Gausman's Record-Breaking Opener for Blue Jays

It's March 28th.

This is MLB News today, AI-powered story shaping the season.

Kevin Gossman kicked off the season in style for the Toronto Bujais, striking out 11 batters

against the Oakland Athletics on opening day.

That performance set a new franchise record, topping the nine strikeouts each from Roy

Halliday in 2004 and Esteban Loiza in 2.

2001, over six innings, he allowed just one hit, a solo home run while walking nobody.

Gossman dominated early, fanning seven of the first ten batters he faced thanks to

a sharp splitter that generated ten whiffs on 19 swings.

His fastball hit 96 miles per hour, showing no signs of slowing down at age 35.

This marks him as just the seventh pitcher since 1900 to rack up at least 11 strikeouts

with zero walks in the season opener.

Coming off last year's World Series run, where he led baseball in innings pitch during

the regular season, Gossman looks even stronger now.

He's in the final year of a five year contract that's already one of Toronto's best free

agent moves.

Fans and teammates see him as the model for the pitching staff, blending reliability with

high end upside.

The Bujais pitching group has some of the best raw stuff Gossman has seen since joining

the team, with plenty of swing and mispotential from guys.

Like Dylan Seas in others, despite the short offseason and opening day extras, Gossman

powered through without issue.

With performances like this, Toronto's rotation sets a strong tone for the year ahead, and

Gossman remains right at the top of his game.