Toronto Blue Jays centre fielder Kevin Pillar, left, celebrates with shortstop Jose Reyes after hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.Tommy Gilligan
After a seven-day trip to begin the 2015 season, the Toronto Blue Jays return to Rogers Centre on Monday to see how their show plays at home.
The Tampa Bay Rays will provide the opposition for the American League club's home opener, the first of a 10-game home stand.
Following Sunday's rollicking 10-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, the Blue Jays have won their first two series of the season after dispatching the New York Yankees earlier in the week.
Toronto's record is 4-2 and could easily be 5-1 were it not for that three-run bullpen hiccup in New York on Tuesday. The only game the Jays really were not in was on Saturday, when they lost 7-1 to Baltimore.
"I think overall we've been good offensively," Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before Sunday's game. "We've thrown the ball well. Defensively, we've made some nice plays."
Now the Blue Jays get to display what they're made of to the hometown fans, who will have to come to terms with a roster featuring six rookies.
Those arriving for the game will be introduced to new security measures as dictated by Major League Baseball and will have to pass through metal detectors at the gates.
MLB commissioner Robert Manfred will take part in the first-pitch ceremony, marking the first time in franchise history that the game's figurehead has been present at a Blue Jays home opener.
There is even a new ballpark cook.
Elizabeth Rivasplata, a former Top Chef Canada contestant who is originally from Peru, was recently brought on as the new executive chef.
Among some of the new fare that fans can look forward to sampling is peameal bacon sausage – "a must-try with honey mustard and caramelized onions," according to a Blue Jays news release.
If that doesn't tickle your fancy there's always hand-dipped corn dogs, beer-battered fish and chips, hand-crafted porchetta sandwiches and slow-roasted or smoked beef brisket.
If you don't approve, be warned that it might not be a good idea to take your complaint up personally with Chef Rivasplata: She was Peru's tae kwon do champion for 12 years.
In Sunday's game, Blue Jays rookie Dalton Pompey knocked a two-run home run in the first inning, his first of the season, while Kevin Pillar led off the second with a solo shot.
Jose Bautista also finally got off the home-run schneid with his first of the year in the eighth, a two-run blast that provided the Blue Jays with some breathing room.
The fact that he struck his blow against an old nemesis in Darren O'Day, the Orioles' side-winding right-hander, made the moment even more delicious for Bautista.
Two pitches before the big hit, O'Day threw a pitch high and tight that caught Bautista's attention. And when the Blue Jays slugger connected and turned an antsy 8-7 lead into a more palatable 10-7 advantage, Bautista's charged-up celebration afterward in the dugout was telling.
"Emotion, the moment, there's history there," Bautista said. "He's hit me a few times. He's thrown behind me a few times, and I've gotten him a few times.
"It was emotion in the moment, he threw one behind me, it's a one-run game, it's late, it gave my team a three-run lead instead of a one-run lead going into the eighth and ninth."
All things considered, Toronto's play has been mostly impressive so far.
Starter Drew Hutchison did not throw well on Sunday. He allowed seven runs off seven hits over 4 1/3 innings, but he was bailed out by the bullpen and the offence.
Aaron Loup picked up the win with 1 2/3 innings of no-hit work in the fifth and sixth.
"We had a few moments where we didn't play like we were capable of," Bautista said, referring to the season's first week. "Other than that it was a great road trip. Even the game that we lost in New York, a bunch of us feel like we should have won it.
"Any time you can go on the road and get four out of six it's a good road trip, it's going to be a good season if we continue to pile them up like that."
Defensively the team has been splendid, with Pillar providing another highlight-reel catch that helped save the bacon of rookie reliever Miguel Castro in the ninth.
After a walk and a one-out single to Alejandro De Aza, Steve Pearce lofted a high one into left field that was drifting foul.
Pillar got on his horse and made a spectacular diving catch in foul territory for the second out. That took a lot of the heat off Castro, who was then able to get Chris Davis to fly out to earn his second save.