Jays need ninth-inning rally to complete Opening Day win

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Before the Blue Jays and their fans could move on, they had to have one last giant group hug with their fans to put the memories of 2025 behind them.

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And that’s precisely what happened shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday at the Rogers Centre when tears where shed by fans and players alike in a cathartic redux of the joy and agony of last season.

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The ceremony, wonderfully orchestrated by the Jays, reached its zenith when Vlad Guerrero Jr. and George Springer — young star and old — addressed the sellout crowd and counted down the unveiling of the 2025 American League Championship banner.

And then it was time to move on with a thrilling curtain-raiser, a 3-2 win over the Athletics, thanks to a dramatic ninth-inning rally to bring the house down one more time.

“When you hang a banner, you’re hanging a bull’s-eye,” Jays manager John Schneider told his team early in spring training, an early warning at what awaits.

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They certainly saw that from the plucky A’s, who tied the game in the top of the ninth, forcing the Jays to deliver one more treat to their fans as Andres Gimenez drove in the winning run with a two-out single.

Exhale and celebration, all in one final result as the Jays recorded just their second Opening Day walkoff win in franchise history.

“That was kind of the definition of a Blue Jays win the last couple months of last season,” said starter Kevin Gausman, who didn’t get the win but made Jays history with his performance.

“If feels like we were just here. It’s kind of right back to being with the boys and competing and having fun and going out there, giving everything you got.”

The Jays are well aware of those challenges that face them, which is why having veteran Gausman as his Opening Day starter appealed so much to the manager.

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Gausman was at his best, not only setting a club record in his stellar season debut, but by setting just the right tone for a season brimming with such elevated expectation. He didn’t get the win, but he helped get the season started in style.

Opening up

For the most part, players appreciate the sentiment of Opening Day and the ceremony that goes along with it. But given the hype and the achingly long spring training season, they also are keen to have it behind them.

It was clear that this one hit a little different for Jays players, however, as they watched an emotional tribute to that magical 2025 season, first from their dugout and later from the third base line.

The fans showered the players with emotion, as the video played on the centre field big screen, in which many of the team’s supporters shared how deeply the thrilling World Series run affected them.

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Then the Jays, many of them clearly emotional by the show, returned the sentiment.

“I think our team did a great job of recognizing not only the 50th year, but last year, too,” said Schneider, acknowledging that the emotions came close to getting the best of him at times. “There was a point where I almost got a bit choked up because you kind of put yourself back in those spots.

“For us that went through (the World Series run), you don’t really relive it through the eyes of the fans too much. Being able to do that was pretty cool.”

It was an ideal way to transition from one of the greatest playoff runs in franchise history into arguably the most anticipated season, in this the 50th of those.

Another classy touch: The Jays had players’ family members on the field with the giant 50th anniversary celebration flag and later watched the player introductions from the Jays dugout.

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The Good of Gausman

The veteran right-hander, in the final season of a five-year contract he signed with the Jays in 2021, was as good as he ever has been.

The 11 strikeouts, through six innings of one-hit work, set a franchise record for a Toronto pitcher on Opening Day. And Gausman was lethal in getting there, allowing just a solo homer to Shea Langeliers in the second inning.

“Three strikeouts on 15 pitches out of the chute, pretty good against the top of their order,” said Schneider. His team has won six of its past seven Opening Day contests.

As tone-setters go, one of the clear leaders in the Jays clubhouse was the man for the job and delivered in a big way.

“The trust factor and what you can expect with the some extra hoopla and ceremonies and the timing being a bit off,” Schneider said of what he felt Gausman would bring to his first Opening Day assignment with the Jays.

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“Kev has done that in big games before. So when you’re trying to put a really competitive season together, it’s cool that you have a guy you can really trust and who’s been here for a long time to get the season started.”

It was also a welcome return to the most productive home of his career. Gausman pitched his heart out in Game 6 of the World Series, but couldn’t get any run support in a 3-1 loss to the Dodgers, that forced that fateful Game 7.

Typical of Gausman’s misfortune last season, his effort on Friday wasn’t enough to earn the win, as there wasn’t enough run support to maintain that brilliance and a 2-1 lead when he exited.

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A night to remember

Though it was a tight game, there were some moments that certainly brought the sellout house of 42,728 to its feet.

There was an Ernie Clement double in the fourth inning that was followed by an Gimenez triple that provided the first Toronto runs and the first lead of the season.

Gimenez saved his best act for last, however, with that ninth-inning single, giving him all three RBIs on the night.

There was new Jays third baseman and Japanese legend, Kazuma Okamoto, who got a standing ovation when he singled in the seventh, his first hit in the North American big leagues. Okamoto was also stellar defensively at the hot corner and scored that first run after drawing a walk. Okamoto added another single with two out in the ninth, getting aboard with the potential winning run.

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Clement delivered his second double of the night to sent Okamoto to third before eventually coming home on the hit by Gimenez.

Some Okamoto trivia for you: At 29 years, 270 days old, the Japanese star became the oldest player in franchise history to record a base hit in his MLB debut. 

“I’m glad I got the first one and I’m glad I was able to contribute in my first game,” Okamoto said through a translator. “The fans are great, louder I felt (than in Tokyo.) It was awesome for me.”

And then there was new reliever Tyler Rogers, who pitched a scoreless eighth and delighted the fans with his eye-catching underhanded delivery.

Closing time?

Not all was all joy, however, as one of the troublesome flashpoints of the 2025 season was revisited, that being the effectiveness of closer Jeff Hoffman.

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The righty reliever came on in the ninth with a 2-1 lead, an inning that started with a good omen as the Rogers Centre spectators got their first exposure to the ABS challenge system. Catcher Alejandro Kirk initiated the query that had a ball call reversed, giving Hoffman a strikeout of Nick Kurtz and the first out of the inning.

Unfortunately it wasn’t so smooth with the next batter as Langeliers took a miscue from Hoffman and sent it over the wall for his second homer of the game, setting up the last-inning heroics.

Schneider wasn’t going to panic about the one that got away, although nervous fans will have a different take. The manager pointed to Hoffman’s fastball velocity hitting 98 miles per hour, combined with the shape his closer is in, as being positives.

“He worked his ass off to get into good shape,” Schneider said. “We just have to continue to work to keep him there.”

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