The Toronto Blue Jays had lost three of their last four heading into last night’s game against the Atlanta Braves, splitting the abbreviated series against the Baltimore Orioles and falling to the Boston Red Sox in the series finale before that. The Jays are fighting for the top spot in the AL East out of the gate, and as fans have seen in the past, each win & loss matters down the stretch.

Toronto was sending Kevin Gausman out to right the ship, with the Braves countering with right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach in return. Both pitchers have been on fire to start the year, and it was going to be a tough pitching matchup.

“I thought we did a really good job of mixing fastballs up and down, really mixing velos,” said Gausman. “First pitch 92, next fastball 95. It’s nice on days when you can do that, and not every day you can do that, and I dialled it up when I needed to and also kind of left my foot off the pedal when I needed to… there’s pitchers that I have been huge fans of that kind of done that their whole career. You know, I watched Verlander pitch, and you don’t see 97 or 98 until the sixth or seventh (pitch). If you can do that and get away with it, that’s awesome.”

Across the outing, Gausman went six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs while striking out six on 98 pitches, posting a 69.4% strike rate on the day. Each strikeout for the Colorado native was on a swing and miss, with four Braves batters chasing the splitter while his fastball and slider generated a punchout of their own as well. He generated 14 swings and misses on the day, eight of which came on the fastball, and the range on his fastball slotted between 91.7 to 96.7 MPH, with his average offering sitting at 94.6 MPH on the day.

The outing started off rough for the right-hander, who allowed a solo shot to Austin Riley in the first inning to put Atlanta up 1-0 early, but he was dialed in after that, with the only other run coming via a solo shot in the top of the sixth off the bat of Matt Olson. Of the seven runs he has allowed this season, three have come in the first inning alone, with four home runs allowed so far this season.

“You kind of got to flush it,” said Gausman. “It’s so early into the game, you can’t really think about it too much. He’s (Riley) a very good hitter. I have thrown a lot of splitters in that same spot over the past couple of years, and not many guys can hit that pitch for a homer, especially oppo. It was down and away, right where I was trying to throw it. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap. I thought we did a good job of not letting him beat us in other spots… I feel like I always kind of get tested in the first. If I can have a clean first, I feel really good about going forward.”

Gausman didn’t allow a runner to reach second base for the rest of the game, with the Olson home run being the only extra base hit he allowed the rest of the day. The veteran hurler also got some run support behind him, with the Blue Jays’ bat erupting for six runs on the day, five of which came in the fifth inning from Alan Roden and Anthony Santander, both hitting pull homers over the right field wall at an identical 106.4 MPH each.

The Jays’ bats would put up six hits and six walks on the day while collecting their first multi-home run game of the season, chasing Schwellenbach in the fifth inning and seeing his ERA rise from a minuscule 0.45 to 2.55 when the dust settled.

“They put up five (in the fifth inning) against a pitcher like that,” said Gausman. “It was nice to see Tony get going, Roden with his first homer, a big night for him. Bo has been swinging the bat great. It was a really good team win.”

The veteran hurler also had some positive comments to add about Alejandro Kirk and his play behind the plate.

“Kirk caught a great game, had some big blocks throughout that one,” said Gausman. “Stolen base attempt, I believe Riley hit a single pretty quickly after that, and it probably would have scored a run. Those little things can add up.”

After this outing, Gausman now sits with a  2-1 record and a 2.49 ERA through four starts and 25 1/3 innings pitched. He’s held opponents to a .174 average and boasts a 0.71 WHIP to start the season while allowing just three walks in the span, boasting a 1.07 BB/9 out of the gate.

The Blue Jays will look to win the series this afternoon, with Toronto sending Chris Bassitt while the Braves are expected to counter with Spencer Strider, who will be making his first big league start since April 5th, 2024.