Blue Jays, Dodgers begin 2026 seasons with series sweeps

The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, who went seven long games in an epic 2025 World Series, began their 2026 campaigns with respective series sweeps.

Toronto defeated the Athletics 5-2 on Sunday, thanks to homers from George Springer, Jesús Sánchez, and Kazuma Okamoto.

The American League champions ended each of their first two games against the Athletics with a walk-off winning hit and received stellar starting pitching across the three contests.

The Blue Jays combined to strike out 50 batters during the opening series, setting a major-league record for strikeouts in the first three games of a season, according to Ian Harrison of the Associated Press.

"Fiftieth-year anniversary of the Blue Jays and 50 strikeouts over three," manager John Schneider said. "Pretty round number."

Blue Jays starters Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, and Eric Lauer combined to allow four earned runs and record 32 strikeouts in the series.

"We faced good pitching," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "They have some really good arms. Obviously, their frontline starters we had our hands full with."

Meanwhile, the Dodgers took all three games of their season-opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, claiming their third win Saturday by a score of 3-2.

Los Angeles' bullpen stood out in each of its victories, combining to throw 11 2/3 scoreless innings.

Catcher Will Smith has been a force in the Dodgers' lineup, hitting two home runs and five RBIs along with a 1.091 OPS thus far.

Smith, who celebrated his birthday Saturday, stunned the division rival D-Backs that night with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning. The blast wound up being the game-winner.