Instant Reaction: Blue Jays start a season 3-0 for the first time in 30 years with victory over Athletics<\/p>\n
After back-to-back walk-off wins on Friday<\/a> and Saturday<\/a>, the Blue Jays had a much simpler game on Sunday, defeating the Athletics by a score of 5-2 after jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Let\u2019s take a look at what went on in this one.<\/p>\n The Blue Jays got off to a terrific start in the first inning. Eric Lauer struck out the side in the top half of the first, and George Springer hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw. That put the Jays up 1-0.<\/p>\n It’s a first-pitch Springer dinger!<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5 Sportsnet | #Bluejays<\/a> <\/p>\n After a scoreless second inning, the Blue Jays added two more runs. Tyler Heineman got on base with a single, followed by a George Springer lineout to Canadian Denzel Clarke. Up stepped Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez with two outs, as the left-handed batter smoked it to deep centre field for a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n Welcome to Toronto, Jesus Sanchez!<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5 Sportsnet | #Bluejays<\/a> <\/p>\n Kazuma Okamoto with his first Major League home run!<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5 Sportsnet | #Bluejays<\/a> <\/p>\n Lauer\u2019s lone blemish this game came in the top of the third, finally giving up a hit, then a line drive home run to Max Muncy to cut the Jays\u2019 lead in half. Thankfully, the Jays got one of those runs back, as Addison Barger walked with the bases loaded to make it 5-2. The Blue Jays\u2019 bullpen did the rest.<\/p>\n Takeaways\u2026This was a historic series opener for the Blue Jays\u2019 pitching staff. After both Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease<\/a> struck out 11 and 12 respectively, Eric Lauer struck out nine in five and one-third innings. Over the weekend, the Blue Jays\u2019 starter faced 61 batters and struck out 32 of them. They also gave up four earned runs and three walks, just incredible.<\/p>\n Lauer gets Rooker swinging to strike out the side!<\/p>\n