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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays score eight runs for the second time this season in 11-4 victory over Twins
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Photo credit: © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 2, 2026, 17:15 EDTUpdated: May 2, 2026, 17:37 EDT
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It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Toronto Blue Jays are back.
On Saturday afternoon, the Blue Jays earned, at worst, a series split with the Minnesota Twins as they defeated the American League Central team 11-4. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one.
In the top of the first, the Blue Jays went down in order thanks to two line outs and a pop out. Dylan Cease took the mound for the bottom of the first, and proceeded to give up a home run to the first batter he saw, Byron Buxton, to put the Jays down 1-0.
The Twins’ lead was short-lived, though. In the top of the second, Lenyn Sosa hit his first home run in a Blue Jays’ uniform, a 107.5 mph blast to left centre field to tie the game up at one.
Later that inning, Myles Straw hit his second home run of the season, a solo home run that measured in at 392 feet, one of the longest home runs of his career.
The Twins responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the second, as Brooks Lee hit an infield single that scored one, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ‘s error drove in a second run. After two scoreless innings, the Twins added a fourth run thanks to a lead-off single from Tristan Gray and an RBI single from Trevor Larnach.
Kazuma Okamoto has been hot for the last two weeks, dating back to the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Coming into Saturday’s game, Okamoto hit five home runs in his last 12 games, including two on Sunday. Well, he hit his sixth home run in his last 13 games, blasting a solo shot 453 feet to centre field to cut the Twins’ lead in half.
The series finale against the Diamondbacks kick-started a stretch where the Blue Jays are now 9-4 thanks to their win on Saturday. That series finale against the Diamondbacks featured their first eight-run inning, and they notched their second eight-run inning on Saturday afternoon. Ernie Clement and Guerrero Jr. reached on a single and a walk respectively, setting up Okamoto to drive in his 20th run of the season to tie it up at four.
Next up was Sosa, who hit a ball essentially in the dirt to the Twins’ second baseman. Fortunately, Sosa made it to first with no throw, driving in the Blue Jays’ fifth run. Daulton Varsho hit one up the middle, but former Blue Jay Anthony Banda misplayed it to load the bases. Straw drew a walk, driving in their sixth run. Then Davis Schneider notched his first hit since mid-April, a double to drive in two more, making it 8-4.
That was all the Blue Jays needed, but they added three more runs with one swing of the bat, as Brandon Valenzuela hit a three-run homer to put them up 11-4.

Takeaways…

We’ll get to the abundance of positives in the next few paragraphs, but there was a rather unfortunate play in this game. In George Springer’s second plate appearance, Twins’ starter Connor Prielipp threw a back-door slider that got Springer directly on the toe that he broke earlier this season. He left the game, but was seen in the Blue Jays dugout later in the afternoon. Post-game, it was reported that there was no new fracture.
The Myles Straw trade looks better each day. Last season, he matched his career-high of four home runs, and is now just two shy of reaching that total again with his second inning homer. Straw also drew a walk for his second RBI of the game.
One area of concern early in the season for the Blue Jays was not having a right-handed bench bat for left-handed pitching. They may have found that in Lenyn Sosa, as he hit his first homer of the season. He’s had two extra-base hits in his last two games.
Kazuma Okamoto has been the Blue Jays’ best run producer in the early goings of the 2026 season. His eight home runs lead the team, which doubles Jesús Sánchez and Daulton Varsho’s totals of four. Okamoto has also driven in a team-leading 20 runs this season. His past two weeks have been terrific, and the Blue Jays have desperately needed his production.
Brandon Valenzuela hasn’t been perfect since Alejandro Kirk went down with an injury, but he’s provided strong defence and also hit his third home run of the season in Saturday’s affair. That was his second home run in the last four games.
Saturday’s game was the deepest that Cease has pitched into, going seven innings and allowing four runs (three earned), walking a batter, and giving up his first home run of the season. Still, Cease managed to strike out seven, a much better performance than his last outing.
Cease going deep in this game paired with the Blue Jays’ eight-run eighth inning saved their bullpen. Mason Fluharty pitched the bottom of the eighth, throwing 12 pitches, 10 of which were for strikes. In the ninth, Spencer Miles threw 15 pitches, throwing nine strikes. Neither reliever gave up a hit.
Since the aforementioned game against the Diamondbacks on April 19th, the Blue Jays offence has started to look like itself. They are now 9-4 over that stretch with three series wins. They’ll have a chance to win their fourth consecutive series, taking on the Twins at 12:45 PM ET on Sunday. Trey Yesavage is the Blue Jays’ expected starter.
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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