Blue Jays bid to stay perfect in opener vs. winless Rockies

The Toronto Blue Jays have won their first three games of the season, while the Colorado Rockies have lost their first three.

Toronto completed a home sweep of the Athletics after two walk-off wins to open the season.

Toronto struck out 50 batters in the series, the most in major league history for the first three games of a season. The previous high for the start of the season came in 2020 when the Cincinnati Reds struck out 46 batters against the Detroit Tigers.

"I think (pitching coach) Pete Walker has a clause in his contract that may have just escalated or triggered," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "It's our team's 50-year celebration, so I think 50 strikeouts sounds about right. This (game) is so historical it's kind of cool to be a part of that."

The Rockies' three losses to the host Miami Marlins were each by one run. The Marlins completed the sweep Sunday with a 4-3 win on Owen Caissie's two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth against Victor Vodnik.

"Listen, I think the boys are playing good," Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. "We were right in these ballgames. We could have won all three of these ballgames. We have, what, 159 left to go? If we keep playing like that, we are going to win a lot of ballgames this year."

Cody Ponce is scheduled to make his Blue Jays' debut in the series opener. The right-hander was signed after going 17-1, 1.89 ERA, in Korea's KBO League last season and was named MVP. The Blue Jays signed him as a free agent in December.

Ponce, 31, last pitched in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates, going a combined 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in 2020-21. He moved to Japan and then South Korea. He faced the Rockies once in 2021, allowing three earned runs in three relief innings.

"I think that we have a great starting staff, great bullpen staff with (Jeff) Hoffman as the back-end guy, too," Ponce said during spring training. "But I have a lot to learn. I don't know much, so it's been a while since I've been up here. I'm just going to pick everybody's brains and try to have the most success I can."

He was 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA in five spring training starts.

Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (10-10, 4.64 in 2025) is slated to make his Rockies debut on Monday after pitching with the Baltimore Orioles last year in his first major league season. The 36-year-old was 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in three starts in 2025 against the Blue Jays.

He pitched four scoreless innings for Japan in the World Baseball Classic and was 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two spring training starts. He allowed 33 homers with Baltimore last season, an area in which he will strive to improve.

"I want to decrease that amount," Sugano said at spring training through an interpreter. "At the same time, I don't want to be afraid to throw strikes, so I'm making sure I have the mentality of attacking hitters. Those will be my two main objectives.

"I've been told that at Coors Field, the off-speed stuff doesn't move as much compared to other stadiums. But at the same time, I want to improve my splitter, making sure I execute it really well."

--Field Level Media