The Toronto Blue Jays had their best swing-and-miss stuff working during their opening series against the Athletics.
After Tommy Nance began the eighth inning of Sunday's contest with a punchout of Jeff McNeil, Toronto pitchers had totalled 47 strikeouts on the season — a major-league record through a team's first three games.
The Blue Jays added to that total later against the A's, and finished the series with 50.
Toronto pitchers also set a new franchise record for most Ks in a three-game series.
The previous high-water mark for the start of the season came when the Cincinnati Reds struck out 46 against the Detroit Tigers to open their 2020 campaign.
Toronto's best previous three-game set total came in April 2023 against the Seattle Mariners.
Kevin Gausman (11) and Dylan Cease (12) opened Toronto's season by setting their own Blue Jays records, taking the marks for most opening-day strikeouts and most Ks in a debut with the club, respectively.
Eric Lauer continued the Blue Jays' starting-pitching dominance on Sunday, setting down nine A's over 5.1 innings of work.
In addition to its starters, Toronto has gotten strikeouts from each of the eight relievers it has sent to the mound in 2026.
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