Schneider: 'A lot of trust' in Hoffman despite struggles

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider continued to support Jeff Hoffman despite the reliever's latest collapse.

Hoffman gave up a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, putting more pressure on the Blue Jays and Schneider amid the team's losing streak.

"I know there may be people who don't want to hear this, but I've got a lot of trust and confidence in Jeff Hoffman," Schneider said postgame Saturday, according to MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. "If there's a situation to close out a game, I'll take Jeff Hoffman."

Schneider explained that he used Hoffman in the eighth inning Saturday to keep the right-hander on a more regular workload and avoid leaving too long a gap, per Matheson.

Coming off an inconsistent first season with Toronto, Hoffman has produced a 7.71 ERA and 2.04 WHIP through 9 1/3 innings this campaign. He's converted just two of five save opportunities.

"We all believe in him. We all love him. We all believe he's going to figure it out and get big outs for us. That's never going to change," Schneider added.

Max Scherzer started on the mound for Toronto, allowing five hits and two earned runs in six innings. The future Hall of Famer is one strikeout shy of becoming only the 11th pitcher in MLB history with 3,500 career strikeouts. However, the Blue Jays' bats once again disappointed; the team has scored seven runs in the past four games combined.

The Blue Jays are off to a 7-13 start after reaching the World Series last season. They've lost four in a row and six of their last seven games.