TORONTO – Throughout the 2019 season, all Santiago Espinal wanted was to go home and spend time with his mother, Ingrid Rivera. Over and over, she told him to focus up on the field, to not worry about her as she fought cancer in New York.
“She literally told me, ‘Hey, I don’t want you to come visit me. I want you to finish your season, I want you to do your job. I want you to do what you love. And after you’re done with your season, you can come visit me and give me the biggest hug you can,’” recalls the 25-year-old. “It just broke my heart, even though she told me not to worry, to play my game.”
Espinal did as she said, logging 122 games with double-A New Hampshire and triple-A Buffalo before rushing home to give his mom that big hug. Rivera died in December at the age of 52, after 18 months with the disease.
“The good thing is she didn’t suffer,” says Espinal. “She just couldn’t hold on anymore.”
That’s why, after the initial euphoria of learning he’d open the 2020 season with the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night, Espinal broke down. Rivera’s determination to help her son set him on an unlikely path to the big-leagues. Now that he’d done it, she was gone.
“Oh, man,” he says. “I started crying when I started thinking about it. But I was so, so happy because my mom can see me right now. She’s watching me right now, and it was so amazing to know that I’m here and making my mamma proud.”
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Espinal gave Rivera reason to be proud well before he made a big-league roster for the first time. That he’d even gotten into professional baseball, let alone reached its highest level, was an achievement for someone who didn’t initially graduate with his class at Lyman High School in Longwood, Fla., as he played catchup academically after moving to the United States from the Dominican Republic a few years earlier.
Rather than playing baseball, he spent the next two years taking online GED courses set up by his mother in New York, which started him on an unlikely path to the Blue Jays.
In the summer of 2014, he was set to go to Selma University but when he checked in with the club, he was told they no longer had a scholarship for him. So he returned to the Orlando area, where earned a roster spot as a walk-on at Seminole State College, and spent the year as a redshirt there.
The following summer he played with Sanford in the Florida Collegiate Summer League and while starring in the loop, he was recommended to Danny Price, the head coach at Miami-Dade Junior College who was looking for a shortstop.
Espinal was playing centre field, but on a recommendation Price came up to see him and offered a scholarship the same day. After working through some transfer issues, Espinal starred for Miami-Dade and was selected in the 10th round by the Boston Red Sox the following June.
“It’s amazing when you think about it,” says Espinal. “I almost gave up on baseball. I’ve taken advantage of the opportunities I’ve been given. I don’t take it for granted. I’m glad that I’m here and I’m ready for it.”
The Blue Jays picked up Espinal in the June 2018 trade that sent Steve Pearce, the eventual World Series MVP, to the Red Sox, and he’s steadily climbed the ladder since. A fluid and athletic defender, he’s versatile enough to play all over the field, and impressed during summer camp both with his glove and the bat.
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The former is much more likely to keep him in the majors than the latter, although the Blue Jays feel there’s some gap-power upside in his swing that gives him a chance to contribute at the plate, too.
While he’s refined his swing to better drive the ball since the trade, he feels the time he spent with Bo Bichette and his all-star dad, Dante, during the pandemic shutdown will give him the mental boost needed to better pull things together.
Espinal and minor-league outfielder Forrest Wall both sheltered at the Bichette home, training and working out together the entire time. Rather than pressing on swing mechanics, Dante reinforced, “how positive I can stay when I play, how strong my mind can be at the plate.”
“Basically not giving up on one at-bat,” he continues. “I’d get out and I’d start thinking about that at-bat so much, that I’d waste my second at-bat. He told me one at-bat can’t ruin your whole game. If the pitcher beat you, or you beat yourself, that’s something you have to adjust to mentally, not mechanically. Change that negative talk into something positive. That really helped me a lot.”
Now, he’ll try to carry all that into this bizarre 2020 season, where he’ll give manager Charlie Montoyo another option around the infield behind his starters and super-utility addition Joe Panik.
Espinal woke up Wednesday morning and thought to himself, “OK, this is they day, either I go up or I go down.” Then, about 20-30 minutes before game-time at Fenway Park, mere moments after he and Teoscar Hernandez had grabbed some dinner, Montoyo called him into the office.
“I ran to his office, he and Luis [Rivera, the infielders coach] told me, ‘Hey, we like what you’ve been doing, we like how you come every day and do your work, we like how you play – congratulations on making the team,’” says Espinal. “I just started laughing. I couldn’t even say one word, I was smiling the whole time. I literally didn’t say one word until I told them, thank you so much. I couldn’t say anything else. They told me, enjoy it, keep doing what you’re doing, keep doing your job and you’re going to help this team win.”
Espinal’s first phone call was to his dad. All he could do was wish that he could share the moment with his mom, too.
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
