Shea Langeliers kept hitting. The Athletics still kept losing.
The A’s catcher extended his season-opening hitting streak to three games Sunday, but Toronto finished off a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win at Rogers Centre. Max Muncy hit his first home run of the season for the Athletics, while Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto connected for the first homer of his major league career.
That left the A’s at 0-3 after an opening series in which they stayed competitive at times, but struck out 50 times against Toronto pitching, a major league record through the first three games of a season.
Early damage set the tone
Toronto grabbed control right away.
George Springer opened the bottom of the first with a solo homer off Luis Morales. Then, after the Athletics missed a few early chances against Eric Lauer, the Blue Jays added on in the third when Jesús Sánchez hit a two-run homer to center for a 3-0 lead.
Okamoto made it 4-0 in the fourth. His solo shot to right-center was the first homer of his big league career and gave Toronto another clean swing against Morales.
The Athletics finally answered in the fifth. Jacob Wilson doubled to open the inning, then Muncy drove a two-run homer to right. That cut the deficit to 4-2 and gave the A’s a little life.
However, the push did not last long.
Where it stalled
Toronto got one of those runs right back in the bottom of the fifth.
Tyler Heineman walked, Sánchez followed with another free pass and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. loaded the bases with a single after J.T. Ginn replaced Morales. Addison Barger then drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the Blue Jays’ fifth run.
That was all Toronto needed.
The Athletics managed only five hits and struck out 15 times. Lauer worked 5 1/3 innings, allowed two runs and struck out nine. After that, Toronto’s bullpen combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings with six more strikeouts.
So even with Muncy’s homer and Wilson’s two-hit game, the offense never found a second rally.
Numbers that mattered
Langeliers went 1-for-4 and is now 6-for-12 through the first three games. He remains the A’s steadiest bat in the opening week.
Wilson also stood out. The shortstop finished 2-for-4 with a double and scored on Muncy’s homer. Muncy went 1-for-4 with both Athletics RBIs.
Nick Kurtz reached twice with a single and a walk. But Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom combined to go 0-for-8 with four strikeouts, and the middle of the order again had trouble finishing at-bats.
Morales took the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Ginn helped settle the game late, though, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing one hit.
A rough opening trend
The bigger problem for the A’s was familiar by the end of the weekend.
They pitched well enough in stretches. They stayed within range. But they did not control enough innings offensively, and the strikeouts piled up again.
In the end, Langeliers stayed hot and Muncy got his first homer. Still, the Athletics left Toronto looking for their first win and a cleaner version of their offense.
Up next
The Athletics open a three-game series against the Braves on Monday in Atlanta. First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m. PT, with Jeffrey Springs scheduled to start for the A’s.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
