TORONTO – Blue Jays outfielder Alan Roden has been getting consistent playing time over the primary few weeks of his rookie season.
On Tuesday night, he showed that he appears to be settling right into a groove.
Roden doubled and scored Toronto’s first run and later added his first profession homer because the Blue Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-3 at Rogers Centre.
“I believe team hitting is a momentum thing and anything I can do to contribute to that’s going to be an enormous deal,” Roden said.
Anthony Santander hit a three-run homer in Toronto’s five-run fifth inning and Kevin Gausman threw six solid frames as Toronto improved to 10-8.
The Braves fell to 5-12. The rubber game within the three-game interleague series is about for Wednesday afternoon.
Roden, 25, was singled out by Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins during a media availability at first of coaching camp. Atkins said he’d put some pressure on him for this 12 months and listed the outfielder’s many attributes.
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Roden delivered with a robust spring and has been an everyday presence in a Toronto outfield that has had some early injury issues.
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“He’s just quietly chugging along and doing his part,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
Centre-fielder Daulton Varsho has yet to play this 12 months as he continues to accumulate after shoulder surgery and right-fielder George Springer has been nursing a sore wrist the previous couple of days.
With Nathan Lukes added to the paternity list earlier within the day, Toronto went with an outfield of Roden in left, Myles Straw in centre and Triple-A call-up Addison Barger in right.
They occupied the last three spots within the batting order and had three of the Blue Jays’ six hits.
Straw fouled off a pair of fastballs at 97 m.p.h. from Atlanta starter Spencer Schwellenbach (1-1) and worked a full count before stroking a single to guide off the fifth inning.
Roden followed with a 397-foot shot off a first-pitch curveball. The highest of the order did its thing from there as Bo Bichette doubled, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked and Santander hit a no-doubt blast that broke the sport open.
“That’s how we would like it to unfold and it gives you some respiratory room along with your starter,” Schneider said. “It lets you manage your bullpen in a different way. And hopefully that’s just a little bit little bit of a breath of fresh air for everybody.”
Toronto began the day with an MLB-worst nine home runs on the season.
Gausman (2-1), who gave up solo homers to Austin Riley and Matt Olson, had six strikeouts. He allowed two earned runs and 6 hits over six innings.
Reliever Chad Green gave up a solo homer to Ozzie Albies within the ninth inning.
All players wore No. 42 to have a good time Jackie Robinson Day. The number was retired throughout the foremost leagues in 1997.
It was Roden’s fourth multi-hit game and first game with multiple extra-base hits. The performance lifted his average to .277 and his OPS to .744.
“He’s been productive and we all know that he can do this,” Schneider said. “So it is sweet for him to have a game like that.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
