The Toronto Blue Jays (2-2) captured their second victory of the season over the Tampa Bay Rays (2-2) with a 9-2 win. It was a breakout game for a few of Toronto’s offseason acquisitions in DH Justin Turner and 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who combined to go 5-7 with 4 RBIs, 3 runs, and 2 BB. To add onto this, SP Kevin Gausman, who dealt with a shoulder injury late into the spring, made his season debut on Friday. Everything clicked for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the final result was a 9-2 rout over the pesky Rays.
W: Mitch White (1-0) L: Shawn Armstrong (0-1)
Gausman Dominates Rays in Season Debut
Kevin Gausman worked his four-seam fastball – splitter combo to perfection, generating 12 swings-and-misses from the two pitches against Tampa Bay’s offence. Despite missing the majority of Spring Training, Gausman registered 6 strikeouts through his 4.1 innings of work, with 2 coming from Rays 1B Yandy Diaz, who had struck out only once in the 3 contests prior.
The 33-year-old ace sat at around 94 MPH with his four-seam fastball and used it mainly at the bottom of the strike zone to complement his splitter. This is specifically seen in Yandy Diaz’s second plate appearance against Gausman. The right-hander started Diaz off with a fastball for a called strike on the outside corner, to which he then went to two splitters down in the zone (1 for a ball, 1 for a strike). On a 1-2 count, Gausman struck Diaz out with a 96.8 MPH fastball down in the zone, capping off an excellent sequence of pitches to get a tough out.
Aside from a HR from OF Randy Arozarena, Gausman had a stellar day on the mound. The righty got behind 3-1 to Arozarena, to which Gausman hurled a four-seam fastball that caught way too much of the plate. The young outfielder crushed the baseball 107 MPH for a 384 FT HR to put the Rays on the board in the first frame. Aside from this one mistake pitch, Gausman’s outing certainly gives Blue Jays fans hope for Gausman’s 2024 campaign.
Overall Line: 4.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 6 K, HR
Offence Has Monstrous Day at the Dish
The Blue Jays offence pounded the Rays pitching staff throughout the contest, scoring a total of 9 runs on 10 base knocks. Toronto showed some power, too, as they crushed 2 home runs off of P Tyler Alexander. Furthermore, the Blue Jays offence showed excellent discipline at the dish, taking 8 free passes to only 9 strikeouts.
The scoring started right away, as OF George Springer roped a 102 MPH single and 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked on a full count to lead off the contest. With two men on, newcomer Justin Turner flared an RBI single to left field to score Springer, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead. After a Daulton Varsho strikeout, C Alejandro Kirk hit a ground ball up the middle that deflected off of the second baseman, Brandon Lowe, scoring Guerrero Jr. from third base. The Blue Jays ended the first inning with a 2-0 lead.
In the second frame, 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa laced an opposite-field single after the first two Blue Jays were retired. Tyler Alexander dealt with some control issues early, walking George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to load the bases. 3B Justin Turner stepped up to the dish and roped a 102 MPH double to deep left field, scoring Kiner-Falefa and Springer to extend Toronto’s lead to 4-1.
In the fifth inning, the Blue Jays showed off their power, demolishing both of their dingers in the frame. On an 0-2 count, Justin Turner crushed an 88.4 MPH fastball up in the zone 400 FT to left field. After Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk popped out, SS Ernie Clement continued his hot streak and slapped a single to left field, putting lefty-killer Davis Schneider in the box with a man on. On a 1-2 count, Tyler Alexander hurled an 88.8 fastball down-and-in that Schneider turned on, crushing a 102 MPH/369 FT HR to left field, breaking the game wide open with the Blue Jays leading 7-1.
To begin the 7th inning, former Blue Jay Jacob Waguespack took the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays. However, he had visible command issues, walking the first two batters he faced in Justin Turner and Daulton Varsho. After striking out Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement slapped a ground ball to second base. Brandon Lowe flipped the ball to SS Jose Caballero in order to register the force out at second, but with Clement hustling up the line, Caballero’s throw to first was errant, resulting in Turner being able to score and make the score 8-1. Toronto capped off their slugfest with an RBI single by 2B Cavan Biggio in the same frame.
Toronto’s offensive attack has been relatively inconsistent during the four-game series, with two games with run totals at or above 8 scores and two games with run totals of only 2 scores. The Blue Jays will need to be consistent in order to beat the Houston Astros and New York Yankees in their next two series.
Bullpen Arms Bring it Home
Toronto’s bullpen arms of Nate Pearson, Mitch White, and Chad Green all did their jobs to keep Tampa Bay at bay (no pun intended). While the decrease in fastball velocity for Mitch White is concerning (93.7 MPH average on Friday, 95.2 MPH average on March 22nd vs. Red Sox), he still went 3.0 innings of no-hit baseball. Only 3 swings-and-misses doesn’t get Blue Jays fans excited, but he can still be a low-leverage arm to conserve bullpen arms for following games, which is the role he served against the Rays on March 31st.
Heading Down to Houston
Overall, Toronto starting 2-2 at Tropicana Field should be considered a victory for Toronto, especially due to the fact that the Blue Jays were missing C Danny Jansen, RP Jordan Romano, and RP Erik Swanson. The Blue Jays are tied for fourth in MLB with 6 team home runs, an encouraging sign that Toronto is beginning to hit for more power, something that was visibly lacking in 2023. The Blue Jays will begin a 3-game set against the Houston Astros on April 1st, as SP Bowden Francis makes his season debut against SP5 Ronel Blanco for the Astros.
The opening series is officially in the books.