Not sure how many more times I can write a recap like this. It’s getting to be way too much déjà vu.

Great starting pitching? Check. Relievers did all right? Check. Offense moribund again? You didn’t want that check, but you have it anyway. Matthew Boyd had another outstanding start, his only real mistake a home-run ball served to a great hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the Cubs once again failed to hit with RISP, going 0-for-8 in that situation and leaving seven men on base.

All that added up to a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays, a series loss, and a 2-4 road trip. Yes, the Jays are a very good team but presumably, so are the Cubs. They did not show that in this series, scoring only six runs. They did not show it on the entire road trip, scoring just 17 runs in the six games. Nine of those runs came in Saturday’s win over the Cardinals — just eight in the other five games on the trip. The pitching staff held up its end of the deal — the same number of runs allowed, 17. There just wasn’t enough offense.

Boyd and Max Scherzer matched zeroes for five innings. Even at age 41, Scherzer can still retire major-league hitters and look good doing it.

Scherzer got some help from his defense. On the very first MLB pitch Owen Caissie saw, he hit a deep fly ball that looked like it would be a double into the left-center field gap. Jays left fielder Davis Schneider had other ideas [VIDEO].

Tip o’ the cap to Schneider, that play had a very high degree of difficulty. If Caissie doubles there, maybe we’re talking about a different result for this game. Cubs batters hit the ball hard off Scherzer quite a few times, only to have them go right to Jays fielders.

Finally, the Cubs got on the board in the sixth. With one out, Michael Busch smacked his 24th home run [VIDEO].

Boyd absolutely breezed through the first six innings, throwing only 57 pitches. He also made this slick defensive play to end the sixth [VIDEO].

So the Cubs led 1-0 heading to the seventh, and with that low pitch count Boyd continued. Schneider led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. That was the first walk Boyd had allowed this month, after he had faced 60 batters in his previous two August starts plus the first five innings of this one. More on that leadoff walk from BCB’s JohnW53:

The leadoff walk to Davis Schneider in the seventh inning was the 84th first-batter walk by a Cubs pitcher this season. Schneider became the 33rd to score when Guerrero homered. That is 39.3 percent, just below the historic average of 40 percent who have scored. The Cubs’ percentage is 40.5: 30 of 74.

The Jays chose to have Ernie Clement sacrifice Schneider to second. That didn’t matter when Guerrero slugged his 20th home run of the year to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

Even with that, seven innings, two hits and two runs should be enough for a starting pitcher to win most games. Not this time. Boyd did strike out five [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].

Here’s Boyd on that home run:

The Cubs did have chances to score in the eighth and ninth, in fact, in the eighth they had an excellent chance. Matt Shaw led off that inning with a double, putting a runner in scoring position with nobody out. The Jays brought in left-hander Brendon Little, and Craig Counsell countered with Seiya Suzuki, an odd choice with Suzuki slumping. But Seiya drew a walk, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch.

Runners on second and third, nobody out!

Sigh. Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker and Carson Kelly all struck out to end the inning. What was odd about Happ’s at-bat is that he attempted to bunt — twice — before that wild pitch. Happ has exactly five sacrifice hits in his career, none since 2021. Why would you ask someone to do something he a) rarely does and b) hasn’t done at all in four years?

Drew Pomeranz allowed a single in an otherwise scoreless bottom of the eighth, and so the Cubs had one final chance.

Caissie, who hit the ball well in his first three times at bat for outs, struck out to begin the inning. Nico Hoerner singled and stole second, but Willi Castro struck out.

The last chance was Dansby Swanson, and if you didn’t see the game you have probably guessed that he, too struck out. You would be correct [VIDEO].

Don’t know what else to say here. The Cubs got outstanding starting pitching the last two days and only one win to show for it. They got mostly outstanding starting pitching the entire road trip and only two wins to show for it. Will that change when the team returns to Wrigley Field Friday? It had better, or this team’s going to be staying home in October.

Friday’s series opener against the Pirates will be started by Colin Rea for the Cubs. At this writing the Pirates don’t have starters listed for any of the three games in the weekend series. We do know that the Cubs will likely not be facing Paul Skenes this weekend, as his next scheduled start should be next Monday. So there’s that, anyway. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Pirates market territories).