Blue Jays stage hitting clinic in beatdown of visiting L.A. Angels

Starter Trey Yesavage went four innings, but threw 87 pitches before his day was over

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Published May 09, 2026  •  Last updated 25 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Blue Jays batter Brandon Valenzuela hits a home run against the Angels during the fifth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Saturday, May 9, 2026. Photo by Kevin Sousa /Getty Images

For a team that hasn’t been able to string together hits, let alone runs, the Blue Jays exploded Saturday afternoon against the visiting L.A. Angeles.

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Three hits resulted in two runs in the series opener Friday night when the Jays posted a 2-0 win, despite being outhit by the visitors, who doubled Toronto’s total.

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Addison Barger was back in the lineup and back in right field where he once again displayed his cannon of an arm in throwing out a runner at the plate.

Trey Yesavage was on the mound for his third start of the season and second at home.

During the Jays’ recently completed 2-5 road trip, the offence was more offensive than effective, the low point arriving in Tampa as the host Rays swept their AL East rivals during a three-game set, including one game where Toronto managed to get two runners on base in only one inning.

It all changed Saturday.

Keep in mind the Angels are not good and are one loss shy of getting swept at Rogers Centre following Toronto’s convincing and quite easy 14-1 beatdown.

The following are three takeaways on a day the Jays used a seven-run fifth inning to firmly take control, a frame that saw Toronto capitalize on a defensively-deficient Angels team, and a day when Ernie Clement produced five of the Jays’ 20 hits.

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1. Catch me if you can

Eventually, Alejandro Kirk will be back in the lineup, a two-time all-star catcher who is equally adept at handling the duties behind the plate as he is at performing at the plate.

Life hasn’t been good for the Jays since Kirk fractured the thumb on his catching hand. His immediate absence was felt with backup Tyler Heinemen literally throwing away two games.

While rookie Brandon Valenzuela has shown flashes, he’s still a greenhorn prone to making mistakes, especially mental gaffes. But his power is hard to overlook.

During the Jays’ fifth-inning uprising, Valenzuela capped it off by swatting a three-run blast, his fourth of the season.

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The club leader in belts is Kazuma Okamoto with 10.

There was a three-way tie for second with four dingers, a list that includes Valenzuela.

The kid has twice as many home runs as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Digest that for a second.

However, in the eighth, the logjam for second on the club homer list was broken by Jesus Sanchez, who added his fifth long ball to his name.

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2. Barger’s back

His hair is longer, but his arm remains a true weapon in the outfield as Barger reintroduced himself on a day the Jays officially activated him from the injured list.

Somewhat of a surprise was the corresponding move that saw Yohendrick Pinango optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Pinango has acquitted himself well during his time in Toronto, showing the kind of skills that should see him back in the big leagues at some point.

Manager John Schneider admitted the decision to send Pinango back to the minors wasn’t easy, but when one is in the chair tough calls are part of the job description.

“We’re just looking at the runway for him and the runway for others and it didn’t really match up,’’ said the skip.

“I could see him being part of us again at some point. He definitely showed well.”

Nathan Lukes will soon be back from his hamstring strain, meaning another tough call will have to be made.

Barger, by the way, has not swung the bat well this season, even prior to his injury.

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In his return, he went 0-for-3 as his average fell to .045 on a day he did draw two walks.

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3. Trey bien

One day after starter Dylan Cease provided a Cy Young-worthy outing, Yesavage kept the ball rolling.

The Angels sent Zach Neto, Mike Trout and Nolan Schanuel up to the plate in the first inning, each retired on swinging strikeouts, each victims of Yesavage’s trademark splitter.

The kid was elite, but expecting Yesavage to continue on this strikeout rate would be completely foolish and unthinkable.

In other words, a dip in performance was inevitable as it was expected.

By no means was he bad, but Yesavage was nowhere near as dominant in the ensuing three innings.

His 87-pitch outing consisted of four complete innings, four hits yielded and six strikeouts recorded.

The two walks issued was one fewer than his most recent start in Minnesota where Yesavage was tagged with the loss as the Twins prevailed 4-3.

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In his season debut on April 28 against the visiting Boston Red Sox, Yesavage did not walk a single batter in 5.1 innings.

The lopsided nature of Saturday’s game did allow the Jays to give their bullpen some work, beginning with Mason Fluharty, who made way for Braydon Fisher before Joe Mantiply and Tyler Rogers were summoned.

For Rogers, it was his first appearance since the Tampa series when he gave up two runs on four hits, while recording only one out.

Rogers is known for inducing soft contact, but occasionally even the softest of knocks finds holes like they did in Tampa.

Against the Angels, he gave up one run on three hits in completing the eighth inning.

In the 16 previous appearances prior to facing the Rays, Rogers had surrendered one run.

He’s now given up three in his past two appearances.

Tommy Nance pitched the ninth inning.

Up next

Jays eye their second series sweep of the season and first since the opening weekend series against the Athletics; LHP Eric Lauer is Toronto’s scheduled starter Sunday as he aims to record his second win of the season; oddly enough, his first and only win this year came when the Athletics were in town.

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