In a triumphant debut, the Blue Jays slugged their way to a 9-5 victory over the White Sox in an opening-day game that brought out a crowd of 44,649 to watch the expansion club inaugurate major league baseball in Toronto. Snow fell before the game and it was played in near-freezing weather.

Doug Ault led the Jays' 16-hit attack with two homers and a single, driving in four runs. Al Woods, coming up as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning, homered on his first time at bat in the big league. Richie Zisk had four hits for the White Sox, including a homer. [The Sporting News]



Toronto Blue Jays 9, Chicago White Sox 5
Game Played on Thursday, April     7, 1977 (Day game) at Exhibition Stadium
White Sox    2  2  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   5 15  0
Blue Jays    1  1  2    1  2  0    0  2  x  -   9 16  3


White Sox            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Blue Jays            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Garr lf               5   2   3   0     1   0   .600      Scott lf              5   1   1   0     0   2   .200
Bannister ss          5   0   1   1     0   0   .200      Torres ss             2   1   1   0     0   1   .500
  Nyman ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Mason ph,ss         1   1   0   0     1   0   .000
  Nordbrook ss        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Ault 1b               4   2   3   4     1   0   .750
Orta 2b               4   0   0   1     1   1   .000      Velez dh              4   1   2   0     1   1   .500
Zisk rf               6   2   4   2     0   2   .667      G. Woods cf           5   1   1   0     0   0   .200
Spencer 1b            6   0   2   0     0   1   .333      Bowling rf            2   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Gamble dh             3   0   0   0     3   1   .000        A. Woods ph,rf      3   1   1   2     0   2   .333
Soderholm 3b          5   0   2   1     0   1   .400      Garcia 2b             4   1   3   1     0   0   .750
Lemon cf              4   0   0   0     1   3   .000      McKay 3b              4   0   2   1     0   0   .500
Downing c             4   1   3   0     1   0   .750      Cerone c              4   0   2   0     0   0   .500
Brett p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Singer p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Barrios p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Johnson p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Hamilton p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Vuckovich p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  LaGrow p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               43   5  15   5     7   9             Totals               38   9  16   8     3   7

Time of Game: 3:22   Attendance: 44,649
Left on Base: White Sox 19, Blue Jays 9
DP: White Sox 2, Blue Jays 0
Errors: Scott, McKay, Cerone
Doubles: Zisk (1), Garcia (1), Cerone (1), Scott (1)
Home Runs: Zisk (1), Ault 2 (2), A. Woods (1)
Stolen Bases: Garr (1), G. Woods (1), Velez (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Mason (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Orta (1)
GIDP: Ault (1), G. Woods (1)


White Sox              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Brett L(0-1)            3     9   5   5   0   4   2  18  15.00
Barrios                 3     3   2   2   3   1   1  14   6.00
Hamilton                1     3   2   2   0   1   0   7  18.00
LaGrow                  1     1   0   0   0   1   0   3   0.00
Totals                  8    16   9   9   3   7   3  42

Blue Jays              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Singer                  4.1  11   4   3   3   5   1  28   6.23
Johnson W(1-0)          2.2   3   1   1   3   1   0  14   3.38
Vuckovich SV(1)         2     1   0   0   1   3   0   9   0.00
Totals                  9    15   5   4   7   9   1  51

Umpires: HP - Nestor Chylak, 1B - Joe Brinkman, 2B - Rich Garcia, 3B - Steve Palermo


WHITE SOX 1ST: Garr walked; Garr stole second [Garr to third
(error by Cerone)]; Bannister flied out to right; Orta hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Garr scored]; Zisk homered; Spencer
singled to right; Gamble walked [Spencer to second]; Soderholm
forced Gamble (shortstop to second); 2 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
White Sox 2, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 1ST: Scott struck out; Torres struck out; Ault
homered; Velez flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  White
Sox 2, Blue Jays 1.

WHITE SOX 2ND: Lemon grounded out (second to first); Downing
singled to shortstop; Garr reached on an error by McKay [Downing
to third]; Bannister singled to right [Downing scored, Garr to
second]; Orta struck out; Zisk doubled to left [Garr scored
(unearned), Bannister to third]; Spencer grounded out (pitcher
to first); 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  White Sox 4, Blue Jays
1.

BLUE JAYS 2ND: On a bunt G. Woods singled to second; G. Woods
stole second; Bowling struck out; Garcia singled to right [G.
Woods scored]; McKay singled to right [Garcia to second]; Cerone
forced McKay (shortstop to second) [Garcia to third]; Scott
grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  White
Sox 4, Blue Jays 2.

WHITE SOX 3RD: Gamble struck out; Soderholm singled to left;
Lemon struck out; Downing singled to left [Soderholm to second];
Garr singled to third [Soderholm to third, Downing to second];
Bannister grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
 White Sox 4, Blue Jays 2.

BLUE JAYS 3RD: Torres singled to center; Ault homered [Torres
scored]; Velez struck out; G. Woods grounded out (second to
first); Bowling grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  White Sox 4, Blue Jays 4.

WHITE SOX 4TH: Orta flied to left in foul territory; Zisk struck
out; Spencer singled to right; Gamble walked [Spencer to
second]; Soderholm flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
White Sox 4, Blue Jays 4.

BLUE JAYS 4TH: Garcia doubled to center; McKay singled to right
[Garcia scored]; Cerone singled to center [McKay to second];
BARRIOS REPLACED BRETT (PITCHING); Scott forced McKay (pitcher
to third) [Cerone to second]; MASON BATTED FOR TORRES; Mason
walked [Cerone to third, Scott to second]; Ault grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Mason out at
second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  White Sox 4, Blue Jays 5.

WHITE SOX 5TH: MASON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Lemon was
called out on strikes; Downing singled to left; Garr singled to
right [Downing to second]; JOHNSON REPLACED SINGER (PITCHING);
Bannister lined to third; Orta grounded out (first unassisted);
0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  White Sox 4, Blue Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 5TH: Velez singled to left; Velez stole second; G.
Woods grounded out (pitcher to first); A. WOODS BATTED FOR
BOWLING; A. Woods homered [Velez scored]; Debut game for Al
Woods; Garcia grounded out (third to first); McKay grounded
out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  White Sox 4, Blue
Jays 7.

WHITE SOX 6TH: A. WOODS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Zisk
singled to shortstop; Spencer struck out; Gamble walked [Zisk to
second]; Soderholm singled to center [Zisk scored, Gamble to
second]; Lemon walked [Gamble to third, Soderholm to second];
Downing popped to third in foul territory; Garr grounded out
(pitcher to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  White Sox 5, Blue
Jays 7.

BLUE JAYS 6TH: Cerone doubled to left; Scott struck out; Mason
flied out to left; Ault walked; Velez walked [Cerone to third,
Ault to second]; G. Woods lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
 White Sox 5, Blue Jays 7.

WHITE SOX 7TH: Bannister flied out to center; Orta walked; Zisk
singled to left [Orta to second]; Spencer grounded out (pitcher
to first) [Orta to third, Zisk to second]; Gamble popped to
third in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  White Sox 5,
Blue Jays 7.

BLUE JAYS 7TH: HAMILTON REPLACED BARRIOS (PITCHING); A. Woods
was called out on strikes; Garcia singled to center; McKay
forced Garcia (shortstop to second); Cerone forced McKay (third
to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  White Sox 5, Blue Jays 7.

WHITE SOX 8TH: VUCKOVICH REPLACED JOHNSON (PITCHING); Soderholm
struck out; Lemon struck out; Downing walked; Garr singled to
left [Downing to second]; NYMAN BATTED FOR BANNISTER; Nyman
grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  White
Sox 5, Blue Jays 7.

BLUE JAYS 8TH: NORDBROOK REPLACED NYMAN (PLAYING SS); Scott
doubled to left; Mason reached on a fielder's choice on a
sacrifice bunt [Scott to third]; Ault singled to center [Scott
scored, Mason to second]; LAGROW REPLACED HAMILTON (PITCHING);
On a bunt Velez singled to pitcher [Mason to third, Ault to
second]; G. Woods grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Mason scored (no RBI), Ault to third, Velez
out at second]; A. Woods was called out on strikes; 2 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  White Sox 5, Blue Jays 9.

WHITE SOX 9TH: Orta grounded out (pitcher to first); Zisk struck
out; Spencer reached on an error by Scott [Spencer to second];
Gamble grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
White Sox 5, Blue Jays 9.