NEW YORK — Kevin Gausman entered his sixth start of the season averaging 15 pitches per inning. He was crisp, clean and everything the Toronto Blue Jays are accustomed to from their inning-eating veteran.
In Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader in the Bronx, efficiency evaporated. Gausman found himself in a slog of a third frame, pulling back for pitch after pitch after pitch. When Austin Wells cranked a double off the wall to score the Yankees’ sixth run of the frame, Gausman’s painful marathon ended with an ejection.
The Blue Jays starter was tossed after registering just two outs in the third inning on 53 deliveries, tying Woody Williams’ 1998 Blue Jays record for most pitches in a single inning.
“You try to get to 100 pitches,” Gausman said. “To throw 50 of them in one inning, that’s pretty crazy. I’ve never, I don’t even think I’ve been close to that. So not ideal.”
RHP Kevin Gausman has been ejected from today’s game.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 27, 2025
Gausman’s normally refined control was off from the start of the third. He couldn’t throw the splitter for strikes and any in-game adjustments he attempted just ended up with more misses.
“He just lost his command,” manager John Schneider said. “Not like him.”
Oswaldo Cabrera walked as New York’s first base runner of the inning. Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe all earned free passes in the inning, too. As home-plate umpire Chris Conroy called more pitches outside the zone, Gausman barked back at the plate and raised his arms to question the calls. There were at least three pitches in the third inning that Gausman “knew” were strikes, he said after the outing.
When Toronto’s Game 1 starter finally exited the contest, the barking continued. Gausman turned for one last word with Conroy as he left down the dugout tunnel, slipping on the steps. He escaped the tumble unscathed.
“As I was coming off the mound, I kind of let him (umpire Chris Conroy) know I was gonna go watch his bad umpiring inside,” Gausman said. “Didn’t see the stairs.”
Later, in the top of the fifth, manager John Schneider was ejected for arguing with Conroy, too.
Gausman has had his bumps this season, with fluctuating fastball velocity and splitter shape. He had a zero-strikeout affair against the Mets in early April, immediately followed by a 10-strikeout masterclass in Boston. Control is rarely the problem, as he had walked more than two batters just once before Sunday, but it wasn’t there against the Yankees.
The laborious inning and early end to Gausman’s day were unideal for a Blue Jays team required to cover at least 18 innings on Sunday. But the real question going forward is how the splitter-chucking righty will recover from the big inning. He’s never thrown 53 pitches in an inning before and may ease off side sessions between starts to rebound. Gausman came into the 2025 season sturdier, hoping for improved stamina down the stretch — 50-pitch innings won’t help that.
The Blue Jays initially planned to start Gausman on normal rest on Friday against the Guardians, handing Chris Bassitt the extra day of rest. But, Toronto could flip the pitchers to give Gausman extra recovery time after the freakish third inning.
“Two and two-thirds, 70 pitches, wherever it was,” Gausman said. “I mean, that’s not great on anyone’s arm.”
(Photo: Evan Bernstein / Getty Images)
