One day after turning 23, Yesavage flashes ace stuff vs. Nats

WASHINGTON -- Rookie Trey Yesavage continues to pitch like the Blue Jays’ future ace. And on Wednesday afternoon, he was also their present-day stopper.

A day after his 23rd birthday, the right-hander allowed one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings to help the Blue Jays secure their first series victory in three weeks with a 5-2 win over the Nationals.

“He was in and around the zone, and efficient with his pitches,” manager John Schneider said of Yesavage. “We needed that length out of him today. Against a team that can hit some homers and score some runs … I think he just made good pitches all day.”

After Ernie Clement’s game-tying double in the sixth, Daulton Varsho knocked in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning infield single off Orlando Ribalta to secure Toronto's first series triumph since taking two of three against the Giants from July 6-8.

Varsho also helped Yesavage with two out-of-the-ordinary grabs in center field to deny Brady House, including a leaping warning-track catch in the first that may have prevented a home run.

“I kind of got turned around a little bit, but I found the wall,” Varsho said. “I knew he hit it well, so it was about getting close enough to the wall to see it, and basically, make my jump.”

Kazuma Okamoto added a two-run double in the eighth for his third hit, then scored on George Springer’s single to provide some welcome insurance.

That was enough to lift the last-place Blue Jays to 50-59 as they try to keep alive the hope of making a late postseason push -- while also balancing the decision whether to be sellers ahead of Monday's Trade Deadline.

“I needed this, and the guys needed this,” Yesavage said.

Added Clement: “That was big. We needed a series win. It was a grindy game today, so big win.”

After being promoted from the Minors to become an important part of Toronto’s run to the AL pennant last season, a shoulder impingement delayed Yesavage's 2026 debut until late April. He entered Wednesday having received only 3.4 runs of support per nine innings, the eighth-lowest mark among the 112 pitchers with 15 or more starts across MLB.

But even when it was tight, Yesavage (5-5, 3.73 ERA) rarely encountered trouble, striking out four, walking three and facing only four batters with runners in scoring position. Three of those at-bats came in the fourth, when Jacob Young somehow reached a splitter well off the inside corner to loop a go-ahead two-out double to left before Jorbit Vivas grounded out to second.

The last came in the seventh when Yesavage struck out Vivas on a 2-2 slider that dove out of the zone before Tyler Rogers came on to retire Nasim Nuñez.

“I think we all kind of saw the swing-and-miss [stuff] last year,” Schneider said of Yesavage’s combination of a four-seam fastball, a splitter and a slider. “But I think [this was] him kind of understanding that his stuff is good enough to be in the zone and let them swing at it and put it in play. So not chasing strikeouts and not getting into deep counts when you do get ahead and saying, ‘OK, here's my stuff, go ahead and hit it,' because this stuff is really good.”

Rogers got the one out before allowing a run when three straight batters reached in the eighth.

Louis Varland came on and cleaned up Rogers’ jam while preventing two inherited runners from scoring, then completed the ninth for his 23rd save. It was Varland’s second of the series, accomplishing that feat for the first time since consecutive saves against the Red Sox on June 16-17.

“Certain guys are kind of built for one inning,” Schneider said. “Louis is built for whatever you need. He's been remarkable, so easy to trust.”