Okamoto 500-level – Kazuma Okamoto became the 10th Blue Jays player to hit a home run into the 500 level at Rogers Centre, sending a 423-foot shot off New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers to stake Toronto to an early 3-0 lead. The Blue Jays went on to beat the Yankees 8-5 in th
The ball didn’t just leave the yard at Rogers Centre on Friday—it disappeared into the fifth deck.
Kazuma Okamoto. an infield regular for the Toronto Blue Jays. became the 10th player in franchise history to hit a home run into the 500 level at the stadium. Against the New York Yankees in the first game of the series. Okamoto turned an 87 mile per hour slider from Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers into a 423-foot shot to left field.
It was the kind of swing that changes the temperature of a game early. The homer gave Toronto an early 3-0 lead.
Okamoto joined a rare group of Blue Jays to reach the upper deck at Rogers Centre: Joe Carter. Carlos Delgado. Jose Canseco. Shawn Green. Raul Mondesi. Josh Phelps. Vernon Wells. Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson. He also became the 19th player in MLB history to reach the 500 level since Rogers Centre opened in 1989.
Before Friday, Okamoto was hitting .230/.309/.422 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in his first MLB season. He later added his team-leading 14th home run—again off Weathers.
Weathers’ night ended with six runs and six hits allowed in 4 1/3 innings. He has surrendered seven home runs in his past three starts.
Toronto didn’t stop with the blast. The Blue Jays finished the game with an 8-5 win over New York.
Alejandro Kirk returned from a fractured left thumb after 62 games. and he made an immediate impact: he went 3-for-3 with a walk. two RBI and a run scored. George Springer also homered, while Cody Bellinger hit his 10th home run for the Yankees. New York’s four-game winning streak ended with the loss.
On the mound, Trey Yesavage (3-3) earned the win, allowing five runs and four hits in five-plus innings. Louis Varland recorded his 12th save in 12 chances.
The Blue Jays improved to 12-6 when hitting two or more home runs.
The sequence played out cleanly for Toronto: a 500-level jolt from Okamoto early, a series of contributions that followed, and a final score that snapped the Yankees’ momentum as the Blue Jays moved forward.
Kazuma Okamoto Toronto Blue Jays New York Yankees Rogers Centre 500-level home run Ryan Weathers Alejandro Kirk George Springer Trey Yesavage Louis Varland
500 level?? bro that ball was in another dimension lol
I swear the 500 level is like where dreams go. 423 feet sounds fake tho, like did they measure that on purpose? Also Yankees pitching is cursed again, I guess.
Okamoto got a slider at 87 mph and just nuked it, so obviously that means Weathers is washed right? Like 6 runs in 4.1 innings is still not that bad though. Idk I’m confused—are they saying 500-level homers are common or rare? Cause list of names makes it sound like yes but also 500 level is hard.
The only thing I care about is Kirk coming back and going 3-for-3, that’s awesome. But then they said Toronto won 8-5 in th—like what, the article cut off? I don’t trust that kind of formatting. Also Bellinger homered so Yankees fans will be mad even if they lost.