Easton Lucas, in his first major-league start, leads Blue Jays past Washington

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Easton Lucas (62) throws to a Washington Nationals batter in first inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

TORONTO — Easton Lucas held the Nationals to one hit over five scoreless innings in his first major league start as the Toronto Blue defeated Washington 4-2 in interleague play Wednesday.

It was hardly baseball weather with snow falling outside Rogers Centre for the 3:07 p.m. local time start, dubbed “Work From Dome” by the Jays marketing department.

Lucas (1-0) struck out three and walked two in a composed 74-pitch outing before an announced crowd of 20,104 including Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne.

Filling in for the injured Max Scherzer, the six-foot-four left-hander was making his 15th appearance in the majors. The 28-year-old from California appeared in two games for the Jays last season with 12 others split between Oakland and Detroit.

Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore (0-1), who struck out a career-high 13 in six scoreless innings in the season opener against Philadelphia, gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings with five strikeouts.

Andres Gimenez singled home Anthony Santander for a 1-0 Jays lead in the first. Santander had doubled for his 700th career hit.

Toronto (5-2) added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

C.J. Abrams hit a solo homer off Jays reliever Brendon Little to open the sixth inning. Little, Chad Green, Yimi Garcia and Jeff Hoffman, with his third save, then retired 11 of the next 12 batters before Washington added a run in the ninth.

Toronto earned its first series sweep of the season. The Jays managed five sweeps in total last year.

Key Moment

Toronto DH George Springer opened the fourth with his first homer of the season, depositing the ball 368 feet into the Jays bullpen for a 2-0 lead.

Key Stat

After hitting 12 singles and nothing else Tuesday, Toronto collected five extra base hits Wednesday (one homer and four doubles). The Jays outhit the Nationals 10-5.

Up Next

Toronto has an off day Thursday before hitting the road for 10 games in 10 days with series against the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. Kevin Gausman starts Friday. The Jays then return home for a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves before finally getting another rest day April 17.

Washington (1-5) returns home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press