Authoring arguably his best start in a Blue Jays uniform on Saturday, this is the Max Scherzer the Blue Jays hoped to see when they signed the future Hall-of-Famer in the off-season.

TORONTO — The results speak for themselves. With a 7-4 extra-innings loss Sunday, the Toronto Blue Jays lost their sixth game in the last eight contests. Sandwiched around deadline chaos and sweltering Baltimore heat, this marks the team’s worst stretch since April.

It was a strong trade deadline for the Blue Jays, who were able to add some good players to help them for the stretch run. It was clear that the attention was put on improving the pitching staff, with both the starting rotation and the bullpen getting some needed upgrades.