Hernández leads Blue Jays to wild opening win over Rangers

TORONTO — The Blue Jays' first home opener in Toronto in three years won't soon be forgotten by Teoscar Hernández, his teammates, or the sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre.

Hernández had a three-run blast and scored the winning run as Toronto rallied for a raucous 10-8 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday. It was the first time Rogers Centre had hosted a home opener since 2019, as COVID-19 restrictions forced the Blue Jays to play all of 2020 and most of 2021 in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo, N.Y.

When the team did return to Toronto late last summer Ontario still had capacity limits in place for most venues, limiting the cavernous Rogers Centre to just 15,000 fans.

"The moment was very special," said Hernández of Friday's win. "I think there's not a single player in this clubhouse that is going to forget today, what happened today."

Hernández played in Toronto's last home opener at Rogers Centre, a 2-0 loss to Detroit, but the Blue Jays core of young stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio had never experienced it until Friday.

They got the full experience with a crowd of 45,022 at Rogers Centre, the first sellout at Toronto's ballpark since March 29, 2018, wildly cheering and booing with every lead change in the back-and-forth game.

"We always knew it was going to be like that from the beginning," said Hernández. "We're just excited to be back and enjoy every single moment with the fans."

Danny Jansen added some insurance with an eighth-inning homer as Toronto (1-0) came back from a 7-0 deficit.

José Berríos gave up four runs in just a third of an inning as Toronto's Opening Day starter escaped with a no decision. Berríos said that he felt good warming up before the game but when he got to the mound he