TORONTO -- The Blue Jays¡¯ pitching staff set a new franchise record with 19 strikeouts against the Braves in Wednesday¡¯s 3-1 win, their most ever in a nine-inning game.
It all started with Chris Bassitt, who struck out the side in the first inning, but there¡¯s something about a starter striking out the first three batters that¡¯s always made John Schneider a little nervous. Maybe he¡¯s superstitious, maybe it happened to one of his teams in the Minors and he¡¯s erased it from his brain, but the Blue Jays manager still had it on his mind after Bassitt¡¯s strong start.
¡°Don¡¯t ask me why,¡± Schneider said, laughing. ¡°Chris was making big pitches, then Yimi Garc¨ªa is just really good, as is Jeff Hoffman. The bullpen was great.¡±
TOTAL STRIKEOUTS:
Chris Bassitt: 10
Brendon Little: 3
Nick Sandlin: 1
Yimi Garc¨ªa: 4
Jeff Hoffman: 1
Bassitt¡¯s 10 came over just five innings of shutout ball, and while he nearly convinced Schneider to keep him rolling into the sixth inning, he later said that his manager made the right call, as he¡¯s pitching with a creaky neck. Schneider pressed all of the right buttons, though, and every single reliever that ran in executed exactly what was asked of them.
This beats the Blue Jays¡¯ old record of 18, set on Aug. 25, 1998 against the Royals. Roger Clemens racked up all 18 by himself, making it one of the most impressive single-game performances in Blue Jays history, but the five names above now share their own little piece of history.
¡°The back end of our bullpen, I¡¯ll take against anybody¡¯s,¡± Bassitt said. ¡°No offense to anybody, but since my Oakland days with [Blake] Treinen and [Lou] Trivino doing their thing ¡ It¡¯s pretty easy for us as starters to say it¡¯s a race to five innings, maybe six, then it¡¯s going to be really hard for us to lose a game.¡±
It all came down to the final at-bat of the game between Hoffman and Eli White. It wouldn¡¯t have been right if Hoffman was the only man to not record a strikeout, but he got White swinging through strike three to break the record.
This is an incredible collection of individual accomplishments, of course, but Bassitt was quick to spread the credit even further.
Bassitt and several other teammates have alluded to the Blue Jays having a much stronger clubhouse in 2025. It¡¯s something baseball players are intentionally vague about when they speak. That¡¯s their sanctuary, and rightfully so, which means they¡¯re not about to spread their secrets, but something has clearly shifted within the organization that has everyone involved feeling closer and more confident in one another.
¡°We¡¯re just reaping the seeds, so to speak, that we sowed in the offseason,¡± Bassitt said, ¡°from getting together with the front office and changing things up analytically that we wanted changed. I honestly give all the credit to the front office for not just the team they built, but the changes that we made in the offseason and how open they were to talking and listening to us. For the first time since I¡¯ve been here, I would say that everyone feels really, really comfortable with how everything¡¯s working.¡±
It sure is working. The Blue Jays are 11-8 without playing anything close to their best baseball offensively.
¡°It¡¯s a fun feeling coming to the yard and truly thinking you¡¯re the best team, that you¡¯re the team to beat,¡± Bassitt said.
A pitching staff like this makes the Blue Jays exactly that on any given night -- the team to beat -- and now they¡¯ve toppled a record that stood for nearly three decades.