The Toronto Blue Jays’ depth proved vital once again as they edged out the visiting Athletics 3-2 in a highly anticipated opening-day game.
The day finally came. After an arduous winter that hosted one of the most polarizing offseasons and a World Baseball Classic to remember, Blue Jays fans were finally able to see their new and improved lineup in a meaningful game.
Before the contest, the team presented its 2025 American League championship banner to a sea of cheers in front of a packed Rogers Centre crowd. It’s the team’s 50th anniversary season, so they celebrated opening night by bringing out several legends from each decade of their existence to throw out ceremonial first pitches. After the dust had settled and anthems were sung, fans were clamouring for the game to get underway.
Kevin Gausman made the start for the Blue Jays, surprisingly his first as a member of the team. Although his lack of opening day starts may sound a little strange to some, Dan Shulman made it clear on the Sportsnet broadcast that he would have most likely started last season if he hadn’t begun the season on the injured list.
He was facing an Athletics lineup that saw improvements from last year, with added power, bat-to-ball ability and, most importantly, more reps for their shining youngsters. These rising stars include Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz, the latter of whom won the American League rookie award of the year by a landslide last year, putting up absurd numbers as a first-year player. He batted .290, hit 36 home runs with an OPS over 1.000. Wilson had an outstanding season of his own, finishing as runner-up behind his teammate.
For an experienced pitcher like Gausman, who’s proven to stay elite at his older age, this type of environment was nothing new to him. Three up, three down was the outcome of the top half of the first inning, as Gausman diced up the top of the A’s lineup with some disgusting cutters and nasty four-seam fastballs that reached over his peak velocity from last season. All three hitters went down on strikes, Kurtz even losing his helmet twice in his at-bat, having dealt with Gausman.
The next half inning saw the Blue Jays run out George Springer at DH in his usual lead-off spot, followed by Nathan Lukes, who made his first major league opening day start at the age of 31, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. behind him batting third. Other than a Vladdy walk, the Jays couldn’t muster anything at the plate against Athletics pitcher Luis Severino. The Dominican pitcher was fresh off a stellar World Baseball Classic campaign, where he played alongside Guerrero Jr. on one of the best teams ever assembled.
The next two and a half innings were much of the same for both teams, with Gausman racking up more punchouts as each inning passed, while his team’s bats were relatively quiet.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth inning that Shae Langeliers came to the plate for his second time as a member of the team when he sent an inside pitch out of the park for the game’s first run. It was Gausman’s first mistake of the night, and the momentum had shifted towards the visitors.
It didn’t take long for the Jays to respond, however, as Japanese newcomer Kazuma Okamoto walked with one out, followed by an Ernie Clement bouncing double down the third base line. Both runners were in scoring position with less than two out and no double play on the table. This brought up Andrés Giménez, a player who started last season on a heater and just won a World Baseball Classic title with team Venezuela. What looked like a routine fly ball off the bat of Giménez turned out to be fatal for the Athletics as it dropped between the centre and left fielders for a long triple. Fans in Rogers Centre were on their feet as the Jays scored their first two runs of the season off the bat of Giménez, who was celebrating at third base with his teammates in the dugout.
It wasn’t until the top of the seventh inning that Pitching Coach Pete Walker finally pulled the plug on Gausman, who pitched one of the most outstanding opening day games in franchise history. He set a record for most strikeouts as a Blue Jays pitcher on opening day with 11 through six innings of work, one hit and zero walks. Louis Varland replaced him amidst a warm standing ovation for Gausman as he walked towards the dugout.
Varland got into a little trouble in that seventh inning, though no damage was done and the game remained in the hands of the home team.
Fast forward to the top of the ninth, the lights went down, and flashlights turned on for the introduction of Jeff Hoffman. To say Hoffman is one of the most polarizing pitchers in the league is an understatement. Jays fans have a rocky relationship with the righty, who left an entire country in shock after he allowed the game-tying home run to the number nine hitter in game seven of last year’s World Series. Although his strikeout stuff is undeniably solid, he’ll give you a heart attack during the majority of save opportunities. This is shown by his home runs allowed statistic from a year ago, in which he led the American League for most of the season with 15. For a closer on a championship-calibre team, that’s putrid.
On the bright side, his highs are very high, and he can deliver some of the most emphatic half-innings you’ll see from a closer in a league round. The entire fanbase is hoping for a bounce-back season from the former all-star, hoping that he can regain his once-dominant form from not too long ago.
After Nick Kurtz was called out on strikes, Langeliers returned to the plate fresh off a home run earlier in the game that served as the game’s only run to that point for the A’s. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays and Hoffman, a couple of pitches later, the game was tied at two.
Langeliers hit his second homer of the game, and all Hoffman could do was put his hands on his knees and watch the ball leave the park.
The ghosts of old had returned to haunt the closer.
Hoffman was able to get out of the inning without any further trauma, but the damage was already done.
Toronto still had one half inning left to salvage the game and save what could potentially be another opening day nightmare. If there’s one thing the Jays do, it’s finding a way to win games by any means necessary. That’s exactly what they did.
For most teams, having the bottom of the lineup come up is an issue, but for the Jays, it’s their not-so-secret weapon. Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho both grounded out to begin the inning to set up a due-or-die situation for Okamoto. The Japanese import continued his impressive MLB debut with a clutch single to right field. Like earlier in the game, Ernie Clement followed soon after with a chance to either score or advance Okamoto, to which he did with another clutch hit, this time a double to left field that sent his teammate to third.
With one out left, it was all on the man who already drove in the Jays’ previous two runs. Giménez approached the plate with the utmost poise and delivered on all fronts. All it took was a rolling single into right field to seal the deal and send fans home happy as the Venezuelan embraced his teammates to secure the team’s first win of the season.
While not the perfect win by any means, it was a typical one for the team. Gausman even credited it as “the definition of a Blue Jays win,” thanks to some late-game heroics down the lineup and a bat to ball style of play.
Standouts included Giménez, who racked up the team’s three RBIs along with the game-winning hit and a triple.
Okamoto was outstanding in his first MLB game, adjusting perfectly to the new style of baseball. He recorded two singles and a walk, proving any doubters wrong that he couldn’t handle the MLB style. “Great vibes overall,” Okamoto said to reporters after the game about his first game in Toronto.
Finally, Gausman had a stellar night, torching the entire A’s lineup for six innings where he only allowed one hit.