{"id":569289,"date":"2026-03-29T20:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569289\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T20:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:08:16","slug":"toronto-hunts-first-sweep-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569289\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto hunts first sweep of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> have a chance to do something they haven\u2019t done in 30 years in the series finale against the Athletics.On Sunday, the Jays host the Athletics for the final game of the three-game series. There have already been a few new records set by the team. Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease both struck out 11 or more batters in the first two games, the first time a pair of teammates have done that in the first two games since at least 1901, potentially ever. Cease\u2019s 12 strikeouts on Saturday<\/a> were the most in any Blue Jays\u2019 debut.<\/p>\n

So, what could they do that they haven\u2019t done in 30 years? Well, with a win, the Jays will move to 3-0 to begin the season. That\u2019s right, they haven\u2019t done that since 1996, which was only the second time they had done it. The other time was in 1992, when they began the season 6-0.<\/p>\n

Since joining Major League Baseball in 1977, the Blue Jays are 2-12 in the third game when they start the season 2-0. Since 1997, they\u2019ve started the season 2-0 eight separate times, going 0-8. The most recent time was in 2022, when they lost 12-6 to the Texas Rangers. That said, who\u2019ll be in the lineup for them on Sunday?<\/p>\n

Eric Lauer<\/a> makes his season debut after posting a 3.18 ERA and 3.85 FIP in 104.2 innings pitched in 2025. Before the season began, Lauer was projected to pitch out of the bullpen, but injuries to Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, and Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos requires the lefty to start, at least for now. The Athletics have right-handed pitcher Luis Morales on the mound.That means the Blue Jays have an influx of left-handed hitters in the lineup this afternoon. Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez makes his first start as a Blue Jay, hitting in the two hole. Addison Barger returns to the cleanup spot after starting on the bench in Saturday\u2019s 8-7 victory. Daulton Varsho bats sixth again, while Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez<\/a> hits eighth.Other lineup changes include Tyler Heineman, as the backup catcher will make his season debut and hit ninth. Kazuma Okamoto bats fifth, the third different spot in the lineup he\u2019s hit in the three games. With Alejandro Kirk out of the lineup, Ernie Clement (and Gim\u00e9nez) move up a spot, with Saturday\u2019s hero<\/a> hitting seventh. George Springer leads off and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bats third.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s set up Sunday\u2019s series finale!<\/p>\n

Location: Toronto<\/p>\n

First Pitch: 1:37 PM ET<\/p>\n

Watch\/Listen: Sportsnet, SN590<\/p>\n

Starting Pitchers<\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays \u2013 Eric Lauer: 0-0 record, 0 ERA, 0 IP, 0 SO, 0 BB<\/p>\n

Athletics \u2013 Luis Morales: 0-0 record, 0 ERA, 0 IP, 0 SO, 0 BB<\/p>\n

Lineups:<\/p>\n

Blue Jays:<\/p>\n

George Springer \u2013 DHJes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez \u2013 LFVladimir Guerrero Jr. \u2013 1BAddison Barger \u2013 RFKazuma Okamoto \u2013 3BDaulton Varsho \u2013 CFErnie Clement \u2013 2BAndr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez \u2013 SSTyler Heineman \u2013 C<\/p>\n

Athletics:<\/p>\n

Shea Langeliers \u2013 DHNick Kurtz \u2013 1BBrent Rooker \u2013 RFTyler Soderstrom \u2013 LFJacob Wilson \u2013 SSMax Muncy \u2013 3BDarell Hernaiz \u2013 2BAustin Wynns \u2013 CDenzel Clarke \u2013 CF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays have a chance to do something they haven\u2019t done in 30 years in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-569289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569289","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=569289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}