Okamoto's homer, Straw's clutch at-bat send Blue Jays back to .500

TORONTO -- Back to .500 once more, the Blue Jays finally have another opportunity to get their heads back above water.

This team hasn’t had a winning record since April 3, but with most of their injury woes behind them and some momentum coming out of Monday’s 4-2 win over the Astros at Rogers Centre, why not tomorrow?

This is what mattered most from the win, which opened a 10-game homestand:

1. Okamoto’s All-Star campaign

Where would the Blue Jays be without Kazuma Okamoto?

The Japanese star launched his 17th home run of the season Monday, putting him on pace for 35-plus in his rookie year. That falls right in line with his numbers in NPB with the Yomiuri Giants, and it’s already established Okamoto as a fan favorite in Canada, which showed up in the most recent All-Star Game voting update for AL third basemen.

Vote count:
1. Junior Caminero, Rays: 1,310,879
2. Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays: 1,282,884

Later in the game, it was Okamoto’s double that moved Daulton Varsho to third, setting him up to score the go-ahead run on Myles Straw’s sacrifice fly. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. still searching for offensive production, Okamoto has become the engine of this lineup.

Like his manager, though, Okamoto wasn’t eager to celebrate .500.

“On to tomorrow,” he said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “I can’t wait to get back on the field.”

We’re watching a best-case outcome for Okamoto in his first MLB season. Back in spring, it still felt like the likeliest path for Okamoto in 2026 would be a slow start with only flashes of his power, slowly heating up as the year dragged on and he grew more comfortable with big league pitching. Instead, he’s looked right at home. Sure, it’s his first time seeing most of these pitchers, but it’s also the first time most of them have pitched to Okamoto.

That’s a small gap in All-Star voting, too. This is the same fan base that has Ernie Clement as the top vote-getter in the American League, trailing only the great Shohei Ohtani league-wide. Phase 1 of the voting concludes Thursday at noon ET. Beyond the two leading overall vote-getters, the top two vote-getters at every position and the top six outfielders will advance to Phase 2 of the voting, which begins on June 29.

2. Straw comes through in a big spot

A sacrifice fly won’t lead tomorrow morning’s highlight reel, but that doesn’t matter. Straw had one of his best at-bats of the season to drive in the go-ahead run Monday, doing exactly what was needed of him.

Pinch-hitting for Jesús Sánchez with runners on second and third and one out, Straw was looking at an Astros infield playing in on the grass. This was a very simple situation that required a very simple play: Hit the ball in the air.

Straw worked a 2-0 count and did exactly that, pulling a fly ball out to Yordan Alvarez in left field. This wasn’t flashy, but it’s the exact play the Blue Jays need more of. Sometimes it’s a swing like this from a role player -- not the big swing from the star player -- that really gets a lineup going.

“He didn’t wait around after getting 2-0,” said manager John Schneider. “That’s just a guy who’s quietly been so good for us. He just knows his spots. He was ready for it.”

3. The full Cease experience

This one featured the full spectrum of Dylan Cease, from the long innings to the dominant stuff that makes you forget all about them.

Cease needed 26 pitches to grind through the first inning, when he walked two batters and was fortunate to escape a bases-loaded jam with a double play. But that ground ball seemed to snap everything into focus for Cease. Frankly, it’s the exact pitch he needs more of, a breaking ball in a good spot that could create some weak contact and help him move through these innings quicker.

The final line reads that Cease’s 5 2/3 innings included two earned runs on three hits, four walks and eight strikeouts. There was smooth sailing sandwiched in between the difficult start and finish, though, as Cease cranked it up to 110 pitches (67 strikes). After walking two batters in the sixth, Schneider trusted Cease to get Jose Altuve as his last batter, but Altuve flared an RBI single into right field to end Cease’s night.