The Toronto Blue Jays were looking to bring some good memories back to the Rogers Centre after a heartbreaking Game 7 loss last season.

And starter Kevin Gausman gave them a fighting chance.

The Colorado product was making his first Opening Day start since signing with the Blue Jays during the 2021/2022 offseason. Gausman’s no stranger to the spotlight that comes with Opening Day, having made one start for Baltimore and one for San Francisco before, but this was the first one North of the border, and fans were looking for something to latch onto to begin the new campaign.

And Gausman delivered. And delivered. And delivered again.

He started the outing with three straight punchouts, all of which were via a swinging strikeout. Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers couldn’t lay off the splitter down in the zone, while Tyler Soderstrom chased a 96 MPH fastball up and in the zone to put the Jays on the sticks. That’s right – Gausman was hitting the mid-90s with his fastball.

What followed was a masterclass from the veteran right-hander, who would finish the evening with 11 strikeouts across six innings of work. Gausman was in command of the strike zone for most of the evening, finishing with a 72.3% strike rate over 83 pitches with zero walks allowed. He worked a few counts to the full mark, but continuously found ways to escape the at-bat without any issues and was riding a perfect game until the top of the fourth inning.

Gausman had one blemish on the evening – a middle inside splitter that caught too much of the plate to Langeliers, which the Athletics catcher deposited into the seats over the left field wall. The right-hander allowed one hit all game, and it happened to be the solo home run.

By the time Gausman was lifted following the sixth inning, the Jays had given him some run support (they were up 2-1) and the starter had made franchise history. He became the first Blue Jays Opening Day starter to strike out 10 batters, and then tacked on one more for good measure to seal the deal.

Gausman was in control for 95% of the outing besides the lone home run and had the home run crowd in the game right from the get-go.

Along with throwing strikes and getting whiffs (17), he mixed up the velocity – sitting 94-96 MPH with the heater before mixing in the splitter (84-86 MPH) and the occasional slider to keep opposing bats off balance. There were numerous awkward hacks and uncomfortable at-bats, and Gausman seemed to be in cruise control right from the first pitch.

The Blue Jays were looking for a strong start from their reliable veteran, and Gausman delivered exactly what the doctor ordered.

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