A wild day of firsts in Oakland

Jays finally score in opening frame, while Gausman ends career shutout drought

- MIKE WILNER

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman allowed five hits (all singles), walked one and struck out 10 against the Athletics on Saturday in Oakland.

Blue Jays 7

Athletics 0

TODAY J

ays at A's 4 p.m. (Sportsnet)

The Blue Jays finally snapped their near-historic stretch of game-opening futility, and a first-inning run was the only one Kevin Gausman would need in a 7-0 win in Oakland on Saturday. But they required an opposing pitcher who was barely on speaking terms with the strike zone to get it done.

Going into the game, the Jays had failed to score in a club-record 29 consecutive first innings, just two shy of the dubious MLB record held by the 1937 Boston Bees (now the Atlanta Braves).

But on a sunny East Bay afternoon, the Jays ran into Luis Medina, sat back and let the wild righthander show them the way.

Davis Schneider led off the game with a foul pop-up to third baseman Abraham Toro of Longueuil, Que. That outdropped Jays leadoff hitters — whether it’s been Schneider, George Springer, Bo Bichette or Daulton Varsho — to a .145 batting average first time up this season. No wonder they’ve only scored 19 runs in the opening frame all year.

After popping up Schneider, though, Medina lost the strike zone completely.