May 3, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) delivers a pitch during the second inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. (Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images)
The Toronto Blue Jays will aim to lock up both their current three-game series and the season set against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday afternoon at home.
Toronto took the series opener on Friday night with a 2-0 shutout. The Blue Jays also won two of three games against the Angels in Anaheim from April 20-22.
Dylan Cease, who earned the win on April 20 after striking out 12, fanned 10 over seven innings Friday. Right-hander Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.96 ERA) is scheduled to make his third start of the season Saturday and his first ever against the Angels.
Los Angeles will counter with right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-1, 3.05 ERA), who holds a 3.71 ERA in three career starts versus Toronto. He allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings on April 21 in Anaheim, a game the Blue Jays won 4-2.
The Blue Jays again struggled offensively on Friday, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Both runs came in the third inning against Angels starter Reid Detmers, who issued a career-high six walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Kazuma Okamoto drove in the first run with a single, giving him a team-leading 24 RBIs. Okamoto also started a double play in the fourth inning with a nice play on Mike Trout’s hard grounder to third.
The Angels are dealing with depth issues at catcher. Travis d’Arnaud was placed on the injured list with plantar fasciitis in his right foot after hurting himself running out a grounder Wednesday, and Logan O’Hoppe remains out with a fractured left hand but could return soon.
“Getting better by the day,” O’Hoppe said before Friday’s game.
It hasn’t been determined whether he will need a minor-league rehab assignment.
“It’s day-to-day,” he said. “Some days it’s worse than others. So far, it’s progressively gotten better by the day, so I’m not completely sure yet.”
The Angels promoted Omar Martinez from Triple-A Salt Lake to join Sebastian Rivero behind the plate. Martinez, formerly with the New York Yankees organization, signed a minor-league deal in the offseason.
“It’s definitely not ideal to have both of your catchers that you started the season with on the IL,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “But at the same time, it is what it is. You got to figure out a way. Luckily, we’ve got two guys that can really catch, and it’s our job as coaches to help guide them and help them be the best they can be.”
Martinez entered Friday’s game behind the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.
For Toronto, right fielder Addison Barger is expected to rejoin the team Saturday. He has been out since suffering a sprained ankle on April 5. It remains unclear who will be removed from the roster to make room for him.
Barger has completed his rehab assignment.
“He played a few games in a row, just give him a day to kind of recoup and travel, and then assuming that he travels fine, he should be ready to go (Saturday),” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The extra day was kind of all right, when he gets here, I’m not going to run him out there every single day, but we can get him going pretty good.”
