Game #3 - Athletics (0-3) @ Toronto Blue Jays (3-0) - game recap

 

After the Blue Jays bailed out Brandon Little and pulled off an extra innings win and 2nd straight walk-off win, the Blue Jays were looking for 3 straight wins and to complete their 1st series sweep of the season. Eric Lauer got the start with Tyler Heineman behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF and Addison Barger was in LF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 1st sweep of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as George Springer led off with a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
• The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd as Jesus Sanchez hammered a 2-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Tyler Heineman
• The Blue jays added a run in the bottom of 4th as Kazuma Okamoto whacked a solo blast to the opposite field in right-field for his first big league home run
• The A's got a pair back in the top of the 5th as Max Muncy whacked a 2-run blast to right and into the A's bullpen; also scoring Jacob Wilson
• The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Addison Barger that forced in Heineman
• Luis Morales pitching line: 4.1IP 5H 5R (all earned) 2BB 5K 71 pitches (41 for strikes)
• Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless 9th for his 1st save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 5 A's 2

My Take:

• Eric Lauer was excellent through the first 4 innings, retiring 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the 1st inning. Fatigue seemed to hit him in the 5th inning, when he gave up 2 straight hits, including a 2-run HR to chop the lead in half. He did recover to retire the next 4 batters, before giving up a single to the last batter he faced. The Blue Jays should consider keeping him in the rotation when Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage come off the IL because facing a southpaw starter every 5 days can throw hitters off. Certainly he needs to be the long man out of the bullpen and the Blue Jays should keep him stretched out because there are a few pitchers with health concerns.
• The bullpen had it's best day of the season, holding a tough A's lineup to 2 hits, while walking none and striking out 6. Gutsy effort from Mason Fluharty, who was drilled on back to back comebackers. He came in and struck out the only batter he faced today. Brayden Fisher got 5 outs and Jeff Hoffman rebounded nicely after blowing the save in the opening game of the season on Friday. 
• The bats showed some pop with George Springer (61st career leadoff HR), Jesus Sanchez (2-run HR in the 3rd inningl first HR as a Blue Jay), and Kazuma Okamoto (solo shot in the 4th and first HR of his career) all went deep. The Blue Jays added an important insurance run in the 5th thanks to a patient AB from Addison Barger to force in a run on a bases loaded walk. It was nice to see the team give some run support to the pitchers.
• The Blue Jays were 1-2 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays welcome the Colorado Rockies to town. The Blue Jays swept the season series last year, outscoring the Rockies 45-6. Cody Ponce starts against Rockies righty Tomoyuki Sugano.

Game #3 Athletics (0-2) v. Toronto Blue Jays (2-0)

 

Game #2 - Athletics (0-2) @ Toronto Blue Jays (2-0) - game recap

 

Ernie Clement drove in the winning run in a 7-6 extra innings win over the A's

After a walk-off win thanks to a clutch Andres Gimenez, the Blue Jays were looking for their 2nd straight win and 1st series win of the season. Dylan Cease got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Davis Schneider was in LF and Myles Straw was in RF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 1st series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd as George Springer doubled scoring Myles Straw
• The A's tied it in the top of the 6th as Tyler Soderstrom doubled scoring Nick Kurtz
• Dylan Cease pitching line: 5.1IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 12K 90 pitches (61 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Daulton Varsho singled scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr
• Mason Fluharty left the game in the top of the 7th after facing 2 batters and getting hit by back-to-back line drives
• Two batters later, A's tied it in the top of the 7th as Denzel Clarke singled scoring Jeff McNeil
• Two batters later, Shea Langeliers hammered a grand slam to dead center; also scoring Max Muncy, Clarke and Kurtz
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Guerrero Jr. singled home Jesus Sanchez
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Jesus Sanchez singled scoring Alejandro Kirk
• A batter later, Andres Gimenez singled scoring Varsho
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the 9th as Kirk whacked a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
• The A's retook the lead in the top of the 10th as Brent Rooker singled scoring Kurtz
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly by Addison Barger that scored Sanchez
• The Blue Jays walked it off in the bottom of the 11th as Ernie Clement singled home Nathan Lukes
• Final score: Blue Jays 7 A's 6 (11 innings)

My Take:

• Dylan Cease fired 5.1 solid innings, giving up a run on 3 his while walking 2 and striking out 12. Cease retired 7 of the first 9 batters he faced. Unfortunately, his effort was wasted by the bullpen.
• Two games, two blown saves. After Jeff Hoffman ruined a stellar start by Kevin Gausman yesterday, Brandon Little was pressed into a tough situation with runners on 1st and 2nd with none out after Mason Fluharty was forced out after getting drilled by 2 comebackers. Little hasn't looked great since the all-star break last season. He had a couple of pitches that were touching 97mph, but he couldn't control his knuckle curve. Back to the drawing board for him. On the plus side, Spencer Miles, who was credited with the win, looked like he deserves a shot at a higher leverage situation.
• The offence bailed out Littl today with some clutch hits, topped by a solo blast from Alejandro Kirk. Jesus Sanchez came off the bench and scored twice. He was nearly picked off taking too long to decide to advance to 3rd on a soft liner that dropped in front of A's LF Tyler Soderstrom, whose throw forced 3B Max Muncy to dive back to apply the tag
• The Blue Jays are continuing to use ABS challenges wisely, overturning two more calls today (Kirk to get Cease a strikeout and George Springer to extend an at-bat)
• The Blue Jays were 7-20 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 1st sweep of the season. Eric Lauer starts against A's righty Luis Morales

Game #2 Athletics (0-1) v. Toronto Blue Jays (1-0)

 

Game #1 - Athletics (0-1) @ Toronto Blue Jays (1-0) - game recap

 

Andres Gimenez drove in all 3 Blue Jays runs in a 3-2 comeback win over the Athletics to open the 2026 regular season.

It's that time again. Time for the openung pitch of the 2026 season. The Blue Jays kick things off against the Athletics, who begin what is expected to be the second-last season in California (the A's are slated to move to Las Vegas beginning in the 2028 season. The Blue Jays won the season series 5-2 over the A's last year, outscoring the A's 52-34. Kevin Gausman got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. George Springer was in his traditional leadoff spot and served as DH. Nathan Lukes was in LF, Daulton Varsho was in CF and Addison Barger was in RF. Kazuma Okamoto was at the hot corner, Andres Gimenez was at SS, Ernie Clement was at 2B and Vlad was at 1B. Could the Blue Jays start the season with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The A's opened the scoring in the top of the 4th as Shea Langeliers belted a solo jack to left\
• The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 5th as Andres Gimenez tripled scoring Kazuma Okamoto and Erne Clement
• Luis Severino pitching line: 5IP 3H 2R (both earned) 3BB 3K 84 pitches (52 for strikes)
• Kevin Gausnan pitching line: 6IP 1H 1R (earned) 0BB 11K 83 pitches (60 for strikes)
• The A's  tied it up in the top of the 9th as Langeliers hammered a solo bomb to dead center
• The Blue Jays walked it off in the bottom half of the inning as Gimenez singled scoring Okamoto
• Final score: Blue Jays 3 A's 2

My Take:

• Kevin Gausman was spectacular today, firing 6 strong inningsm giving up a hit on a run while walking none and striking out 11. You know Gausman has all his stuff working when he is racking up the strikeouts. He struck out the side in the 1st inning and retired the first 10 batters he faced and the final 8 he faced. Only blemish was a no-doubter by Jays killer Shea Langeliers
• The bullpen was wobbly today and Jeff Hoffman certainly didn't give the Blue Jays fans much confidence in his abilities as a closer, Langeliers took him deep to CF. The good Jeff Hoffman saved 33 games last season (good for 4th in the MLB). However, the bad Jeff Hoffman couldn't keep the ball in the ball park and gave up a league high (among relievers) 15 long balls and blew 7 saves. He's no Trevor Hoffman, but he needs to be able to convert more saves and keep the ball in the ball park. None of the relievers retired every batter they faced.
• Alejandro Kirk made the Blue Jays first ABS challenge and successfully overturned a ball into a  strikeout. I expect to see more challenges on days where the weaker umpires are behind the plate, such as CB Buckner.
• Offensively, Andres Gimenez drove in all the runs (2-run triple in the 5th and a walkoff single in the 9th. Japanese import Kazuma Okamoto had a solid regular season debut, drawing a walk, collecting 2 hits and scoring twice. He had 2 putouts defensively
• The Blue Jays were 2-7 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, Dylan Cease makes his first regular start as a Blue Jay. The A's will counter with lefty Jeffrey Springs.