PITTSBURGH – The relief for the Toronto Blue Jays was evident before Bo Bichette’s three-run double in the seventh inning touched green in the left-field corner. George Springer urged trailing runners Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman, who walked after his base hit, to follow him home as he approached the plate. Guerrero pointed out toward Bichette as he came in, while Springer hopped up and down with both arms in the air as Chapman raced across. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who left the on-deck circle for the safety of the dugout after consecutive Bichette foul balls just missed him, emerged and pumped his fists in the air.
That the hit meant so much is a result of both the pressures of playing meaningful September baseball and a collective dry spell hitting with runners in scoring position. Bichette’s 108.7 m.p.h. liner that provided the difference in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, on the 10th pitch of a grinding at-bat against Duane Underwood Jr., was the Blue Jays’ first in 10 tries Saturday. The tenacity in his approach was exactly what you want in that spot.
“Just never give in,” Bichette said of his mindset. “Don’t let him speed me up. Trust in my ability. Trust how quick I am. And I just did a pretty good job of that.”
In the seven games preceding this one, against the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs and Friday’s series opener at picturesque PNC Park, they had gone just 9-for-47, a .191 average, with the chance to bring in runs and scored only 22 times.
As the wild-card standings contracted within that same stretch, the weight on each at-bat felt bigger and bigger. On Saturday, they came up empty after putting two men aboard in four separate innings before Bichette broke through, to the delight of a heavy pro-Blue Jays contingent among the crowd of 23,568.
“That’s just a big, big at-bat, a huge moment,” said Springer. “The at-bats by Vladdy, by Chappy were huge. Bo battled his ass off. He fought off some good pitches. That guy’s throwing 96, 97. He’s got a nasty changeup and a 94 mile per hour cutter and somehow, someway Bo just fought and battled and it’s just a huge moment for us, especially when that’s what we needed.”
Still, the difficulty in pushing across runs meant a steady diet of higher-than-expected leverage against teams the Blue Jays (72-59) expected to handle more comfortably.
Alek Manoah did the heavy lifting for them in Friday’s 4-0 win while the tightrope walk Saturday was far more taxing on a deftly handled bullpen day. Key moments included Yimi Garcia entering the game far earlier than usual and inducing a key double play to end the fifth in relief of Yusei Kikuchi and Tim Mayza striking out Jack Suwinski with men on the corners in the eighth. Jordan Romano threw a clean ninth for his 29th save.
“Kind of all hands on deck,” interim manager John Schneider said of going to Garcia in the fifth. “We were going to pick and choose our spots based on where they were in the order and based on traffic on the bases. A lot earlier than what he’s used to usually but if we didn’t use them there, maybe we wouldn’t use him. Just another hell of a job.”
Indeed, and credit to the pitching staff for keeping the Blue Jays in games, but clear is that the offence needs to start fulfilling more of the innings they’ve created. Small sample sizes are noisy, of course, and the past week could merely be the work of randomness. In zooming out for a better read, the Blue Jays entered the day 14th in the majors hitting with runners in scoring position with a .260 average, along with a .342 OBP and .423 slug, and while not elite, it’s not the raging inferno it’s felt like in recent days, either.
Worth noting is that the Blue Jays entered Saturday eighth in the majors with 605 runs scored, better than Houston, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Seattle and Cleveland. Their hot and cold spells remain enigmatic and there remains a sense of bewilderment around the team about why they haven’t put together the type of extended run they appear to be capable of, but sometimes baseball is weird, winning is hard and the players on other teams drive nice cars, too.
“It’s tough, right? Not a lot of runway” remaining in the season, said Schneider. “Overall, the last month or so, we’re swinging at the right pitches. The results have been a little bit varied, but the talent in there is going come through and tonight was a perfect example of that. You’ve got to stick with it. You can’t abort mission, try to panic and try to do too much. That’s when it goes a little bit south. The season is short, but at the same time, they’re good enough to kind of stick with that approach.”
As quickly as the Blue Jays went cold, they can similarly get hot, too, and Bichette’s recent resurgence bodes well in that regard. He came into the day batting .349/.429/.535 in his previous 11 games and while he swung at the first pitch in his first three trips Saturday – resulting in a single and two flyouts – he wore down Underwood until finally whipping around a 91.7 m.p.h. cutter.
“I definitely feel like myself,” he said. “I’ve always been very aggressive and just kind of feel like I’m embracing that. Being aggressive, trusting in my two-strike approach allows me to do that early count and I definitely feel pretty good.”
The fine line for Bichette and his teammates is the balance between taking it to opponents and, in his words, “being too aggressive and looking wild,” and his swing from the first three trips up to the fourth was exactly that.
Schneider called the duel with Underwood “a testament to him and who he is as a competitor” and added that Bichette “is really, really good right now. And it’s just a big boost for us.”
“You can look back a couple of weeks ago when we talked about there’s one at-bat, or one inning that really gets you going – that at-bat by Bo symbolized that a little bit,” Schneider added. “You don’t want to do too much. The walks by Vladdy and Chappy to get to that point is really indicative of what we’re trying to do and then just keep passing the baton, get someone up there, get a good pitch to hit and don’t miss it. All in all, that inning, the approach is kind of what we wanted to do and you got the right hitter up at the right time.”
Bichette delivered and a night headed for frustration instead ended in elation for a Blue Jays team fighting to unlock the floodgates at the plate.
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.
