{"id":137415,"date":"2025-09-12T01:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T01:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/137415\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T01:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T01:04:06","slug":"gausman-overdelivers-for-blue-jays-with-complete-game-gem-vs-astros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/137415\/","title":{"rendered":"Gausman overdelivers for Blue Jays with complete-game gem vs. Astros"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 Most conversations about the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>\u2019 rotation have centred around Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber in recent weeks and so manager John Schneider was asked on Thursday morning if there\u2019s a tendency to overlook what Kevin Gausman<\/a> has done lately.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s easy to overlook because he’s not the big personality that Max is. Not that Biebs is a big personality but Kev’s just been steady, man,\u201d responded Schneider. \u201cHe’s been really, really good. He’s been exactly what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays needed a strong performance on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre to secure a series win as well as rest a bullpen that\u2019s carried a heavy load of late.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gausman certainly overdelivered on that as he twirled a dominant, complete game in the Blue Jays\u2019 6-0 victory over the Houston Astros<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays (84-62) took two of three from the Astros (79-68) and moved into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for best record in the American League. Additionally, Toronto now sits 3.5 games ahead of New York in the AL East, with the Yankees set to host the Tigers later Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gausman\u2019s previous start, last week in the Bronx, was arguably his best of the season. It was hard to imagine him topping that but the right-hander was somehow even better against the Astros.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just in total control from the get-go,\u201d said Schneider. \u201cThat’s one of his best since he’s been here with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the Blue Jays\u2019 first complete-game shutout since Gausman accomplished the feat on June 8, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was vintage Kevin Gausman today,\u201d said left-fielder Davis Schneider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gausman\u2019s command was impressive on Thursday and he was aggressive, getting ahead of most hitters with first-pitch strikes. The only hits he allowed came in the fourth inning, when Jeremy Pena and Carlos Correa reached base with singles. However, Gausman induced a flyout from Jose Altuve before punching out Jesus Sanchez to end the frame emphatically.<\/p>\n

He walked off the mound with a level of emotion that he doesn\u2019t typically display.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a big moment,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cJust trying to throw a fastball up. Got it there and got what I wanted, which was a strikeout. That’s one thing I’ve changed the last couple of years. I’m not afraid to show my emotion, whereas in years past, I tried to kind of be boring out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I feel like pitching at home, everybody loves that when you show a little emotion. I was definitely feeding off the crowd today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 41,224 in attendance were certainly into the game, applauding Gausman when he strode to the mound at the top of the ninth inning and showering him with even louder cheers ahead of his on-field interview after the final out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty emotional, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cI just felt the love that they were giving me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The right-hander allowed just the two hits while issuing one walk against nine strikeouts. He credited catcher Tyler Heineman with calling a strong game and also boasted a spike in velocity \u2014 Gausman\u2019s fastball topped out at 97.6 m.p.h. and sat at 95 m.p.h., a hair above his season average of 94.4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays\u2019 offence put runs on the board early against Astros\u2019 right-hander Cristian Javier. George Springer led off the bottom of the first with an infield single and then scored when Nathan Lukes lashed a double to the left-field wall. Addison Barger added a double on a pop up that fell in between a trio of Houston fielders and cashed Lukes to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Davis Schneider added to the lead in the second when he drove an up-and-in fastball from Javier over the left-field fence for a solo shot that marked his 11th\u00a0home run of the season. The left-fielder\u2019s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning made it 4-0 and Schneider said he\u2019s been trying to stay ready despite the uneven playing time he\u2019s received lately.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just got to go to the park each day expecting that you’re playing,\u201d said Schneider. \u201cIf you’re not, then you just got to be ready when your name is called. I feel like whether I’m in the lineup or not, the day’s the same. I’m getting prepared no matter what. I’m acting like I’m going to face that starting pitcher every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schneider joked that the way Gausman was pitching, it felt like he barely needed to play defence. He added that he enjoyed watching the right-hander stride off the mound at the conclusion of each frame.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery inning he throws his gum out,\u201d said Schneider, \u201cAnd so, the harder he throws his gum, the more fired up he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s outing extended a stretch of excellent performance for Gausman, who\u2019s produced a sparkling 2.36 ERA over his past 14 starts. With the playoffs quickly approaching, John Schneider was asked if he allows himself to dream on what this version of Kevin Gausman can do in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seems to be kind of peaking at the right time,\u201d said Schneider. \u201cHe’s been on a good roll for a good bit now. So, it’s nice to have that presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The playoffs will arrive soon enough but Gausman was keen to appreciate the present. He noted the stadium was so loud during the ninth inning that he couldn\u2019t hear his PitchCom device.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I feel like every home game we’ve played for a while now has felt like a post-season game,\u201d said Gausman. \u201cJust the atmosphere, the energy in the building. I’m getting ready to start the game and people are cheering for me before I can throw a pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s pretty cool and, as a player, you hope to be in this point of the season where that’s still the case.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Most conversations about the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 rotation have centred around Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-137415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}