Kevin Gausman had three strikeouts in his first inning of work at spring training as the Toronto Blue Jays fell 8-7 to the visiting Miami Marlins on Thursday.
The Blue Jays starter opened with a strikeout of Otto Lopez. He got into a bit of trouble after surrendering a single to Kyle Stowers and a walk to Esteury Ruiz, but got out of it by striking out Canadians Liam Hicks and Owen Caissie.
Gausman went 10-11 with a 3.59 earned-run average for Toronto last season and was 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA in Toronto’s run to Game 7 of the World Series. He is expected to be a major piece of a strong starting rotation in Toronto this season.
Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk opened the scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the first. After reliever Tyler Rogers struck out two in a perfect second inning, the Jays padded their lead through a three-run second. Second baseman Andrรฉs Gimรฉnez hit a solo home run, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added an RBI single, and then the Jays superstar scored on an Addison Barger groundout.
Kazuma Okamoto, one of Toronto’s major off-season signings, made it 7-2 with a two-run double in the fourth, but Miami came back with six runs in the final three innings.
An RBI single from Jay Beshears and a three-run triple from Chase Jaworsky cut Toronto’s lead to 7-6 after eight innings, and Bennett Hostetler hit an RBI single then came around to score on a forceout in the ninth.
Toronto (1-4-1) next faces the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday afternoon in Port Charlotte, Fla.
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