Kevin Gausman unbothered, thriving as Blue Jays ace despite two no decisions

TORONTO — If you look up “unbothered” in the dictionary, there’s likely a photo of Kevin Gausman.

Gausman turned in another gem for the Blue Jays but earned a second consecutive no decision to start the season as Toronto fell to the Colorado Rockies 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday. Gausman struck out 10, allowed just two hits and issued no walks over six innings.

“Not too much you can kind of dwell on right now,” said Gausman. “My job when I pitch is to win the game, and when we don’t, whatever happens, I’m not going to be satisfied.”

Gausman is the first Major League Baseball pitcher to have 10 or more strikeouts and no walks in his first two games of the season since at least 1900. His 21 strikeouts in his first two starts of the year are also the most by a Blue Jays pitcher in the team’s 50-year history.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s cool, but like I said, I’ve got to pitch again in a couple days,” said Gausman.

Davis Schneider’s RBI single in the third inning gave Toronto (4-2) an early lead but Troy Johnston drove in a run in the eighth to tie the game 1-1 for Colorado (2-4).

That set up pinch-hitter Tyler Freeman to hit the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th to complete the Rockies’ comeback.

Gausman seemed unperturbed by the lack of run support.

“There’s not much I can do, you know? I’m not going to get an at bat,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s usually one guy out of the five (rotation pitchers) that for whatever reason the boys just have a hard time kind of stringing it together on his start days.

“I’ve definitely been that guy in the past. I hope this isn’t what’s to come.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider was frustrated that his hitters couldn’t make the most of a bases-loaded situation in the third inning with just one out, but he was also confident that the runs will start to come.

“When you get a starting performance like (Gausman’s), you want to win,” said Schneider. “There’s going to be times where this happens. There’s going to be times where you break a game open, case in point, third inning, and we’ve got all the confidence in the world in our guys to come through in those spots.

“They’ve done it a million times, and they’re going to do it as the season unfolds.”

Gausman had said before the season started that he thought Toronto’s rotation had some of the best swing-and-miss pitchers in baseball.

He’s been leading by example, with his 21 strikeouts the most in Major League Baseball when the Blue Jays game ended early Wednesday evening, three more than Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski.

Gausman’s 15.8 strikeouts per nine-innings rate was also fourth best in the majors. Teammate Dylan Cease, who’s scheduled to start on Friday for Toronto in Chicago against the White Sox, was tops with 20.3 and Blue Jays starter Eric Lauer was fifth with 15.2.

“I think the numbers say I must be pretty smart,” said Gausman. “These guys, they just have really good stuff.

“Cease is incredible, (recently injured Cody) Ponce is obviously, done now, but his stuff is electric and every guy in between as well.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press