Washington @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Mar 31, 2025 ) Washington 2, Toronto 5
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios has a chance to make amends for his Opening Day loss when he faces the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.
Berrios allowed three homers and six runs in a 12-2 setback to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, when the Blue Jays opened the season at home.
"I wasn't executing my pitches," Berrios said. "I tried, but I didn't, and also they had a good day in the box."
In going for his first win of the season, Berrios also can help Toronto win its first series. The Blue Jays posted a 5-2 victory Monday in the opener of their three-game set with the Nationals.
Toronto split four games with Baltimore, and the Nationals dropped two of three at home against the Philadelphia Phillies to open their season.
Berrios (0-1, 10.80 ERA) is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three career starts against the Nationals.
He will oppose Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams, who will make his first appearance of the season. Williams (6-1, 2.03 ERA in 2024) has one career start against the Blue Jays, allowing four runs (three earned) over six innings in 2017.
The Blue Jays continued to get strong offensive performances from Andres Gimenez, a Gold Glove second baseman acquired in an offseason trade with the Cleveland Guardians.
Gimenez has been batting fourth and leads the team with three home runs in five games. He reached base in all four plate appearances on Monday with a homer, double, walk and a hit by pitch. He is batting .333 with five RBIs.
"I'm trying to be myself, the same hitter," Gimenez said, "It doesn't matter if I'm leadoff or second or third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. My last four years in Cleveland, I was hitting everywhere, so I know how to (go) with it. The main thing for me is just to try to help the team, wherever (manager John Schneider) decides to put me in the lineup, I'm going to try to do my best and be myself in the box."
The Nationals' offense on Monday was limited to a pair of home runs by CJ Abrams and James Wood with one out in the sixth inning against Bowden Francis, who had not allowed a hit until that point. Nationals manager Dave Martinez said he thought his hitters started to be better at being ready for the fastball as the game progressed, and that would help in the final two games of the series.
Nationals starter Michael Soroka was removed from the game in the bottom of the sixth inning after making three pitches to the first batter.
Martinez said after the game that Soroka had cramps in his right biceps and held out hope that it was not a serious issue.
"The minute you see a pitcher standing on the mound like that and we have to go out, you always try to be positive, but you always assume the worst," Martinez said. "Especially when they're talking about their arm. Right now, it's a cramp, and hopefully that's all it is."
"I think we'll be OK," Soroka said. "It's just one of those things where it's not something you want to feel and not something that's worth ripping through, especially at that point in the game and at this point in the season."
--Field Level Media