Aguiar, a 23-year-old 12th-round draft pick in 2021, was a stand-in for elbow-sore Hunter Greene. Aguiar pitch four innings (57 pitches).
He was indoctrinated early when Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a 430-foot home run in the first inning when Aguiar dangled a tantalizing slider.
But he settled in after that and gave up only one more run, although he had runners on base in all four innings.
“Being in the dome (Rogers Centre), as soon as they opened it up, it was like, ‘wow, it’s a much bigger stage here,” said Aguiar during his post-game media interview. “It’s a blessing, a team come true, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Of Guerrero’s home run, Aguiar said, “I was just trying to throw a slider for a strike, it backed up a little bit, didn’t do what I wanted. I looked back and the ball was long gone.
“It was a good one and I’m glad I gave up my firt one to him, a great experience to get it out of the way,” he added.
Gausman, who made 15 appearances for the 2019 Reds, took the mound with five straight wins and Toronto had won his last six starts.
When the sixth inning began, it was 2-2 and Gausman struck out Tyler Stephenson. But Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk missed strike three, a passed ball, and Stephenson reached first base.
That launched a decisive four-run inning, one run more than the Reds scored in the entirety of the three games they lost to Kansas City, when they were outscored, 28-3.
When Gausman gave up a single to TJ Friedl, the Blue Jays went to the bullpen and brought in Ryan Burr.
The Reds then wore out a path up the right-center alley for three doubles. Spencer Steer doubled, his MLB-leading 25th hit with runners in scoring position, and it was 3-2.
Ty France doubled home two to push it to 5-2 and Jake Fraley doubled and it was 6-2.
Aguiar, perhaps a bit jittery, gave up the 430-foot first-inning home run to Guerrero, his 12th homer since the All-Star break.
With one out in the third, Santiago Espinal came to bat. Espinal came to the Reds from the Blue Jays and the fans in Rogers Centre gave him a loud and warm reception.
Espinal doffed his batting helmet, stepped into the batter’s box and laced a double down the left field line, one of two hits on the night for Espinal. Gausman balked Espinal to third and he scored on Elly De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly to left to tie it, 1-1.
The run ended Gausman’s streak of 14 straight scoreless innings.
Toronto barged back ahead, 2-1, with a run in the third on a double by George Springer, a wild pitch and a single by Daulton Varsho.
TJ Friedl re-tied it, 2-2, by leading the fourth with a 393-foot home run on a 1-and-0 89 mph fastball that landed in the seats above the Reds’ bullpen in right-center.
Friedl was 1 for 10 in the Kansas City debacle, but had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI.
“No one wants to get swept, but you have to put that in the past,” said Friedl during a post-game interview with Bally Sports Ohio. “You can’t dwell on it, you can’t change it.
“It felt good for me to swing the bat and be aggressive,” he added. “I was a little hesitant over the weekend, so I had to come out here and be aggressive and stick to my approach.”
Aguiar gave up a one-out walk in the fourth, but no damage was done and his debut was done — four innings, two runs, four hits, one walk and two strikeouts for his four brief innings.
“You always want to go deeper into games and cover innings for the guys in the bullpen,” he said.
“As a debut, I can say we won a ball game and that’s all that matters, so I’m please with it.”
Asked about his feelings over the previous 24 hours, he said, “Lot of text messages, lot of phone calls, lot of smiles and lots of shaking in my body. I got my feet wet in the big leagues. I’ll put that past me and get ready for my next start.”
Gausman left in the sixth inning and was charged with four runs (three earned) five hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
Tony Santillan, Sam Moll, Buck Farmer and Justin Wilson held Toronto to no runs and one hit from the fifth through the eighth.
Alexis Diaz gave up a leadoff home run to Ernie Clement to begin the ninth, then retired the next three to end the Reds’ losing streak.
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