The Toronto Blue Jays’ bats came out ready to swing on Thursday, scoring 12 runs and spoiling Baltimore Orioles rookie starter Kevin Gausman‘s major league debut in a 12-6 victory.
Gausman worked five innings in his debut, surrendering four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. In five innings, Gausman tallied a pitch count of 89, 58 of which were strikes. Of the 24 batters that he faced, Gausman registered first-pitch strikes to 15 of them.
Despite the loss, Gausman displayed flashes of greatness early in the game, striking out Edwin Encarnacion on a 97 MPH fastball and Adam Lind on an 85 MPH changeup in the first inning. Gausman appeared poised and in command of a strong mound presence, attacking the strike zone with his four-seam fastball that reached 99 MPH on multiple occasions throughout the game.
Following three scoreless innings, Gausman would surrender an RBI double to JP Arencibia in the fourth inning, who would take Gausman deep for a two-run home run in the fifth inning, giving the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.
Edwin Encarnacion would contribute a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Despite back-to-back solo home runs by Nick Markakis and Adam Jones in the eighth inning, the Orioles would ultimately succumb to the potent Blue Jays offense, 12-6.
