It looks as if the Toronto Blue Jays are back.

Following their sweep of the Athletics to begin the season, the Blue Jays embarked on a stretch where they went 1-7, including a six-game losing streak. They managed to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the final game of the three-game set thanks to a late rally.

Welcoming the Minnesota Twins for a weekend series, the first three innings of Friday’s game weren’t great, to say the least. In the first inning, two soft hit singles set up Ryan Jeffers, who hit a three-run homer. In the fourth, the Twins added another run. Then the Blue Jays exploded for five runs, their highest-scoring inning of the season.

Capping off that inning was Brandon Valenzuela’s first career home run to put the Blue Jays on top. That’s all they needed as well, as they added at least one run in every inning afterwards, including a solo home run from Daulton Varsho. In the end, the Blue Jays defeated the Twins by a score of 10-4 in the series opener, moving their record to 6-7.

Friday’s game was the closest the Blue Jays have looked to their 2025-selves. Coming into the series opener, the Blue Jays had 14 doubles on the season, but managed to his seven doubles on Friday. That’s a third of their season total. Moreover, they went 5-14 with runners in scoring position and scored double-digit runs for the first time this season.

Davis Schneider hit one of those doubles, going 2-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch. He was a big reason why the Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers on Wednesday, so it makes sense he’s back in the lineup on Saturday. Schneider is batting fifth.

Every starting position player except for Kazuma Okamoto finished with a hit on Friday. Okamoto will be an option off the bench for the first time in his career. Varsho, who hit his first home run of the season, as well as a double, returns to the two-hole, flanked by George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The later had a three-hit performance with two doubles.

Batting cleanup again is Jesús Sánchez, who also hit a double in Friday’s game. Valenzuela gets his second consecutive start, batting ninth, while Ernie Clement bats seventh and Andrés Giménez bats eight. The lone change in the lineup sees Schneider moving up a spot and Nathan Lukes drawing in for Okamoto, batting sixth. Clement will play the hot corner, while Schneider will play second base.

Eric Lauer makes his third start of the season. Last time out, he went 2+ innings pitched with two earned runs allowed, but was clearly sick and didn’t have his best stuff. It stands to reason he’ll be healthier for this game.

Let’s set up Saturday afternoon’s game, as the Jays have the chance to win their first series since the opening weekend!

Toronto Blue Jays – Eric Lauer:  1-1 record, 4.91 ERA, 7.1 IP, 9 SO, 4 BB

Minnesota Twins – Joe Ryan: 1-1 record, 4.40 ERA, IP, 17 SO, BB