KANSAS CITY -- The Blue Jays are cold, wet, cranky and ready to go home.

Up against mother nature as much as the Royals, the Blue Jays lost to both on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium. After racing through the early innings before a rainstorm hit, Toronto was stuck with a 2-1 loss to Kansas City following a marathon rain delay that was made final after five innings.

Everyone involved was waiting for a window without rain to arrive, but when that finally came, things started to move slowly. The grounds crew removed the tarp and prepared the field -- even painting on lines again -- but it was determined the field had taken on too much water.

¡°It was too loose,¡± Blue Jays manager John Schneider explained. ¡°I disagree with the fact that it¡¯s looser now than it was in the fifth inning, when Bo [Bichette] fielded a ball through a lake and threw it over to first. I was told that it was ¡®different.¡¯¡±

Added Schneider: ¡°In my opinion, the field was significantly better than it was in the third, fourth and fifth inning. I made that very known.¡±

Schneider made a point to say that crew chief Chris Guccione was respectful and communicated well through the 3-hour, 38-minute delay, he just didn¡¯t like the outcome, which stuck the Blue Jays with a series loss.

Guccione and his crew were out with Schneider and Royals¡¯ manager Matt Quatraro multiple times, testing the infield dirt as it slowly dried, but the crew ultimately made the decision based on player safety.

¡°In this situation, the whole shortstop area and third-base area was so spongy and soft,¡± Guccione said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t imagine Bo Bichette or Bobby Witt Jr. trying to field a ball to their left or right, planting and trying to make a successful throw. That¡¯s not good for the game, and for sure, the safety of the players is the No. 1 priority. We want to protect those guys.¡±

Schneider reiterated the same sentiment -- that player safety was a priority and he didn¡¯t want to see anyone get hurt -- but the Blue Jays¡¯ side of the debate stood on the opinion that if they played up until the fifth inning with those field conditions, they could have kept going after the lengthy delay.

There was motivation on either side, of course. The Blue Jays wanted another shot. The Royals knew they had a win if the game didn¡¯t continue.

¡°You get to a point where, in my eyes, you're having the same conversation multiple times,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°But my opinion, John Schneider¡¯s opinion, they listen to us, but that's why you have an unbiased third party that makes the decision, because clearly I would want to play if I was them, and I don't want to put our guys in an unsafe position.¡±

By the time the Blue Jays dry off and board their charter home to Toronto, they¡¯ll find themselves with a .500 record again, 13-13 after dropping three of four to the Royals. These past three losses, all by one run, have shown the fine line this team is forcing itself to walk again in 2024.

On Thursday, the Royals made the big play on both sides of the ball, first with Salvador Perez¡¯s two-run homer and later with Kyle Isbel¡¯s incredible catch in center field in the fifth inning. It looked like Isiah Kiner-Falefa was about to deliver in the top of the fifth with a deep drive to center that could have gone for a triple, but Isbel tracked it to the track and made a leaping catch just as his feet slipped out from under him.

The Blue Jays will need to bounce back quickly against Shohei Ohtani and the mighty Dodgers back in Toronto beginning Friday.

If it rains again, they can just close the roof.