The first series of the season is officially behind us, and Toronto managed to come out of the weekend with tough and gritty series split against Baltimore at home. But the hosting doesn’t stop now, as after playing four straight days against the O’s, Toronto now faces off against the Washington Nationals for three more games straight between Monday and Wednesday. This series combines with the Baltimore one, means Toronto will be playing seven games in a row without a single break, only getting a one day break after the Washington series before travelling to New York as part of a then 10 game road trip. But back to the series ahead, Washington themselves are coming off their first series of the season losing two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies, and now come into Toronto hoping to get back to an above .500 record.

The arms being sent out for both sides to start the game in this one would be Bowden Francis for the Blue Jays, and Michael Soroka for the Nationals. Francis had an impressive beginning to his major league career last season, as he took over a permanent starting role about midway through the 2024 season after having a dominant spring training, and hopes to kick off his 2025 regular season campaign in similar fashion. On the other side of the bump, Michael Soroka is a 27 year old Canadian born right-hander who will most definitely have himself quite the time getting to pitch in his home country.

The Blue Jays jumped out in front, striking first when Andres Gimenez launched his third homer of the season in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 advantage. Gimenez was brought to the team in the offseason, and most fans would look at him as just a defensive tool for the middle infield, but now having his third home run in five days, he has already solidified himself as one of the top premier bats in the lineup. The offence would continue in the third for the Blue Jays, when Alan Roden would find himself on third base with two outs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the plate. Guerrero Jr. turned on a pitch from Soroka and mashed a line-drive double into right field, bringing in Roden to score and double Toronto’s lead to 2-0.

The Jays kept adding onto their lead as Gimenez drew a walk to start the inning, was able to steal second base and was driven in shortly after thanks to an Alejandro Kirk double to begin the fourth inning with nobody out. A few batters later, with runners on the corners and one away, Nathan Lukes managed to hit a ball to the left side of the infield and reached base on a fielders choice that resulted in an RBI, bringing home Kirk from third and widening the gap to 4-0.

Francis on the other hand was having a dominant performance on the mound, as he’s shown he’s been capable of doing in the past. However, his first blemishes of the ballgame would come in the top of the sixth inning when CJ Abrams and James Wood would go back-to-back, launching solo home runs to cut the Jay’s lead in half making it 4-2. Francis would eventually be relieved of his duties to start the seventh inning, after putting in a high quality start and putting the team in prime position to secure the win.

The bullpen carried the back half of the way yet again, even after a little hiccup in the top half of the eighth with two runners on base, Jays reliever Brendon Little managed to battle his way through the inning unscathed. In the bottom half of the inning the bats continued to roll, with George Springer knocking in a run with an RBI single, adding onto the insurance to make it 5-2 going into the top of the ninth ready to close it out.

Yimi Garcia would come into the game to close out the game, and he would go 1-2-3 to wrap up the win for the home team once again. Toronto wins back-to-back games for the first time this season, starting their first win streak of the year and did so in quite convincing fashion. Another great performance from the starting pitching and the bullpen, along with production all throughout the lineup.

The Jays take game one of their three game series with Washington, and will play twice more on Tuesday and wrapping up the series on Wednesday, concluding their streak of seven straight game days in a row before taking their first off day.

Winner: Toronto Blue Jays (3-2)

Loser: Washington Nationals (1-3)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:

A. Gimenez 2/2, 1HR, 1RBI, 3R, 1BB

A. Kirk 2/4, 1RBI, 1R

G. Springer 2/4, 1RBI

PITCHERS:

Win – B. Francis (Blue Jays): 6.0IP, 2H, 2ER, 3BB, 4K (1-0)

Loss – M. Soroka (Nationals): 5.0IP, 5H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K (0-1)

Save – Y. Garcia (Blue Jays): 1.0IP, 0H, 0ER, 2K (1)