Photo: Toronto Blue Jays’ Jonatan Clase watches his three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Vince Cestone

SAN FRANCISCO — Once again, the San Francisco Giants gravitated back to their season low 15 games under .500, as the early Toronto Blue Jays offense proved too much for them.

With their 9-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, the Giants fell to 38-52 on the season. Starting pitcher Trevor McDonald struggled and couldn’t get out of the third inning, as the Jays tagged him for five runs in the frame.

But the trouble for McDonald started an inning earlier.

The Jays started the scoring in the top of the second inning. After Brandon Valenzuela led off with a single, center fielder Daulton Varsho then lined out. Designated hitter Sean Keys followed with a single, but then Jonatan Clase hit a home run to right field, giving Toronto an early 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Giants answered right back with a run of their own. After designated hitter Rafael Devers led off with a single, Jung Hoo Lee flew out to left. Then, Willy Adames struck out. With 2 outs and Devers at first, Bryce Eldridge singled. The next batter Victor Bericoto singled, bringing in Devers and cutting the score to 3-1.

But in the next half inning, the Blue Jays put the game away for good against McDonald with a barrage of singles. In the top of the third inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a single. The next hitter Kazuma Okamoto singled. And then the scoring started. The catcher Valenzuela then singled home Guerrero Jr. to extend the Jays lead to 4-1.

McDonald finally got an out when Varsho grounded back to McDonald, but the runners advanced to second and third on the play. Keys then hit another single, with this one bringing in two runs, extending the lead to 6-1. Clase followed up with another single, and then shortstop Andres Gimenez hit one more RBI single to give the Jays a 7-1 lead. With the runner advancing to third on the single, Eric Clement hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the fifth run of the inning, increasing the Toronto lead to 8-1.

The five-run, third inning essentially put the game away early, and San Francisco couldn’t muster a big enough comeback to get back into the game. The Giants tacked on two more runs throughout the game, lone runs in the third inning and fifth inning. In the third inning, the Giants loaded the bases with nobody out, but Devers grounded into a double play that brought in a run and essentially ended the rally. The fifth inning run came on an RBI double by Luis Arraez, who will for sure be traded by the August 3 deadline. Arraez went 2-for-4 in the game. The Giants were still down 8-3 after the fifth.

The Jays tacked on one more insurance in the ninth inning against Ryan Walker. Guerrero Jr. grounded into a double play with runners at first and third to make it 9-3 Blue Jays.

McDonald struggled in his 2 1/3 innings of work. He gave up eight runs on 11 hits, while walking one and striking out none. His ERA has now ballooned to 5.46 on the year. On the positive side, Adrian Houser came in on relief and was superb. Houser pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and striking out five. He only walked one batter.

On the Jays side, Spencer Miles also struggled but kept the Giants from coming back in the game. In his four innings, Miles gave up just two runs on seven hits, while striking out one. His ERA is now 2.95 on the year.

Up next, the Giants will try to take the series against the Jays behind Logan Webb (5-6, 3.66 ERA). Their task won’t be easy, as San Francisco will have to face Dylan Cease (5-4, 2.79 ERA). Game time is at 12:45 p.m. at Oracle Park.

Will the Giants finally fall to 16 games below .500 or will they stave off another season-low record yet again?