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Instant Reaction: Riley Tirotta’s late home run lifts Blue Jays over Team Canada
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Photo credit: © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 3, 2026, 16:30 ESTUpdated: Mar 3, 2026, 16:46 EST
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The Toronto Blue Jays picked up their third win of Spring Training… sort of.
On Tuesday afternoon, Canada’s team played Team Canada in a World Baseball Classic tune up, with the Blue Jays winning 10-7, despite Canada’s national team clawing back from a 7-0 deficit. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first, Jesús Sánchez stepped up to the plate. On the third pitch, he hit a two-run single off the bat at 104.9 mph to put the Jays up 2-0 early.
In the bottom of the second, they had bases loaded once again. With no outs, George Springer stepped up to the plate and drew a walk to make it 3-0. Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single in the next plate appearance for the 5-0 lead, Daulton Varsho’s ground out scored another run, then Sánchez drove in his third run of the game for the 7-0 lead.
Canada finally got on the board in the top of the sixth, as Tyler O’Neill hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1. That was followed by an Owen Caissie single that scored their second run. In the top of the seventh, Jared Young hit another sacrifice fly to make it a 7-3 game. That set up a four-run top of the eighth, which saw Jacob Robson hit a solo home run on the first pitch of the inning, followed by an RBI single from Liam Hicks, an RBI double from Denzel Clarke, and a sacrifice fly from Tyler Black.
At risk of their third tie of the season, the Jays needed to find a run or two with six outs left. Carlos Mendoza led off the bottom of the eighth with a ground out, but Eloy Jiménez hit a single to put the go-ahead run on the base. After a lineout and a walk, up stepped Riley Tirotta, who hit his first home run of the season by going out of the ball park, making it 10-7.

Takeaways…

This was Jesús Sánchez’s best game of the spring so far, going 2-3 with three RBIs. Nathan Lukes also had a multi-hit game, while Josh Kasevich hit the lone double and Riley Tirotta had the biggest hit of the game, a three-run homer.
Over 19 plate appearances this spring, Eloy Jiménez has eight hits, four singles, three doubles, and a home run. His single on Tuesday came off the bat at 81.9 mph, the softest hit ball he’s hit this spring. Nine of the 14 balls in play have been considered hard-hit (95+ mph), with eight of them having an exit velocity over 100 mph.
On the pitching side of things, Kevin Gausman made the start, going two innings with two strikeouts, a walk, and a hit allowed. He generated a game-high seven whiffs on 21 total swings, with his fastball averaging 94.2 mph.
Angel Bastardo’s impressive Spring Training has continued, pitching a scoreless inning with one hit allowed. While he only generated two whiffs, both with the changeup, he had the five hardest-thrown pitches in this game, touching 98.6 mph with his heater.
Braydon Fisher and Mason Fluharty followed Bastardo. Fisher struck out the side in order, with the heater averaging 94.6 mph, and generating two whiffs on four total swings. Fluharty generated four whiffs on 11 total swings, striking out two and allowing a hit in his inning of work.
It was another concerning outing for one of the Blue Jays’ top prospects, as Gage Stanifer allowed four earned runs without getting out, including a home run on the first pitch he threw. Let’s hope his next outing is better.
The lone Blue Jay representing Canada, Adam Macko, pitched in this game. He gave up a single, but got a double play and an additional out to give Canada their second consecutive scoreless inning. The left-handed pitcher struck out one on nine total swings, and he averaged 94.3 mph with his fastball.
Wednesday will be the Blue Jays’ first off-day of Spring Training, but they return to action on Thursday with a matchup against the Atlanta Braves. Dylan Cease is the expected starter. Canada begins their World Baseball Classic tournament on Saturday, as they play Colombia at 11:00 AM ET.
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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