Blue Jays making it count as win over M's moves them four games over .500 for first time since 2023

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It was during a mid-March conversation in the heart of the grind portion of spring training that Blue Jays manager John Schneider articulated what he expected from his team in 2025.

“What we’ve been stressing is that it’s nine against one,” Schneider said that day in Dunedin, Fla. “So what is your role on a specific day, a specific series, a specific month and how are you going to help us win today?”

In a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners before a lively Good Friday sellout crowd of 40,263 at the Rogers Centre, win number 12 of a season that is somehow already 20 games old stacked up multiple examples of the manager’s blueprint.

There was Addison Barger, less than a week after being called up from the minors, gunning down a pair of Mariners runners on the base paths with absolute bullets from right field.

There was Bo Bichette with a leadoff single in the first followed by a no contest stolen base, a savvy burst of speed that resulted in a run after a sac fly from Anthony Santander.

There was starter Bowden Francis not flirting with a no-hitter on this night but instead delivering six innings of five-hit ball, the only run allowed a second-inning homer off the bat of former Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez. (Side note: Francis came to Toronto in the 2021 deal that sent the Rowdy man to Milwaukee.)

And there was new closer Jeff Hoffman finishing it off in the ninth with his fifth save in as many attempts.

“That was a good Friday night win,” Schneider said afterward. “It was really tight, but from Bowden, to the defence, to the at-bats and the base running and then the bullpen … that’s how you get on a little bit of a roll until you really start scoring some runs.”

While there wasn’t much terribly exciting about the Jays offence on this night — two of their runs came on sacrifice flies and the third on an Alejandro Kirk single — they once again did enough to find a way to grind out a win. And they did it in a crisp and efficient two hours and 20 minutes to the approval of the holiday crowd.

And suddenly, with three victories in a row and four in their past five, that 12-8 record has the Jays four games above .500 for the first time since the last day of the 2023 season.

While there is plenty that needs to sharpen up for the Jays to sustain that type of a record, a season that urgently required a strong start is getting just that.

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That Schneider’s team is having success at home won’t hurt, either. With the win in the first of three against the Mariners, they’re now 8-3 at the Rogers Centre, the second best home mark in the American League.

Back to Schneider’s description of the mindset that will continue to get buy-in the more success the team enjoys. As much as Friday’s effort was efficient, there have been nights where they’ve been less crisp. But for the most part, there has been quick recalibration to get back in their lane.

On Friday, it was some sick plays from Barger — including one throw clocked at 98.8 miles per hour in the fifth inning, which was the second fastest throw clocked by a Jays position player in the Statcast era. He became just the third Jays player in franchise history to record three outfield assists in a game.

“I get the arm strength, but the precision he has too is pretty sick,” Francis said. “He’s always had it. I’ve seen it many times in Buffalo, too. But he just stepped up in a big spot there and he saved the outing.”

The Jays have just one losing streak of three games — limiting the skids are important — while putting together winning streaks of four, three and three (and counting) with Friday’s win.

As well, the Jays have already spent five days in first place in the American League East (or five more than a season ago) and are having the type of optimistic start the manager envisioned.

“Yeah, the boys are juiced,” Francis said of the good vibes happening these days. “I think we’re super connected from the coaching staff on down. It’s a different feel and we’re in a good spot.”

WINNING FOR YIMI

When all the Jays players returned to their lockers and the clubhouse doors were shut more than three hours before first pitch, it was for a special reason — to honour reliever Yimi Garcia reaching 10 years of career service on Friday.

Veterans George Springer and Kevin Gausman — both 10-year guys themselves — were among the organizers to celebrate the popular right-hander.

“It’s really cool to celebrate a guy that’s such a gentle giant and pretty quiet and reserved and a family man and then is intimidating on the mound striking guys out,” Schneider said. “It’s cool to recognize guys who don’t get a light show coming out and having all that stuff like a traditional closer does.

“I think guys really enjoyed recognizing him today.”

Over his 11-year career, Garcia has appeared in 424 games between five organizations. The most recent of those was the scoreless eighth inning he tossed on Friday.