Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr (27) slugs a two run home run in the bottom of the second inning against the Sacramento A’s at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Thu May 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

It was a night to forget for the green and gold at Rogers Centre, where the Sacramento Athletics were steamrolled 12-0 by the Toronto Blue Jays in a one-sided affair that started badly and only got worse. This marks the third straight loss for the A’s and their 14th defeat in the last 15 games, during which they’ve been outscored by a staggering 117 to 44.

Things unraveled in the second inning, when the Blue Jays erupted for eight runs off A’s starter Jacob Lopez, who was chased from the game after recording just five outs. Toronto’s Ernie Clement ignited the rally with a three-run homer to left center.

It was his second of the season and only the beginning of what would be a career night. After a pair of singles and another walk, Bo Bichette delivered an RBI double before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched a towering two-run shot, his eighth home run of the year, to make it 6-0.

Lopez was replaced by Anthony Maldonado, but the floodgates remained open. Clement returned to the plate and ripped a two-run double, finishing the inning with five RBIs.

Clement’s five-RBI frame tied a Blue Jays franchise record. Only Edwin Encarnacion had ever driven in five runs in a single inning before, doing so in 2014. For Clement, a 28-year-old journeyman with just eight RBIs all season entering the game, it was a career-defining performance.

But the damage didn’t stop there. In the third, Bichette and Springer went back-to-back with solo home runs to left field. That ballooned the lead to 11-0 and cemented what had become a highlight reel for Toronto’s top hitters. Bichette’s blast was his sixth of the year. Springer, who also singled and scored earlier, added his sixth as well.

The A’s offense, meanwhile, never got going. They struck out 14 times and were held to just four hits, two of which came after the game was already well out of reach. Lawrence Butler recorded a single and a walk, and Brent Rooker hit his tenth double of the season, but the A’s never advanced a runner past second base.

Their best chance came in the sixth, when Luis Urías and Logan Davidson reached base with no outs, only for Butler to strike out and the rally to fizzle with a lineout and forceout.

Toronto starter José Berríos dominated from the outset, allowing just two hits across six shutout innings while striking out nine. He improved to 5-4 on the season with a 2.78 ERA. The Blue Jays bullpen combined to retire nine of the final eleven batters.

The Athletics’ pitching struggles were on full display. Lopez was tagged for seven earned runs, while Maldonado allowed four more in his brief appearance. Sean Newcomb and Hogan Harris provided some length out of the bullpen, but by then the damage was irreparable.

The Blue Jays tacked on their final run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly from Alejandro Kirk, scoring Addison Barger, who had reached with a single and moved over on Ali Sánchez’s double. Even Toronto’s substitutions kept producing, highlighting the depth gap between these two clubs.

The Athletics will attempt to regroup and stop the bleeding when the series continues Friday. A’s Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (5-3 ERA 3.97) is slated to start for the green and gold, looking for his sixth win of the season. He’ll be opposed by former A’s pitcher and Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt, who brings a 4-3 record into the matchup with a 3.38 ERA.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.