TORONTO – Like so many of his Toronto Blue Jays teammates, Jeff Hoffman doesn’t know what to expect between now and Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline. He’s been around the game long enough to know how the standings dictate what happens at this time of year, but he isn’t in the least ready to concede on 2026, playoff probabilities be damned.

“I know we have a very competitive ownership group. I know we have a GM that wants to win and everybody in the front office wants to win, they expect to win, so I'm hoping they kind of take a leap of faith for us a little bit, because we all still have the belief in each other,” Hoffman said Friday before earning the win with a clean eighth as the Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1, winning consecutive games for the first time since July 7-10.

“Not to harp on what we did last year, but it's close for the collective group … and we feel like what we've done this year hasn't been an accurate representation of what we're capable of. I think pretty much anybody who's a Blue Jays fan can agree with that.

“Obviously, we're out here grinding and trying to figure it out, but it's Major League Baseball, the guys on the other side are pretty good, as well, and they're all fighting for their lives, too. But we still believe in each other and we still love each other and want to go to war for each other. Until we lose that, we'll be in a........

© Sportsnet