<p>The Toronto Blue Jays were in for a tough test on Jackie Robinson Day, with the club looking to find a way to best not only the Braves bats, who torched Easton Lucas for eight runs yesterday, but do it against one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball to start the season in Spencer Schwellenbach. When the dust settled, it was the Blue Jays who were victorious, chasing Schwellenbach in the fifth inning after the right-hander allowed six runs on the day, including Alan Roden&#8217;s first big league homer and an Anthony Santander three-run shot.</p>
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<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s going to try and get ahead of you, and we talked about that before the game,&#8221; said manager John Schneider. &#8220;Against a guy like that, that&#8217;s probably your best shot, guys are ready to hit early and avoid those two-strike counts&#8230; that was part of the plan.&#8221;</p>
<p>Schwellenbach entered today&#8217;s contest with the best ERA mark in the Major Leagues (0.45) and had not allowed more than one run through his previous three starts. The Blue Jays tagged him for six hits and two walks, and the six runs allowed saw his ERA climb over two whole points (2.55). All but two of the Blue Jays&#8217; six hits against the right-hander came on two pitches or more, with Toronto&#8217;s bats attacking the zone early.</p>
<p>Alan Roden notched the first home run of his big league career, attacking a first pitch curveball that caught too much of the plate. The offering was quickly deposited over the right field wall, leaving the bat at 106.4 MPH and landing 397 feet. The shot put two runs on the board for the Blue Jays, as a Myles Straw single before Roden&#8217;s at-bat put the runner on first.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rode&#39; WORK 😤 </p>
<p>Alan Roden&#39;s FIRST Big League blast! <a href="https://t.co/M4K1qz9WRr">pic.twitter.com/M4K1qz9WRr</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1912300869992980698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Roden also accounted for the first run of the day, hustling out a groundball hit right to third baseman Austin Riley and sliding just under the catcher&#8217;s glove for Toronto&#8217;s first run of the game in the third inning.</p>
<p>&#8220;The excitement of the home run is one thing,&#8221; said Roden. &#8220;Being greeted by teammates, George said that I was going to hit a homer today, and I was like, &#8216;I hope you&#8217;re right&#8217;&#8230; Team hitting is such a momentum thing, and anything I can do to contribute to that is going to be a big deal.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not looking to miss out on the fun, Anthony Santander followed suit a few batters later with a right field home run of his own, launching the ball at an identical 106.4 MPH off the bat while travelling a few more feet at 407. The switch-hitter attacked a first pitch cutter that caught the heart of the plate, and he had both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on base thanks to a double and a walk, respectively. The door was blown wide open in the fifth inning, which eventually led to Schwellenbach&#8217;s departure a couple of batters later.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I can&#39;t believe my eyes.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> have hit two home runs this inning. Anthony Santander just broke the game open with a three-run shot.</p>
<p>A new day has dawned. <a href="https://t.co/BGkNYJnLBw">pic.twitter.com/BGkNYJnLBw</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1912302094268223667?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Toronto sent one of their top arms to the mound today in response, with Kevin Gausman looking to keep a steady streak going after an impressive showing in Boston last week where he pitched eight clean innings with 10 K&#8217;s.</p>
<p>Gausman finished the day with two runs allowed (both solo home runs) through six innings, allowing six hits with no walks while striking out six. He finished the day with a 69.4% strike rate and ran his pitch count a little high early in the game with some tough counts and elevated at-bats with some foul-offs by the Atlanta Braves batters. This outing has Gausman&#8217;s ERA sitting at 2.49 through his first four starts, and he has yet to allow more than three runs in any outing out of the gate while limiting the free passes.</p>
<p>&#8220;When Kevin gets into a groove, he&#8217;s as good as anybody,&#8221; said Schneider. &#8220;He&#8217;s been able to maintain his stuff through every one of his outings. Those first inning runs, those happened, but I think once he gets into a groove, you can really count on him.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Blue Jays bullpen followed with three innings of one-run baseball thanks to a solo shot in the ninth inning from Ozzie Albies, but Toronto walked away with the victory and improved to 10-8 on the season.</p>
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The Toronto Blue Jays were in for a tough test on Jackie Robinson Day, with the club looking to find a way to best not only the Braves bats, who torched Easton Lucas for eight runs yesterday, but do it against one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball to start the season in Spencer Schwellenbach. When the dust settled, it was the Blue Jays who were victorious, chasing Schwellenbach in the fifth inning after the right-hander allowed six runs on the day, including Alan Roden's first big league homer and an Anthony Santander three-run shot.
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"He's going to try and get ahead of you, and we talked about that before the game," said manager John Schneider. "Against a guy like that, that's probably your best shot, guys are ready to hit early and avoid those two-strike counts... that was part of the plan."

Schwellenbach entered today's contest with the best ERA mark in the Major Leagues (0.45) and had not allowed more than one run through his previous three starts. The Blue Jays tagged him for six hits and two walks, and the six runs allowed saw his ERA climb over two whole points (2.55). All but two of the Blue Jays' six hits against the right-hander came on two pitches or more, with Toronto's bats attacking the zone early.

Alan Roden notched the first home run of his big league career, attacking a first pitch curveball that caught too much of the plate. The offering was quickly deposited over the right field wall, leaving the bat at 106.4 MPH and landing 397 feet. The shot put two runs on the board for the Blue Jays, as a Myles Straw single before Roden's at-bat put the runner on first.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1912300869992980698

Roden also accounted for the first run of the day, hustling out a groundball hit right to third baseman Austin Riley and sliding just under the catcher's glove for Toronto's first run of the game in the third inning.

"The excitement of the home run is one thing," said Roden. "Being greeted by teammates, George said that I was going to hit a homer today, and I was like, 'I hope you're right'... Team hitting is such a momentum thing, and anything I can do to contribute to that is going to be a big deal."

Not looking to miss out on the fun, Anthony Santander followed suit a few batters later with a right field home run of his own, launching the ball at an identical 106.4 MPH off the bat while travelling a few more feet at 407. The switch-hitter attacked a first pitch cutter that caught the heart of the plate, and he had both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on base thanks to a double and a walk, respectively. The door was blown wide open in the fifth inning, which eventually led to Schwellenbach's departure a couple of batters later.

https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1912302094268223667

Toronto sent one of their top arms to the mound today in response, with Kevin Gausman looking to keep a steady streak going after an impressive showing in Boston last week where he pitched eight clean innings with 10 K's.

Gausman finished the day with two runs allowed (both solo home runs) through six innings, allowing six hits with no walks while striking out six. He finished the day with a 69.4% strike rate and ran his pitch count a little high early in the game with some tough counts and elevated at-bats with some foul-offs by the Atlanta Braves batters. This outing has Gausman's ERA sitting at 2.49 through his first four starts, and he has yet to allow more than three runs in any outing out of the gate while limiting the free passes.

"When Kevin gets into a groove, he's as good as anybody," said Schneider. "He's been able to maintain his stuff through every one of his outings. Those first inning runs, those happened, but I think once he gets into a groove, you can really count on him."

The Blue Jays bullpen followed with three innings of one-run baseball thanks to a solo shot in the ninth inning from Ozzie Albies, but Toronto walked away with the victory and improved to 10-8 on the season.

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