PHOENIX -- After the long, painful drought, the skies have finally opened.
The Blue Jays opened Sunday’s finale against the D-backs at Chase Field with an offensive landslide, tallying seven consecutive hits followed by a walk in an eight-run first inning.
The seven hits and eight runners to reach base to open the game each tied the club record, and if there was a franchise record for the best timing in Blue Jays history, they might have just broken that, too. Here’s how the first eight batters of the opening inning played out:
1. Nathan Lukes: Single
2. Ernie Clement: Double
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Two-run single
4. Jesús Sánchez: Single
5. Eloy Jiménez: RBI single
6. Andrés Giménez: Single
7. Kazuma Okamoto: Two-run double
8. Myles Straw: Walk
D-backs starter Ryne Nelson finally struck out Brandon Valenzuela for the first out of the game, but Lukes cleared the bases in the very next at-bat to make it 8-0 and chase Nelson from the game.
This inning felt like one big, long exhale from the Blue Jays, who came into the season riding the momentum and expectations of their 2025 World Series run. They had started 7-13 coming into play Sunday, though, and the offensive identity that powered that ‘25 run has been nowhere to be found. For weeks now, including each night after the Blue Jays' last three losses during their four-game slide, manager John Schneider has said it would just take one big hit to open the floodgates.
On Sunday, the Blue Jays got seven big hits in a row, and if there’s ever going to be a moment that turns this ugly start around, it’s this one.