now 3-4 with a 4.66 ERA. He has allowed three home runs in two of his last four starts.
Eury Pérez Faces Gausman
Eury Pérez is coming off the cleanest start of his 2026 return. Friday at loanDepot park he went 6.1 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits in the 2-1 win over the New York Mets that sparked Miami’s weekend sweep. The 23-year-old Dominican right-hander is making his 12th start. He has a 4.66 ERA across his last seven starts. The strikeout rate (9.66 per nine innings) has been there. The wins have not — he is 2-5 across those seven starts despite striking out 43 batters in 38.2 innings.
Kevin Gausman is the Blue Jays’ rotation anchor with Max Scherzer, José Berríos, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, and Bowden Francis all on the injured list. The 35-year-old American right-hander is 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA across 11 starts and last pitched Friday at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates — 6.2 innings, one earned run, eight strikeouts. He is holding opposing hitters to a .238 average. This is the Marlins’ chance against a quality starter on the road, in front of 40,000-plus, with the rubber game on the line.
The International Cast On The Field
The Blue Jays put nine countries on their active roster. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the franchise face, was born in Montreal and plays for the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic — he is listed day-to-day with an elbow issue but has been in Toronto’s recent lineups. Andrés Giménez (Venezuela) plays short. Kazuma Okamoto, the 30-year-old Japanese third baseman in his first Major League season, has 10 home runs and drove in a run Tuesday. Brandon Valenzuela (Mexico) caught Tuesday. Lenyn Sosa (Venezuela) plays first base. Adam Macko, the 25-year-old Slovak-born left-hander, threw two-thirds of a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s win — Macko is among the few Slovak-born players in Major League Baseball history.
Sánchez and Piñango (Venezuela) joined Clement and Daulton Varsho in doing the damage Tuesday. The Blue Jays’ lineup carries six players born outside the United States.
Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Adam Macko reacts after the last out of the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., de los Azulejos de Toronto, celebra mientras recorre las bases tras conectar un jonrón solitario contra los Tigres de Detroit en la primera entrada de un partido de béisbol, el domingo 17 de mayo de 2026, en Detroit. (Foto AP/Lon Horwedel)
Toronto Blue Jays first base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27), prays before a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Miami Marlins pitcher Eury Pérez delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 17, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
The Marlins’ international thread runs alongside it. Eury Pérez (Dominican Republic) starts Wednesday. Otto Lopez is hitting .330, the highest mark on the team. Lopez was born in Panama and plays for Team Canada at the WBC — a Panamanian-born Canadian playing in Toronto on Wednesday is the kind of detail this beat exists to surface. Liam Hicks (Canada) has 11 home runs and 44 RBIs, the latter still ranked third in MLB. Owen Caissie (Canada) has been the Marlins’ surprise outfield bat. Heriberto Hernández (Dominican Republic) drove in Miami’s lone run Tuesday. Jakob Marsee is American-born but plays for Team Italy at the WBC — he stole his 14th base of the season Tuesday and scored Miami’s one run. Javier Sanoja (Venezuela) went 2-for-3 in the loss.
Eleven Marlins represented their countries at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The roster across the dugout this week has a full nine-country footprint of its own. The two clubs in the basements of their respective divisions have arrived there with two of the most international rosters in the game.
Down On The Farm
The Marlins’ pipeline is doing its work even as the Major League roster scuffles. Aiva Arquette, the No. 3 organizational prospect, was promoted to Double-A Pensacola this month. Thomas White, the No. 1 prospect, is at Triple-A Jacksonville. Dillon Lewis, the No. 10 prospect and a World Baseball Network favorite, is at Double-A. Joe Mack, the No. 4 prospect and the Marlins’ rookie catcher, is on this active roster and has the kind of pop-time numbers that will make a runner think twice — though Tuesday he caught Sandy’s worst.
The Major League team has paid a different price. Robby Snelling will miss the rest of 2026 with UCL surgery. Braxton Garrett was demoted to Triple-A Jacksonville after two rough starts. Griffin Conine is on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. The rotation Wednesday is what’s left, and Eury Pérez is its best chance at this stage of the year.
How To Watch
- Time: 1:07 p.m. ET
- Venue: Rogers Centre, Toronto
- TV: Marlins.TV · Sportsnet (Toronto)
- Radio: WQAM 560 AM · WAQI 710 AM (Spanish) · SN590 The Fan (Toronto)
- Streaming: MLB.TV · Fubo
What’s At Stake
The Marlins are four games out of the third NL Wild Card. They are 8-13 on the road. Taking the rubber match in Toronto on a 60-degree Wednesday afternoon would give Miami its first road series win in roughly a month and keep the Mets, who are now a game and a half behind in the NL East after the weekend sweep, looking up. The Blue Jays want to climb back to .500 and back toward the Yankees and Rays at the top of the AL East.
After this one, the Marlins fly to Citi Field for three more against the Mets this weekend. Three of the bottom teams in baseball — Marlins, Mets, Blue Jays — all trying to make their May count.
First pitch, 1:07. Eury Pérez gets the ball.
— MT
