By The Canadian Press

Okamoto homers in Blue Jays 4-3 loss to Mets in pre-season play

Feb 23, 2026 | 2:59 PM

DUNEDIN — Kazuma Okamoto hit a two-run home run, his first in a Blue Jays jersey, in Toronto’s 4-3 pre-season loss to the New York Mets on Monday.

Okamoto, who made his debut Saturday, belted it deep in the bottom of the second inning to open the scoring.

The 29-year-old signed a four-year deal with Toronto (1-2) in January after an 11-year career in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. He was a career .277 hitter with 248 home runs, 717 runs batted in, while leading the league in homers three times.

The Mets (2-1), who did not have former Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette in uniform, tied it in the third thanks to an RBI single from Nick Morabito, followed by an RBI double by MJ Melendez.

New York added two more runs — on a throwing error in the sixth that scored Jacob Reimer and a Cristian Pache solo shot in the seventh — to take the lead for good. Toronto third baseman Charles McAdoo trimmed the lead with an RBI single in the ninth.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.

The Canadian Press