Gausman masterful with near-Maddux gem in shutout of Astros

TORONTO -- Kevin Gausman is a simple pitcher, which is what makes him so complicated.

Up and down, up and down, Gausman toys with hitters and teases their eyes. When he is at his very best, he needs just two pitches to bewilder the batter, each of them disguised as one another.

Thursday afternoon was a Gausman masterclass, a complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed on an even 100 pitches, just one pitch shy of the Blue Jays’ first “Maddux” since Mark Buehrle pulled it off on June 3, 2015. The 6-0 win to take the series from the Astros was Gausman’s finest performance of the season to follow up eight innings of one-run ball on Friday in the Bronx.

The ace is back.

“He seems to be peaking at the right time,” said manager John Schneider, who called this one of Gausman’s finest days in a Blue Jays uniform. “And he wanted the ninth, which to me was a no-brainer. His last two [starts] have just been outstanding. He’s on a roll.”

It’s Toronto’s first nine-inning complete game since July 27, 2024, and its first complete-game shutout since June 8 of that year. Those starters? Kevin Gausman and Kevin Gausman.

Suddenly, Gausman is making a case to be the Blue Jays’ Game 1 starter in the postseason. It looks like they’re headed straight to the American League Division Series as Toronto and Detroit have a comfortable cushion for the top two spots in the AL, which means they should have all the time to tinker with schedules and set up this rotation exactly as they want it.

After watching these past two performances from Gausman, how can you not be tempted to roll him out as early and often as possible?

Even after the game, the fans refused to leave. They stood, watched Gausman’s postgame interview and roared.

“I’ve never closed a game for the Blue Jays, but I feel like that’s what it would be like. Even a standing ovation before the ninth inning,” Gausman said. “It was pretty cool ... That was special.”

Shane Bieber still has a fine case to open the postseason for Toronto, making this another good problem in a season full of them, but it’s all about peaking at just the right time. This is the best Gausman has looked in a Blue Jays uniform since 2023, when he finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting, and it’s not just his pitches that keep you watching. There’s a little spice to Gausman right now, pumping his fists and spinning off the mound as he mows down hitter after hitter.

“I’m not afraid to show my emotion now,” Gausman said. “In past years, I tried to be boring out there, but I feel that pitching at home, everybody loves that you show a little emotion. I was definitely feeding off the crowd.”

The ace upside has always been there. While fellow veterans like José Berríos and Chris Bassitt may be more predictable on a weekly basis, Gausman is capable of reaching heights that few other starters are. He’s the starter capable of striking out 12, capable of racking up whiffs, capable of pitching eight innings like a closer would. Sure, there are days when Gausman’s magic fades and hitters aren’t fooled by that fastball-splitter mix, but the good days are worth chasing.

“He’s easy to overlook because he’s not the big personality like Max [Scherzer],” Schneider said. “Kevin’s just been steady, man. He’s been really, really good. He’s been exactly what we need.”

The tank’s full, too. Gausman’s fastball velocity sat just above his season average on Thursday afternoon and touched 97.6 mph. Velocity matters for everyone, but the difference it makes in Gausman’s game is so blatant. The moment you start to see 96, 97 and 98 flash on your screen, it’s go time.

That 97.6-mph pitch was just plain unfair. In an 0-2 count against Yordan Alvarez, Gausman kissed the bottom edge of the zone with that vicious, tailing fastball. To spot that pitch in a moment where Alvarez could just as likely be looking for the splitter, which snaps down and out of the zone at 84 mph? It’s nearly an impossible task.

Gausman is the Blue Jays’ opportunity to ride the lightning. When he’s hot, there aren’t many pitchers like him, and if the postseason started next week, it would be awfully hard for Toronto to look anywhere else.