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Alek Manoah exits Blue Jays game against Tigers – MLB.com

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2022

TORONTO — It should come as no surprise that Alek Manoah lobbied to stay in the game even after getting hit in the throwing elbow by a 93 mph comebacker.

The Blue Jays’ All-Star right-hander came close to a nightmare scenario on Friday, when he was forced to leave his team’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers with a right-elbow contusion 87 pitches into his outing. But Manoah’s precautionary X-rays came back negative, and it’s unlikely he will have to miss a start.

In fact, as he told Blue Jays trainer Jose Ministral, the 24-year-old was ready to keep pitching the sixth inning at Rogers Centre.

“He said, ‘Are you crazy?’” Manoah said, after the game, of his interaction with Ministral. “ … Honestly, I didn’t even think I needed the X-ray, but they wanted to do it [as a precaution]. Everything was negative, everything is clean, so I’ll get back on the horse and get back out there in five days.”

Manoah told reporters that his immediate reaction after taking Jonathan Schoop’s liner to the arm was born of shock more so than actual pain.

He brought his left hand to his elbow and winced, crouching beside the mound as the defense recorded the putout at first. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gestured for Ministral and interim manager John Schneider, who decided to bring in Tim Mayza, ending Manoah’s night at 5 1/3 innings.

“[Mayza] was up anyway and we were kind of headed in that direction,” Schneider said of his decision to pull Manoah. “He’s competitive as hell and he wanted to stay in, but it was a pretty easy decision to get him out just to be safe.”

The Blue Jays’ trademark move is to exercise caution with their stars.

Manoah’s early exit came on an evening when Toronto took the field without two of its biggest stars in George Springer and Bo Bichette, both dealing with discomfort after a high-impact series opener against the Tigers. Bichette did pinch-hit with two outs in the ninth, lining out sharply to center field to end the game, but his absence — and that of Springer — was costly through the game.

The Blue Jays’ offense mustered just four hits off Tigers pitchers in an outing that may as well have been a showcase of a parade of relievers on the trade block — many of whom, such as Michael Fulmer and Will Vest, would fit like a glove for the home team.

Though Manoah didn’t have his “sharpest outing,” as Schneider put it afterwards, he kept his team in the game despite the lukewarm offensive night. He struck out four Tigers batters and allowed four earned runs, including a solo shot to Willi Castro.

“We hold him to a pretty high standard,” said Schneider. “I don’t think his stuff was quite as crisp as it has been, and that happens over the course of a long season. But he was good. I’m not going to put anything more than that. He was good. I think we expect him to dominate a lot of the time, but it was kind of just one of those nights for him.”

Like several other teams this year, the Tigers loaded up on left-handed batters against Manoah, whose splits show this is an area to improve upon. The tough matchups paired with inconsistent command of the two-seam and four-seam fastballs made it a rare off night for Manoah.

He wanted to keep going, but respected the coaching staff’s decision to pull him.

“Someone has to be the smart one, you know,” Manoah joked. “It was the right time to get me out, and the bullpen did a great job.”

While the organization let out a collective sigh of relief at the negative X-rays, Manoah’s injury scare came at an intriguing moment.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi made a solid return from the 15-day IL on Thursday, which ostensibly gave the Blue Jays some clarity around their rotation ahead of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. But Friday’s scene brought back the memory of Kevin Gausman missing time after being hit in the ankle by a comebacker, and came just moments before coveted starter Luis Castillo reportedly packed his bags for Seattle.

There’s no need to panic. But every loss, injury scare and rival transaction should intensify the Blue Jays’ urgency to make moves.

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

Published

6 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

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Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

Published

6 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

Published

6 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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