B LU E JAYS BY THE NUMBER5

BY JOHN IABONI

April 14, 2023

5&4

March 30, 2023

GEORGE SPRINGER charged into

500 & 407

BO BICHETTE became the fastest in Blue Jays history to reach the 500-hit plateau in his game No. 407 with a second-inning RBI ground-rule double at home in the 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on April 14, 2023. It was part of a 5-for-5 night for Bichette as he and the Blue Jays snapped Tampa Bay’s 13-game winning streak to start the season. Vernon Wells and Shannon Stewart had each recorded their 500th hits in their 432nd career games for the previous fastest to that level by Blue Jays.

2023 at St. Louis on March 30 with a Blue Jays Opening Day record five hits plus an American League Opening Day first with five hits and four runs scored. His 5-and-4 output is the third in MLB history and first since Chicago Cubs star Billy Herman pulled it off on April 14, 1936, coincidentally also at St. Louis.

1&2

First walkoff hit as a Blue Jay by Daulton Varsho when his bases-loaded single in the 10th inning on April 29 scored Bo Bichette for the only run in the home win over the Seattle Mariners. It was his second career walk-off hit, the other being a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth for Arizona’s 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on August 13, 2021.

18-14

& 29-18

2023 National Baseball Hall of Famer

FRED MCGRIFF fired a perfect strike to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the ceremonial first pitch on April 11 at this year’s Blue Jays Home Opener. And the Blue Jays didn’t disappoint as they blasted a franchise Home Opener record five home runs in the 9-3 win over Detroit. That lifted the Home Opener record for the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre (initially SkyDome) to 18-14 as their overall Home Opener record climbed to 29-18.

Blue Jays individual record for doubles hit before the month of May when sizzling MATT CHAPMAN drilled a two-run, two-bagger down the left-field line in the bottom of the first along with another double in the ninth inning against Seattle on April 30. Chapman, the AL Player for the Month of April, broke the long-standing club record of 13 doubles before the month of May tallied by a couple of other third basemen – Ed Sprague in 1997 and Eric Hinske in 2003.

3, 5 & 9

KEVIN KIERMAIER has brought more than his dazzling glove to the Blue Jays. He has also provided speed and offensive spark. In the dramatic 1211 win at Anaheim on April 9, he became the third Blue Jay with a three-hit (single, double, triple), five-RBI game while batting in the No. 9 spot. J.P. Arencibia (against the Minnesota Twins on April 1, 2011) and Danny Jansen (at Boston on July 22, 2022) are the other No. 9 hitters for the Blue Jays with three-hit, fiveRBI performances.

Blue Jays franchise mark for innings pitched (15.1) to start a season without surrendering an earned run achieved in 2023 by KEVIN GAUSMAN. He yielded zero earned runs in six innings at St. Louis on April 1, six innings at Kansas City on April 6 and 3.1 innings at Rogers Centre on April 12 versus Detroit. Gausman’s streak ended with a home run by Tigers second baseman Nick Maton. Matt Shoemaker held the previous Blue Jays record with no earned runs over 14.0 innings at the start of the 2019 season.

Winning percentage put up by TIM MAYZA when he went 8-1 last season. That ranks second-best season-winning percentage all-time (minimum four decisions) among Blue Jays relievers. The highest winning percentage (1.000) out of the bullpen for the Blue Jays belongs to Dennis Lamp who was 11-0 in 1985.