{"id":243166,"date":"2026-03-30T09:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243166\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:11:25","slug":"gimenezs-ninth-inning-hit-lifts-blue-jays-over-as-in-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/243166\/","title":{"rendered":"Gim\u00e9nez’s Ninth-Inning Hit Lifts Blue Jays Over A’s in Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics in their season opener on Friday night. Gim\u00e9nez also hit a two-run triple earlier in the game, while Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers homered twice to tie the game in the top of the ninth before Toronto’s late heroics.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays’ comeback win in their season opener sets an early tone for the team as they look to build on their American League pennant from 2025. Meanwhile, the loss is a tough start for the rebuilding Athletics, who are hoping to surprise some teams this season.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Gim\u00e9nez’s game-winning hit in the ninth inning came after Japanese rookie Kazuma Okamoto, making his MLB debut, singled and went to third on a double by Ernie Clement. Gim\u00e9nez then grounded a base hit up the middle to score the winning run. Earlier, Gim\u00e9nez had a two-run triple in the fifth inning to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Langeliers tied the game at 2-2 with a solo homer off Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman in the top of the ninth, but the Blue Jays rallied in the bottom half.<\/p>\n

The game was played on Friday, March 28, 2026.Langeliers hit his game-tying homer in the top of the ninth inning.Gim\u00e9nez delivered the winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays infielder drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning and also hit a two-run triple earlier in the game.<\/p>\n

Shea Langeliers<\/p>\n

The Athletics catcher hit two home runs, including a game-tying blast in the top of the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

Kazuma Okamoto<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays rookie infielder made his MLB debut and finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.<\/p>\n

Jeff Hoffman<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays closer blew the save in the ninth inning but was credited with the win.<\/p>\n

Kevin Gausman<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays starting pitcher set a franchise opening day record with 11 strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must have had some opening day jitters, but the guys showed a lot of fight to come back and get this win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Schneider, Blue Jays Manager<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to put the ball in play and give our guys a chance. Fortunately, I was able to come through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez, Blue Jays Infielder<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays and Athletics will continue their series on Saturday afternoon, with Toronto’s Dylan Cease making his debut against Oakland’s Jeffrey Springs.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

This back-and-forth season opener showcased the Blue Jays’ resilience and the Athletics’ scrappiness, setting the stage for what could be an exciting series between these two AL clubs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez drove in the winning run with a two-out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-243166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}