NEW YORK — Kevin Gausman entered his sixth start of the season averaging 15 pitches per inning. He was crisp, clean and everything the Toronto Blue Jays are accustomed to from their inning-eating veteran.
In Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader in the Bronx, efficiency evaporated. Gausman found himself in a slog of a third frame, pulling back for pitch after pitch after pitch. When Austin Wells cranked a double off the wall to score the Yankees’ sixth run of the frame, Gausman’s painful marathon ended with an ejection.
The Blue Jays starter was tossed after registering just two outs in the third inning on 53 deliveries, tying Woody Williams’ 1998 Blue Jays record for most pitches in a single inning.
RHP Kevin Gausman has been ejected from today’s game.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 27, 2025
Gausman’s normally refined control was off from the start of the third. Oswaldo Cabrera walked as New York’s first base runner of the inning. Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe all earned free passes in the inning, too. As home-plate umpire Chris Conroy called more pitches outside the zone, Gausman barked back at the plate and raised his arms to question the calls. When the starter finally walked off after Wells’ double ended his day, the barking continued. Toronto’s Game 1 starter was tossed from the contest as he slipped down the dugout steps.
Later, in the top of the fifth, manager John Schneider was ejected for arguing with Conroy, too.
Gausman has had his bumps this season, with fluctuating fastball velocity and splitter shape. He had a zero-strikeout affair against the Mets in early April, immediately followed by a 10-strikeout masterclass in Boston. Control is rarely the problem, as he had walked more than two batters just once before Sunday, but it wasn’t there against the Yankees.
The laborious inning and early end to Gausman’s day were unideal for a Blue Jays team required to cover at least 18 innings on Sunday. Toronto’s pitching entered the two-in-one in a clean spot, with just Jeff Hoffman and Yimi García pitching two of the past three days. Paxton Schultz, who hadn’t thrown in a week, relieved Gausman to finish the third. But, with a record-tying inning and the Blue Jays choosing not to add a hurler as their 27th man for the doubleheader, the pitching pressure ratcheted up.
(Photo: Evan Bernstein / Getty Images)
