The game changed in the top of the fifth. Lourdes Gurriel started the inning with a double. Then, right here, the Angels took out starter Dylan (don’t call me Ted) Bundy. The move confused us, Bundy hadn’t been bad, but the Angels had Sam Selman throwing before the inning started. It had me thinking that they had planned to pull Bundy. But Bundy didn’t look happy.
After an out, Santiago Espinal singled Gurriel home, and Espinal went to second on the throw home. Walks to George Springer and Marcus Semien loaded the bases for Vlad, which had us hoping Vlad would choose this moment to come out of his little slump. He didn’t. But Teoscar Hernandez followed up with a grand slam, and we were suddenly up by five.
Before that.
Lourdes Gurriel made a terrific play at first base to end the second inning and then homered to start the third inning. The pitch he hit out was up and in, and he got it all. The play at first was a nicely hit ground ball, right down the right-field line.
And George Springer also hit one out in the third.
There were some interesting defensive plays in the early going. Shohei Ohtani lined the game’s second pitch hard, but Teoscar Hernandez made a very nice catch, going back to get it.
On the bad side, Marcus Semien, playing short in place of the hurting Bo Bichette, threw wide of first on what should have been an easy ground out. Lourdes did well to catch it but was pulled well off the bag. I think the throw was a homage to his fallen middle-infield partner.
And Alek Manoah made a ridiculous play on a broken-bat ground ball hit to his right. The bat kind of went by him on the left. He managed to ignore it, slid to the ball, up and then. I guess his grip wasn’t right, but he bounced the ball to first, and Lourdes made a nice grab.
Manoah was as good as we have seen him. He gave up a home run to Shohei Ohtani, but then he hit many home runs. He ended up going 6.2 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 earned 1 walk and had 11 strikeouts. It seemed to be almost all fastballs for Alek. He threw a 97 MPH fastball in the seventh inning. He could have been out of the game several pitches sooner, but David Fletcher worked a 12-pitch walk that ended his day at 114 pitches.
It is one of the best starts we’ve seen this season.
Tayler Saucedo took over for Alek with 2 on and got a ground ball to end the inning. He ended up getting 4 outs without giving up a baserunner.
Brad Hand threw a nice quick ninth.
We scored an extra two runs in the eighth. With one out, Teoscar singled (really should have been an error on the shortstop. Corey Dickerson also singled, giving us runners on the corners. Alejandro Kirk hit into what should have been an easy double play, but Angels 3B Phil Gosselin dribbled it, turning it into a 5-3 out (not an error for stupid baseball reasons (can’t assume a double play, Ummm sorry, but you could on that one with Kirk running) and allowing the runner on third to score. Lourdes got his third hit of the night, a single, bringing in Dickerson.
And George Springer hit his second home run of the day in the ninth, getting us to double digits in runs.
We had 10 hits, but 4 were home runs (and one of them should have been an error) and just the 2 walks (back-to-back before Teoscar’s home run.
Lourdes had 3 (needed a triple for the cycle), and Teoscar had 2 (and 4 RBI).
Vlad had a frustrating night, going 0 for 4. Kirk and Breyvic Valera also had 0 for 4s.
Jays of the Day: Teoscar (.218 WPA), Lourdes (.195), Espinal (.115), and Springer (.102), and I’m giving one to Alek who’s .044 is so low because we scored so many runs.
Suckage: Vlad had the number (-.116).
We finish up the series with the Angels tomorrow. Berrios vs. Ohtani (that should be fun).
We had 525 comments in the GameThread. EMK19 led us to a very satisfying victory.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
