New outfield, same offence: Blue Jays execute familiar onslaught in home opener

TORONTO — Time is needed to determine how the new outfield dimensions at the renovated Rogers Centre truly play, but the first impression from the Toronto Blue Jays’ home opener is that an already good place to hit may end up being an even better one.

The hosts hit five of the game's six homers, including back-to-back shots from Kevin Kiermaier and George Springer in the fifth to erase an early three-run deficit, plus add-on shots from Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk in the eighth inning of what became a 9-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers.

Kiermaier also saved a seventh ball from clearing the wall when Kerry Carpenter opened the second with a 404-foot drive to centre that he followed to the wall, leapt for and pulled back from over the fence. A sell-out crowd of 42,053 roared while teammates around the diamond pointed to him or applauded.

“He’s like Spider-Man out there – he’s all over the place,” said Alek Manoah. “It’s super encouraging as a pitcher.”

Of the six homers, the first four plus Kirk’s three-run drive at the end all would have been homers last season, too, but Bichette’s 369-foot liner to right-centre cleared the wall at an area around the 375-foot mark last year, but pulled forward to 359 this year.

With his middle-right power, Bichette may very well be one of the hitters who stands to benefit most from the new dimensions, but his homer is at least a double a year ago so it’s not like there were any Yankee Stadium cheapies in this one.

“I think it plays great for just about everybody,” said Brandon Belt, who ended an 0-for-19 slide with three hits and collected his first RBI with the Blue Jays. “It’s a good place to hit and that atmosphere was electric. I know it's going to be a lot of fun this year for this lineup and for this team.”

Added manager John Schneider: “Couldn't have asked for a better opening night here at home. Hopefully this energy can be contagious a little bit. It's fun out there.”

In that way, fans in the outfield watched a familiar offensive onslaught play out from the updated spaces, the first phase of a two-stage renovation that will include a redone lower bowl and new premium club seating to be done this off-season.

Unfamiliar for the crowd was Manoah grinding through a rough second inning, in spite of the Kiermaier catch, and a short outing in which he walked six, one shy of his career-high. He found himself fighting to focus on competing instead of some issues with his delivery.

“It's a point of the year where you're still trying to figure a lot of things out. That's where I'm at right now,” he explained. “Mechanics don't feel in sync, you're throwing bullpens and working on little things here and there. You can't take that out to the game. You've got to compete and make pitches and (work) with what you've got that day. I'm going to continue to do that. We're going to work, figure it out in the bullpen and once we get into the game, go out there and compete.”

After the Kiermaier catch, Javier Baez walked, Spencer Torkelson ripped an infield hit that Matt Chapman knocked down to prevent a double and Nick Maton sent a 380-foot drive to right field that would have cleared the old wall, too, and that no one was bringing back.

From there, Manoah proceeded to load the bases but rallied to strike out Riley Greene and get Matt Vierling on a popper to limit the damage, a pivotal sequence as it turned out.

“Guys on base, got to tighten things up,” he said. “I guess that was one part of the game where I wasn't thinking about anything mechanically, it was just out there competing and not allowing runs to come in. Obviously was able to do pretty good in that position. Will continue to learn from every at-bat, every game and continue to get better.”

The Blue Jays began clawing their way back in the bottom half with the first ball off the new outfield wall. Kirk sent a liner near the top of the fence in right-centre that scored Daulton Varsho but also led to some confusion on the bases before that.

Varsho initially went back to second to tag in case the ball was caught and once it was in play, bolted for home. Brandon Belt, already nearly to second, took off behind him but stopped a third of the way to third as third-base coach Luis Rivera switched from waving Varsho home to putting up two hands for Belt to stop at third. Belt presumably read it as a stop right there and turned back to second, forcing Kirk back to first.

"Kind of a weird play and Luis was trying to send Daulton and bring Brandon to third. So just a little bit of miscommunication there,” said Schneider. “As we get playing and guys get more comfortable with one another, the trail runner there can just assume that Daulton is going to score.”

That changed the rest of the inning as Cavan Biggio followed with a fielder’s choice to first that got Kirk at second and Kiermaier flew out to centre, ending the threat.

The Blue Jays did damage with the longball from there, as Chapman made it 3-2 with his solo shot in the fourth before Kiermaier and Springer put the Blue Jays up 4-3 in the fifth.

Underlying Kiermaier’s dynamic impact thus far is a return to heath after hip issues the past two seasons had eroded his explosive athleticism. But he feels “like I did close to 2019, 2020. Last two years, just didn't feel like I was putting the product on the field that I was used to. And now, I feel like my old self again. I'm running around, having fun, running with adrenaline, just kind of bouncing all over and that's when you get the best version of me. It's been really good so far and I just want to keep it that way.”

Bichette began the eighth with his team-leading fourth homer and Kirk’s three-run homer followed Belt’s RBI single.

Belt, another hitter capable of capitalizing on the short wall in right field, had just one hit and two walks through his first six games, when he found it “hard to clear my mind and really simplify my approach like I wanted to,” he said.

“Just a tough road trip, you go through slumps and you don't want to go through slumps at the beginning of the season,” he continued. “When I got back, I wanted to try to shorten up as much as possible so I could see the ball as long as possible. I hope I can carry it forward.”

As do the Blue Jays, who made the new Rogers Centre feel a lot like the old one.