Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Eric Lauer struck out nine batters on Sunday, as part of a 5-2 win over the visiting Athletics.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
John Schneider hoped his pitchers would strike out more batters this season.
This, he didn’t expect. The Blue Jays staff recorded 50 strikeouts during a sweep of the Athletics, a major league record for the most by any team in the first three games of a season.
“It’s our team’s 50-year celebration so I think 50 strikeouts sounds about right,” Schneider, the Toronto manager, joked. “This [sport] is so historical it’s kind of cool to be a part of that.”
The Blue Jays got 15 in Sunday’s 5-2 victory at Rogers Centre including nine by starter Eric Lauer, who gets hitters out with deception and location rather than by throwing hard.
They had 19 punch-outs in Saturday’s 8-7 win in 11 innings, and 16 in Friday’s opener. Between their first three starters – Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease and Lauer – they struck out 32, walked only three, and allowed just seven hits and four runs in a combined 16 2/3rds innings. The bullpen chipped in with the other 18.
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Cease struck out 12 in 5 1/3rd innings on Saturday in his first start for Toronto, the most in a Blue Jays debut in franchise history. He threw 61 of his 90 pitches for strikes and at one stretch struck out seven consecutive batters.
Following Kevin Gausman’s 11 strikeouts on Friday, Cease and Gausman became the first set of teammates since 1901 to each record 11 or more strikeouts in a club’s first two games.
“Every team is built a little differently,” Schneider said. “The Athletics are built around doing damage and with that comes the risk [of strikeouts].”
Cody Ponce will try to continue the streak when he gets the nod against Colorado on Monday night. Ponce, who pitched in Korea last season, was Toronto’s best starter during spring training. He made five starts and allowed just one earned run over 13 2/3 innings.
Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, left, and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrate a win over the Athletics at Rogers Centre on Sunday. The Jays are 3-0 to start a season for the first time since 1996.John E. Sokolowski/Reuters
Lauer was surprised when he learned the 50 strikeouts in three games at the start of the season was a major league record.
“Wow!” he said. “It demonstrates the work we put in during the off-season and spring training. We picked it up here at the start and showed we were ready to go.”
George Springer laced the first pitch from Athletics starter Luis Morales for a 367-foot home run into Toronto’s bullpen, his first of 2026. It marked his 64th career leadoff homer and trails only Ricky Henderson (81) for the most in MLB history.
Newcomer Jesús Sánchez made his first start in left field and launched a 3-0 pitch from Morales 417 feet to centre in the third inning with one runner aboard.
Then third baseman Kazuma Okamoto smoked a 420-footer to right-centre-field as he led off the fourth. It was the 29-year-old’s first major league homer after belting 248 in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.
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Teammates handed him the home run jacket after he rounded the bases and he proudly donned it in the dugout.
“I always watched guys do that from afar in Japan,” Okamoto said through translator Yusuke Oshima. “I never thought this day would come.”
The round-tripper came off Morales and left his bat at 110.4 miles per hour.
“What a swing,” Schneider said. “With each one he hits he is going to feel better. He is a really good player. He is making it look easier than it ought to be.”
George Springer celebrates his solo-home run on Sunday, which got his team out to a strong start against the Athletics.Cole Burston/Getty Images
Okamoto went 4-for-12 in the series and received a beer shower from teammates after Friday’s opener and another on Sunday.
“He has a very quiet swing but the ball explodes off his bat,” Lauer said.
Toronto’s final run came on a bases-loaded walk to Addison Barger. The team improved to 3-0 to start the season for the third time in franchise history and for the first time since 1996.
Lauer, who had struggled so badly that he went to Korea in 2024 in hope that he could revive his career, struck out the side in the first, had five strikeouts through three and did not allow a runner to reach base until there was one out in the fourth.
“Not many words can explain the feeling when you strike all three guys out to start a game,” Lauer said. “It’s exciting.”
The A’s touched him up in the fifth when Jacob Wilson doubled and Max Muncy followed with a two-run homer.
“That pitch I threw to Muncy is going to haunt me all year,” Lauer said.
Braydon Fisher, Tommy Nance, Mason Fluharty and Jeff Hoffman shut the Athletics down over the final 3 2/3 innings.