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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays gave up six home runs in 12-2 defeat to the Orioles
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Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 27, 2025, 18:30 EDTUpdated: Mar 27, 2025, 18:31 EDT
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That’s not the type of start you like to see.
On Thursday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays started their 2025 season with an Opening Day showdown with the Baltimore Orioles. Just like two seasons ago, José Berríos had a tough start but the Jays failed to comeback,  as they fell 12-2. Let’s take a look at what happened in this game.
Things started poorly for the Blue Jays, as Adley Rutschman hit a home run in the top of the first inning to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. The Orioles added to that lead in the top of the second thanks to a ground ball from Cedric Mullins that was misplayed.
Coming into this game, Canadian Tyler O’Neill had hit a home run on Opening Day for the past five seasons, including one against the Blue Jays in 2023 when he was with the Cardinals. Well, his three-run home run in the top of the third made it six straight Opening Days.
The Orioles added another run via the long ball thanks to Mullins, but the Blue Jays finally got a hit and run(s) on the board. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked for the Jays’ first base runner of the game before Andrés Giménez went deep to make it a 6-2 game.
That was the high point for the Blue Jays, though. Mullins hit his second home run of the game, this time a three-run shot off Chad Green, to give the Orioles a 9-2 lead.
It somehow got worse. Rutschman hit a second home run, this time a two-run home run, followed by a solo home run from Jordan Westburg. At this point, showing the home runs would just be overkill; just know that they happened.

Takeaways…

So that wasn’t great, there’s no sugar coating it. Let’s start with Berríos. Last season, his 31 home runs surrendered were tied for the second-most in the league. Since the Jays acquired him, his 93 home runs (coming into this game) were the second-most, and he was tied for the most home runs allowed since 2022. That’s not good, and Thursday wasn’t a good sign.
It wasn’t just Berríos who gave up home runs, though. Chad Green pitched a third of an inning, giving up one himself, followed by two home runs given up by Yariel Rodríguez. The six home runs given up in the game are the most given up by the Blue Jays in an Opening Day game.
It took Andrés Giménez 27 games to hit his first home run last season. Well, in just his second plate appearance with the Jays, Giménez went deep to score the Blue Jays’ only runs.
One of the three other hits came from Alan Roden, who poked it through a hole between the shortstop and the second baseman. He also walked in the bottom of the eighth, which is a solid debut if you ask me. If you’re wondering, Will Wagner and Alejandro Kirk had the other two hits.
This is the first time since 2019 that the Blue Jays have lost an Opening Day game. That came nearly six years ago to the day, as the Jays fell 2-0 to the Detroit Tigers in extra innings.
The good thing about baseball is that you can lose one game 12-2 and win the next one 1-0, and it’s still the same record: 1-1. On Friday afternoon, the Jays have a chance to even their record as they play the second game of the four-game series against the Orioles at 7:07 PM ET. Kevin Gausman is the expected starter for the Jays.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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