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Peason was great, but Jays lose – Bluebird Banter

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Nationals 4 Blue Jays 1

That tenth inning was awful.

Shun Yamaguchi starting the inning with a runner on second, decided let’s give them a couple more runners, so he walked the next two. But then he got two strikeouts.

Then a ground ball that Shun kicked at. Kicking at a ball is not a good idea. If he hadn’t kicked it, I think it would have gone straight to Cavan Biggio and he would have been out of the inning. Instead it bounced up to Biggio, getting to him later. Cavan dived to the second base bag, and was just late. Called safe. Review and, we didn’t see a view that showed the play well enough to overturn it.

I thought the play was to first base, the runner on first has a leadoff, he’s going to be quicker to second than even a fast runner, like Adam Eaton. In the time it took him to decide to dive to the bag, he could have thrown to first.

But, maybe a better play still would have been to dive at the runner instead of diving to the bag. The runner was closer to Cavan than the bag and, I think, he could have tagged him before he touched second. I know Cavan had to make a quick decision, so making the wrong one is understandable. It should have been an out and we should have been out of the top of the tenth without allowing a run.

Cavan too could have stayed with the play and tagged the runner when he came off the bag, but he was busy showing the umpire that he had the ball. Staying with the play and getting the tag when the runner came off the bag is a play we should be making. A run would still have scored, but the 3 after that wouldn’t have scored.

After that, Shun totally lost the strike zone. He went 3-0 to Asdrubal Cabrera. Then he got a gift strike ball (only about 6 inches off the plate) and then threw a balling practice fastball that was grounded hard at Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I’m not sure Vlad had a chance on it, it was hit so hard. It turned into a triple and we were down 4-0.

Shun got very unlucky, but then he wasn’t good. A play made and he gets out of it. But you walk 2 batters, it puts pressure on the defense and things tend to go bad.


The important part was: Nate Pearson was as good as we hoped he would be. He struck out the first batter he saw, Trea Turner and would go on to throw 5 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. He didn’t hit 100 on the radar gun (that I saw) but there was a beautiful 99 at the knees for a strikeout in the fourth. It was a big strikeout too, with a runner on third (Eric Thames doubled to lead off the inning, and went to third on a one-out double. It was the biggest jam Nate was in).

If Nate can continue like that, it is going to be a good season.

Rafael Dolis pitched a quick sixth, ground out, fly out, strikeout. The trifecta.

Sam Gaviglio got very lucky in the seventh. After a one-out walk and single, Andrew Stevenson lined one to left, over Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but Lourdes made a terrific diving catch. It was a huge catch. That was enough for Charlie, he pulled Sam from the game.

Jordan Romano got the third out and pitched a quick eighth. A couple of weeks later in to the season, I’d have wanted him to go another inning.

Anthony Bass pitched a nice neat ninth, just 13 pitches. Again, later in the season, I’d expect him to stay in the game, but smarter to be careful early.


Max Scherzer was terrific. We only managed 3 hits and 3 walks off him in 7.1 innings. He struck out 10 Jays.

We only had him in trouble once. In the eighth inning, Joe Panik singled. Anthony Alford pinch ran and stole second. Santiago Espinal tried to bunt him to third, but fouled off the attempt with one strike and then tried to bunt again, again foul, for the strikeout. I’m really not a fan of bunting with 2 strikes.

Derek Fisher had a very good at bat and worked a 6-pitch walk, after falling behind 0-2. That was when they took Scherzer out of the game.

During Fishers’ at bat, Scherzer tried to pick Alford off second base. He turned and threw it at the second base umpire. To me, the dark tops the umpires wore were much like the dark jerseys the Nationals were wearing. I’m almost sure Max spun and saw the dark shirt and threw. Or maybe he just made a bad throw. Either way Alford was at third with one out.

Runners on the corners and Teoscar Hernandez up. Infield in. Teoscar, on a 2-2 pitch (he took two fastballs in the middle of the zone), ground one hard up the middle. I thought we won. But shortstop Trea Turner made a nice stop of the ball and, instead of going home, he made a very nice play to start a double play.

Now Fisher could have stolen second, but you don’t expect a ground ball double play with the infield in. If he had gone to second….well, as Wilmer used to say, we’d have to see into the alternate universe to see how it would have gone. The same ground ball up the middle would have made for an interesting play, Turner would have come home, Alford is fast….who knows. But then it likely wouldn’t have been the same pitch, same grounder.

In the tenth, down by four. Tanner Rainy struck out Rowdy Tellez. Rowdy wasn’t happy with the third strike call and was thrown out of the game (It looked like a strike on TV). Then someone from the Jays bench was also tossed.

Danny Jansen followed with a strikeout. And then Brandon Drury struck out on a wild pitch and reached first, but Santiago Espinal popped out to center.


It was one we thought we should win.

Jays of the Day: Pearson (.291 WPA), Romano (.189) and Bass (.147). Alford had the number too, (.150) basically just for the steal and moving to third on the error. We should have scored him.

Suckage: Yamaguchi (Fangraphs doesn’t do the WPA properly with the runner starting on second but he earned the award), Teocar (-.289, 0 for 3, walk, 2 k), Espinal (-.158, 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts), Biggio (-.149, 0 for 3, 1 k, plus the misplay in the tenth) and Vlad (-.131 0 for 4, 2 k)

Gurriel also had the number (-125) but I figure that catch saves him from a Suckage Award.

Tomorrow’s game is earlier, a 4:00 Eastern start. Hyun-Jin Ryu verus Erick Fedde.


We had 1094 comments in the GameThread. Paigne led the way.

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Armstrong scores, surging Vancouver Whitecaps beat slumping San Jose Earthquakes 2-0

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VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.

“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”

With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.

Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.

Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.

“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”

Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.

Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.

Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.

He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.

“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.

“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”

Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.

Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.

Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.

Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.

The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.

San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.

Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.

First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.

“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.

“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”

NOTES

Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.

UP NEXT

The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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Liverpool ‘not good enough’ says Arne Slot after shock loss against Nottingham Forest

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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.

A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.

“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.

“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”

Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.

But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.

Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.

United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.

Unstoppable Haaland

Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.

The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.

Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.

“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.

Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.

He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.

He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.

Rashford snaps run

Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.

Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.

Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.

Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.

“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.

De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.

It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.

Villa comeback

After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.

Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.

Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.

Late drama

Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.

Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.

But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.

Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.

West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

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