The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a 4-2 loss in the rubber match against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, with closer Jeff Hoffman at the middle of it.

Hoffman was brought in with two runners on and two outs in the top of the eighth, tasked with protecting a 2-1 lead.

The 32-year-old righty walked the first batter he saw, then allowed the tying run to score after he committed a fielding error. He then surrendered a two-run double to Miguel Vargas that proved to be the deciding hit.

It marked Hoffman's fourth blown save of the season in his first campaign with the Blue Jays, leaving the veteran one shy of the league lead shared by Kyle Finnegan, Tanner Scott and Ryan Helsley.

“We trust the s**t out of Jeff Hoffman. I do. It’s easy to point blame at him, but he’s been on the other side of us winning a whole lot of games," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after Sunday's loss. 

"It’s a tough stretch for him, but we know he’ll come out of it.”

Hoffman was not credited with an earned run in the game, leaving his earned-run average at 5.29 for the season. But it has been a shaky start to his second tenure with the Blue Jays organization that originally drafted him in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

The 6-foot-5 closer represented the Philadelphia Phillies in the All-Star Game last season and registered a 3-3 record with a 2.17 ERA with 10 saves in 66.1 innings. In 290 career MLB games, the Latham, N.Y., native has an ERA of 4.85 with 29 saves.

Toronto opens a three-game set with the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, entering at 41-36, four games out of the division lead in the AL East and alone in second in the AL wild-card standings.