A's vs. Blue Jays Game Highlights (3-28-26) - MLB Highlights

Dylan Cease, starting his eighth Major League season, and about to make his regular season debut as a member of the Blue Jays. They got him for the stuff, they got him for the swing and miss, they got him for the durability. This is a guy that will get a lot of swing and miss. We saw that last night with Kevin Guzman, I expect the same from Dylan Cease. He starts with Nick Kurtz, the left-handed hitter, punches him out on the slider, and Dylan Cease with the first of many strikeouts in a Blue Jay uniform. Right in on his hands, popped up, going out, Clement, and Ernie's got him with a basket catch. He gets Kurtz and Langeleers, two down, now here's Tyler Soderstrom. And here's a three-two delivery, and that's swung on and roped to left center for a base hit. Over to cut it off is a center fielder, Varshow, and turning and holding it for us with a single is Soderstrom, and the A's have their first hit. And he got him. Went back to the slider again, two punchouts in a scoreless top of the first for Dylan Cease around the one hit. One lap for the A's as well, no score. You see a nice smile on the face of Andres Jimenez. They just acknowledged Team Venezuela's victory, their championship of the World Baseball Classic on the video board between innings. Springs is in his ninth big league season, it's the second with the Athletics. He was 11-11 last year with an ERA just over four. Low walks, low strikeouts, there will be a lot of balls put in play, and he is just hoping for some soft contact. The 0-2 to Springer, and that's on the inside corner, ring him up. Considering the ballpark he had to pitch in last year, 4-11 ERA and 171 innings, very solid. And that'll bring up Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., and Vlade is challenging. That is called a strike, and he will be unsuccessful. So the Blue Jays lose a challenge. They only tried once yesterday and hit it. And he winds up working Springs for a walk. Cosmo Okamoto, pardon me, hitting for the Blue Jays with a runner on first and two down. Here's the 1-2 pitch and a ground ball left side and through and a left for a base hit. And now the ball's bobbled by Soderson, Guerrero's going to third to throw and he's out. So Vlade noticing that Tyler, a little slow handling in left field, and Guerrero with two outs trying to test Soderson's arm, he goes to third and he was out by 10 feet. Guerrero no doubt frustrated with himself. For Dylan Cease in the top of the first two punch outs, pop-up induced to get allowed a two-out hit. This one to left center field and a diving catch by beautiful catch for Davis Schneider. And Dylan Cease is starting to see what he'll be playing with behind him here in Toronto. One out. Swing and a miss, strike three. 99 in on the hands. Dylan Cease with a third K in two scoreless innings. Dylan Cease back on the hill, no score top of the third. Cease threw two innings, he's allowed one hit, no walks, and punched out three. Fastball, strike three, called. Mark does not offer at it. Four strikeouts now for Cease. Langelier's on first. After his fourth hit already this season, Kurtz on third, two outs, no score. And here is Soderstrom who had a solid base hit to center his first time out. Cease's one-two off from first, Langelier, swing and a miss, strike three. After a two-out walk and a two-out hit, Cease keeps it scoreless. And again, it's the bottom of the order. Base hits here from the eight and nine hitters. Now an opportunity for Springer. Well-hit ball to left, and it's going to the wall on a bounce. Straw is in to score. Jimenez in to third. Flying in to second is Springer with an RBI double. Tough one in the opener for George, going home for four last night. A strikeout in the first, but he has checked in to the 2026 season. And he has set up the Blue Jays nicely. Up one, nothing. Second and third, nobody up. Grounded down to third. Muncy will hold the run over third and throw Schneider out. One down. Way up in the air, but very shallow. It'll be the shortstop, Wilson, who will make the catch for out number two as Springs is doing what he needs to do to try to minimize the damage. You see a little frustration there from Guerrero. And he walked him. Okamoto reaches base again, and now they're loaded for Kirk. Kirk, who drove in 76 last year, hits with the bases loaded. Bounced up the first baseline. And the Blue Jays are going to leave the bases loaded. And it's still early on as these A's hitters are getting a second look at the right-hander. Right-hander hunting his sixth strikeout, the 0-2. Swing and a miss. He got him. 100 with the fastball, and there's one out. So, Rooker now 0 for 2, two strikeouts. Here's Jacob Wilson. Check swing, and he went around. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Reached at the sweeper, and there are two outs in the inning. 7Ks already. Kirk is challenging right away. The catcher is challenging. So, this is their second one as they look to make a 1-2 count, a strikeout. And they will. That pitch easily caught the corner. And for Dillon, CeCe strikes out the side to get up to 8. 8Ks for CeCe. He's punched out four in a row going back to the third inning. And he rings up another one. That is five consecutive strikeouts and nine in the game for CeCe. Quite the first impression so far for Dillon CeCe. Changeup again, and he strikes out another one. 10Ks for Dillon CeCe. And there are two outs at the top of the fifth. He got him. 7Ks in a row for Dillon CeCe. He struck out the side in back-to-back innings and punched out 11 through five. Dillon CeCe, on a run of seven strikeouts in a row, takes the hill. And that's inside for ball four. So, that streak of seven consecutive batters. Striking out. That will end there. Kurtz will be credited with a stolen base on the floor. Swing and a miss, strike three. 99 as he climbed the ladder above the zone. 12Ks for CeCe. By the way, 12Ks for CeCe, the most ever in a Blue Jays debut. He sets a franchise mark today. Tyler Soderstrom. And he lifts it down the left field line. A long run for Schneider. And he's not going to get it. It drops fair. Kurtz around third to score. And going to second with a double is Soderstrom. And the A's have tied it up. Soft contact there ends up burning you. And now we've got a new game. One out top of the sixth. Ground ball to short. Runner is going. Throw to third. The tag is safe. Safe is the call at third as Soderstrom somehow got in ahead of the throw. And the Blue Jays want a challenge. This is where dive in head first. You can do a little swim move with the arms. Okamoto goes with the tag, and he didn't get him. After review, the call on the field stands. The runner is safe. Toronto will lose their challenge. And it looks like that's going to be all. John Schneider is out and has made the call. So, a great afternoon for Dylan CeCe, including 12 strikeouts. But, unfortunately, a blue double. And then they don't get a runner at third, so there are a couple of men on. He was outstanding. So, he keeps the inning alive, and he gets himself into scoring position with two outs for Dalton Varsho. Varsho lines one to right of base here. Guerrero is running through the stop sign and scores. Carlos Fabless held him up. Vlade was having none of it. And in to score on the base hit by Varsho, who takes second on the play. 2-1 Blue Jays. Mason Fluharty gets hit by two comebackers in a row. And this one appears to have done more damage. And that's going to be it for Fluharty, who's going to have assistance walking off the field as well. Down and in, and there's no throw. The A's execute a double steal. Two in scoring position, only one out. A little chopper up along third. He's going to score a run. The throw to first. It's not in time. And the A's have tied it up at two. An infield single for Denzel Clark to tie up this ball game. Outside ball four. Walk to Kurtz, and that will load the bases. The Blue Jays just took the lead in the bottom of the six. The A's have tied it up and have a real threat now to take the lead. Top seven. Langelier's two home runs last night. Has little delivers in the pitch. That swung on drive to deep center field. Going back is Varsho at the track. It's a grand slam for Shea Langelier's. Wow. Oh, is he hot? Shea Langelier's his third home run in the first two games. RBI's 3, 4, 5, and 6 on the season. The A's take a 6-2 lead. So, fielder's choice. First and third. Two down. Here's Guerrero. And a base hit and a right for Guerrero. Cash in Sanchez. Barger to second, and it's 6-3. Well, now you hope at the very least Jesus Sanchez hits a deep enough fly ball where that 90 feet turns into another 90 feet and a run. Little chopper up the third baseline. Clark is coming home for Sanchez. As the Blue Jays get a little bit of batting ball, Lunkin to hit 6-4 on the swiver. Big play in this ball game. Let's see if Andres Jimenez can come up with a big knock here. A base hit and a center for Jimenez. This is going to cash in Varsho, and it is a one-run game. And from down four, the Blue Jays trail by one. It's 6-5. Still a threat in the bottom of the eighth. Bases are loaded. There are two outs. Guerrero has two walks, a pop-up, and an RBI single today as he gets a look at right-hander Michael Kelly. And the one-two pass to Guerrero is thrown on a line drive right to second, taken by Ibanez, and the inning is over. The Blue Jays, though, do claw back two and have made this much tighter headed to the ninth. The Blue Jays had the lead, gave it up, and have now crept back into it, knocking on the door after one in the seventh, two in the eighth, trying to at least tie it here in the bottom of the ninth. Swing and a deep drive. Left field. On the run, Soderstrom runs out of room one time. Alejandro Kirk with his first hit of the year, and it's a big one. A game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the ninth. From six, two down, the Blue Jays erase the deficit in under three offensive innings and now can think about winning the game after that big climb for Kirk, the first Blue Jays long ball of the year. Run over third, two down, not out of the woods yet. Here's Brent Rooker. Delivers pitch to Rooker, swung on, and it's hit into right field for a base hit. In to score is Kirk, and the A's lead seven to six. It's a 7-6 lead for the Athletics. Addison Barger looking to be the hero for the Blue Jays who won in walk-off fashion on opening day. Second and third and one out. Fly ball to right. High into score to tie the game. Long sacrifice fly by Addison Barger. Varsho is going to be walked now, and the A's are saying, give us Ernie Clement. They want a right-on-right matchup, but interesting here where a single could win the game for the Blue Jays. This one into left center for a base hit. Lucas around third, and the Blue Jays win again. It's Ernie Clement who's the hero. Back-to-back walk-off wins for the Blue Jays who take an 8-7 in game two of the year.