TORONTO — Time is needed to determine how the new outfield dimensions at the renovated Rogers Centre play, but the first impression left at the Toronto Blue Jays‘ home opener is that an already good place to hit may end up being an even better one.
The hosts hit five of the game’s six homers, including back-to-back shots from Kevin Kiermaier and George Springer in the fifth to erase an early three-run deficit, plus add-on shots from Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk in the eighth inning of what became a 9-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers.
Kiermaier also saved a seventh ball from clearing the wall when Kerry Carpenter opened the second with a 404-foot drive to centre that he followed to the wall, leapt for and pulled back from over the fence. A sell-out crowd of 42,053 roared while teammates around the diamond pointed to him or applauded.
Of the six homers, the first four definitely would have cleared the wall last year but Bichette’s 369-foot liner to right-centre cleared the wall at an area around the 375-foot mark last season, but pulled forward to 359 this year.
Bichette, with his middle-right power, may very well be one of the hitters who stands to benefit most from the new dimensions, but there weren’t any Yankee Stadium cheapies in this one.
In that way, fans in the outfield watched a familiar offensive onslaught play out from the updated spaces, the first phase of a two-stage renovation that will include a redone lower bowl and new premium club seating to be done this off-season.
Unfamiliar for the crowd was Alek Manoah grinding through a rough second inning, in spite of the Kiermaier catch.
Three batters later, after a Javier Baez walk and Spencer Torkelson infield hit that Matt Chapman knocked down to prevent a double, Nick Maton sent a 380-foot drive to right field that would have cleared the old wall, too, and that no one was bringing back, to open the scoring.
Manoah proceeded to load the bases from there but rallied to strike out Riley Greene and get Matt Vierling on a popper to limit the damage.
The Blue Jays began clawing their way back in the bottom half with the first ball off the new outfield wall. Kirk sent a liner near the top of the fence in right-centre that scored Daulton Varsho but also led to some confusion on the bases before that.
Varsho initially went back to second to tag in case the ball was caught and once it was in play, bolted for home. Brandon Belt, already nearly to second, took off behind him but stopped a third of the way to third as third-base coach Luis Rivera switched from waving Varsho home to putting up two hands for Belt to stop at third. Belt presumably read it as a stop right there and turned back to second, forcing Kirk back to first.
That changed the rest of the inning as Cavan Biggio followed with a fielder’s choice to first that got Kirk at second and Kiermaier flew out to centre, ending the threat.
The Blue Jays did damage with the longball from there, as Chapman made it 3-2 with his solo shot in the fourth, Kiermaier and Springer put the Blue Jays up 4-3 in the fifth and then came the five-run eighth, which also included a Belt RBI single, to put the game away.
