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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays fall 14-2 to Dodgers in series opener
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Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 6, 2026, 22:15 EDTUpdated: Apr 6, 2026, 22:56 EDT
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The start of the 2026 season can’t get much worse for the Toronto Blue Jays, right?
On Monday evening, the Jays welcomed the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2025 World Series rematch. It didn’t wake them up, as they fell 14-2 to drop their season record to 4-6. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one.
For the fourth consecutive game, the Blue Jays allowed a run in the first inning. This time, it came courtesy of a Kyle Tucker walk and a Teoscar Hernández blast to put the Dodgers up 2-0 before the Jays even had a chance to swing the bat.
The Blue Jays got the offence going in the bottom half of the first, as George Springer drew a lead-off walk. After Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both flew out, Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement each hit singles, the latter driving in a run. Daulton Varsho drew a walk to load the bases, but Myles Straw softly grounded out, ending the inning.
From there, it was all the Dodgers, as Max Scherzer left after just two innings of work. With Josh Fleming on the mound, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run home run to make it 4-1 in the top of the third. Tucker hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, making it a 5-1 game. In the fifth, a run scored as Alex Freeland grounded into a double play.
At this point, there was still a remote possibility the Blue Jays could mount a comeback, but that ended in the sixth. Shohei Ohtani led-off the inning with a home run and later in the inning, Andy Pages hit a two-run double to make it 9-1. The Blue Jays’ worst inning was the seventh, as Dalton Rushing hit a lead-off home run in what became a four-run inning to make it 13-1.
Rushing hit another home run in the top of the eighth, and after a 1-2-3 inning from Tyler Heineman, the Jays added a run with Miguel Rojas on the mound. Even that wasn’t all that encouraging, as the Jays had the bases loaded with no outs, only managing to score one run.

Takeaways…

Let’s hope this illness explains the poor play of this team, because the Blue Jays are now 1-6 in their last seven. It doesn’t help that Max Scherzer pitched just two innings in this game due to forearm tendinitis. This came after Eric Lauer went just 2+ innings on Sunday. With those starts plus the injury to Cody Ponce, the Blue Jays bullpen has been taxed this season.
At some point, the Blue Jays need to call up Adam Macko for some length instead of veteran pitchers on minor league deals. Austin Voth was fine on Sunday, but Josh Fleming had a tough outing, giving up four earned runs. It was the same case for Joe Mantiply (three earned runs) and Tommy Nance (four earned runs). Spencer Miles gave up just one earned run, while Heineman was the lone pitcher to not concede a run.
Last series, the Blue Jays were 2-22 with runners in scoring position. They managed to get a hit with RISP in this game, but it was once again a single that only cashed in one run. Overall, the Jays were 1-7 with runners in scoring.
With a position player on the mound, the Blue Jays managed to load the bases. However, a ground out scored the lone run of the inning, as Brandon Valenzuela hit a pop up and Schneider grounded out to end the game. Not a great look given their lack of success hitting with runners in scoring position.
There weren’t a lot of positives to take away from this game. The thing is, it’s probably the easiest of the three games, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts on Tuesday and Shohei Ohtani starts on Wednesday. Tuesday’s game has a 7:07 PM ET start time, with Kevin Gausman starting for the Jays.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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