The Blue Jays are young and hungry to prove their worth. But in the end, it was the Yankees’ unwavering discipline that was the difference-maker.
TORONTO — This is the time when experience becomes pivotal.
With over 28,000 fans in the stands and their season on the line, the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t need anyone to tell them Tuesday’s game against the New York Yankees was a big one.
A young team, hungry to prove itself, walked onto the field at Rogers Centre two games back of a wild-card spot with a chance to make up for it against a direct rival in the Yankees. But it was New York’s cold-blooded discipline that prevailed in the end.
“It wasn’t so much us,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo after his team’s 7-2 loss on Tuesday. “Their bullpen did a good job. Those arms are coming out of there and they’re good pitchers.”
The Yankees acted like they’d been here before from the very first pitch. They didn’t budge when Bo Bichette drove in George Springer to give the Jays an early lead in the first, or when their starter, Jameson Taillon, was forced to exit the game with an aggravated ankle injury just 2.1 innings in.
New York’s pitchers — six of them in total — allowed just three hits, while its offence combined for 11, twice coming back from one-run deficits and keeping their cool until the right opportunity presented itself.
“All these games are going to be very important,” said left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu after his start on Tuesday. “I’m going to prepare for my last start of the season and I hope that our players are going to compete and do their best until the very end.”
In a game that looked like a nail-biter until the seventh frame, it seemed like luck just wasn’t on the Toronto pitcher’s side after dealing with neck issues last week. Ryu was solid, though far from spectacular. His velocity was up, but Ryu struggled to find his command, much to the benefit of Aaron Judge, who took advantage of a hanging sinker and crushed a solo shot in the third inning.
“I was able to execute my pitches tonight better than I was in previous outings,” Ryu said after the game. “Overall I felt pretty good. … Today, I came in and I wasn’t really thinking about how many innings I was going to throw or how many pitches I was going to throw. I just wanted to focus hitter by hitter, and that’s what I tried to do today.”
Ryu’s second earned run was the definition of a blip. With Gio Urshela at third, Anthony Rizzo sliced up a good pitch to right field for a single. Corey Dickerson had Urshela beat on the throw to home plate, but the ball hit the Yankees baserunner and deflected away, allowing him to score easily.
That ended Ryu’s night, as he left with 4.2 innings pitched, six hits allowed, three earned runs, a walk and three strikeouts.
“It’s not really something that pitchers can control,” Ryu said of that strange RBI single to Rizzo. “It was a very frustrating hit, especially since it led to runs and gave up the lead. I think I can speak for all pitchers when I say that it was a very frustrating hit.”
Bo Bichette’s night may serve as a micro illustration of the entire Blue Jays season: Flashes of genius sprinkled by youthful yet costly mistakes. Bichette finished the game with two singles and an RBI, but a bad out at third base as he tried to advance on a wild pitch stained his otherwise great performance.
After a heads-up jump that allowed him to advance from first to second on a wild pitch by Clay Holmes, Bichette thought he had enough to go from second to third when Holmes had yet another errant throw. But Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez was faster, quickly recovering and sending the ball over to DJ LeMahieu, who tagged Bichette just in time to get an out call on the field.
After a lengthy review, as the Rogers Centre crowd pleaded for an overturn, umpire Brian Knight announced the call was upheld. Instead of a man in scoring position with the game very much within reach, the Blue Jays suddenly had nobody on and two out.
That New York made it 6-2 the very next inning didn’t help at all.
Giancarlo Stanton, an 11-year MLB veteran and former National League MVP, was the one who blew it wide open for New York. Stanton kept his cool through a two-out, 2-2 count until he found a pitch to hit, sending it 421 feet off Trevor Richards for a three-run homer and a 6-2 Yankees lead in the seventh.
Richards certainly wasn’t to blame for it, as Stanton’s homer came off a well-placed, down-and-away changeup. The Yankees slugger is simply that good.
“I don’t know how you can hit a ball like that,” said Montoyo. “Richards has been good. You gotta give Stanton credit for that.”
Urshela added a solo shot of his own off Anthony Castro in the ninth to seal the Yankees win when several of the available seats had already been emptied by disappointed Jays fans.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. returned to Toronto’s lineup after suffering a hand injury against the Minnesota Twins on Sep. 24. Still unable to play defence, Gurriel Jr. took the DH spot, with George Springer at centerfield and newly reinstated Cavan Biggio emerging as a bench option for Toronto’s outfield.
The gut-wrenching loss severely diminishes the Blue Jays’ chances of reaching a wild-card spot, even with the Red Sox’s 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Toronto now sits one game back of Boston, while the Yankees — now three up on the Blue Jays — assume the top position in the American League wild-card race with five games left in the season.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
