TORONTO -- It’s a classic “will they, won’t they.”

Through this truncated season, the Blue Jays have flirted with extended success. They’ve had some modest win streaks, shown signs of improvement and orchestrated a handful of moments that could make a fan go, “This is it. They’re back.”

Sustaining it, though, has been nearly impossible. Case in point: Sunday’s finale against the Yankees.

On the heels of an emphatic win the day prior, the Blue Jays were handed an 8-1 loss, settling for a series split at Rogers Centre. The problems that plagued them were more of the same, the stuff that they’ve been trying to put in the rearview mirror for a while now.

“It’s been a grind for us,” said starter Kevin Gausman. “Obviously, we’re not playing up to the level that we would like to, but there’s nothing we can do but keep showing up.”

Losses like this sting a little more.

It started with Gausman, so reliable a season ago, running into trouble right away. The right-hander yielded a first-inning one-out single to Juan Soto, who slid into the Yankees’ starting lineup just minutes before first pitch. Aaron Judge came next, clobbering a middle-middle fastball a Statcast-projected 423 feet to center field for a two-run homer.

Gausman’s struggles kept piling up. He pitched 4 1/3 innings -- his shortest start since May 11 -- surrendering seven runs on seven hits and a season-worst five walks with seven strikeouts. That included a bases-loaded RBI walk to Soto in the second frame, when Gausman allowed four batters to reach before recording an out. Gausman now owns a 4.75 ERA this year.

“[Walks aren’t] usually characteristic of me,” said Gausman. “I kind of pride myself in being on the attack, and giving away free bases, walking in a run [in the second inning], is not what I'm trying to do.”

But the Blue Jays’ bats had been heating up of late, having scored at least five runs in each of the previous six games.

Perhaps for the first time all season, there was a strong reason to believe the offense would pick up its starter and get Toronto back into the contest -- especially as Yankees starter Gerrit Cole showed some command issues of his own in his third outing back from the injured list.

That wasn’t in the cards, either. The Blue Jays couldn’t muster any extra-base hits, and whatever traffic they generated on the bases was squashed by Cole and his defense -- save for Justin Turner’s third-inning RBI single. The home crowd went from raucous to silent in the span of a few innings.

“It was a weird series,” said manager John Schneider.

These four games have been a microcosm of Toronto’s touch-and-go tendencies.

After a big win on Thursday and a blowout loss on Friday, the Blue Jays put together one of their best all-around performances on Saturday, taking command of the series behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s hot streak and Chris Bassitt’s steadiness. The finale didn’t just represent a chance to gain an inch of ground in the AL East, but also to build on that high point, to give everyone around this team something to hold on to.

Instead, the big statement was once again postponed. And if you keep postponing, you’ll eventually get ghosted.

“Every game that you don't win is an opportunity missed at this point, for sure,” said Schneider. “But yeah, kind of a weird series.”

The calendar is about to flip to July, and things aren’t likely to get any less weird.

On their way to Toronto for a four-game series starting Monday are the Astros, who have won nine of their past 10 games to get back above .500 at 42-41. The Blue Jays -- who now own a 38-45 record after going 11-16 in June -- still have time to mount a similar season-changing run, but the task gets taller every day.

“It was an inconsistent month,” said Schneider. “But hopefully, the offense can continue to do what they've been doing, going in that same direction. And everyone knows that you need good starting pitching [to win]. When we get that, we’re usually pretty good. That and the bullpen, I think, we can tighten up. Hopefully, a new month and a Canada Day [game] tomorrow is a good start to July.”