TORONTO -- Guardians starter Slade Cecconi snapped off a 3-2 curveball to Jesús Sánchez in the sixth inning on Sunday, an offering that landed up and on the inner half of the strike zone.
Sánchez drove the offering over the right-field wall for a go-ahead two-run homer.
Sánchez’s home run proved a difference maker in the Guardians’ 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre as Toronto claimed the three-game series. It marked a sour ending to Cecconi’s outing, in which there were some encouraging signs from the right-hander who has navigated an up-and-down start to 2026.
“It’s a gut punch to see it end the way it did,” Cecconi said, “because I did feel like I was on a roll and back to myself.”
Cecconi was charged with four runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Two of the runs crossed the plate in the first inning, when Cecconi yielded a double, a single and a sacrifice fly. He held the Jays to a pair of base hits in the second through fifth innings.
Overall, the damage came via a pair of pitches: a curveball in the first that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined to left field for an RBI single, and one to Sánchez in the sixth. That was a key takeaway from Cecconi’s outing.
“[I’m] just working on getting that curveball back to where it needs to be,” Cecconi said. “That's the last piece -- I feel like for me right now -- is getting that pitch back to the weapon that it was last year.”
Cecconi’s curveball is a key offering in his five-pitch mix. When at its best, it comes out of his hand through the same tunnel as his four-seam fastball. Cecconi’s heater is his primary offering, but it moved in the opposite direction as his curveball, which he looks to throw low and below the strike zone.
When Cecconi’s curveball is working how he wants, it can help keep opponents from sitting on his four-seamer -- as we perhaps saw in his start Monday. Entering Sunday, opponents had hit .267 with a .467 slugging percentage against Cecconi’s curve this season, compared to a .141 average and a .272 slugging percentage in 2025.
Ernie Clement hit a leadoff double off Cecconi in the first, and Daulton Varsho followed with a walk. Guerrero’s RBI single came on a curveball up in the zone. Sánchez followed with a sacrifice fly, before Cecconi struck out Kazuma Okamoto and Lenyn Sosa to end the first inning.
Cecconi rolled through the fifth, during which Toronto’s order came up for the third time through, which has spelled some trouble for Cecconi so far this season. Opponents had hit .429 (9-for-21) with three home runs off him the third time through the order entering Sunday. They had hit a combined .244 (18-for-78) with two home runs the first time through.
Cecconi’s pitch count sat at only 70 entering the sixth, and he had been sharp through the previous four innings. Given the game was tied, 2-2, after the Guardians scored twice in the fifth inning, they rolled with their starter rather than ask their bullpen to cover potentially four innings.
“He had earned the sixth,” manager Stephen Vogt said.
Sánchez made Cecconi pay for the curveball he hung in the zone, before the right-hander finished his day by getting Okamoto to fly out and Sosa to ground out.
“I thought we saw a lot of good out of Slade today,” Vogt said. “Obviously, the first inning and sixth inning weren't his best, but I thought [innings] two through five he was as good as we've seen him so far this year.”
Sánchez’s home run was the decisive blow on Sunday, but the Guardians had their chances against the Jays. During the series, the Guardians went 6-for-26 with runners in scoring position and left 21 runners on base. That included going 2-for-8 with RISP on Sunday while leaving nine men on.
The Guardians put their first three men on base in the fifth inning via singles by Juan Brito, Austin Hedges and Brayan Rocchio. They scored two runs, one via a two-out double by Angel Martínez, but had a chance for a larger inning.
The Guardians will look to turn the page quickly. They now will welcome the Rays (16-11) to Progressive Field for three games beginning Monday.
“This was a back and forth weekend on both sides, and it's unfortunate we're walking out of here with two losses,” Vogt said. “We need to regroup. We need to get better, and keep our heads up and be ready for Tampa tomorrow.”