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Blue Jays' Alek Manoah simply mound marvelous in beatdown of Bosox – Toronto Sun

Published

2 years ago

October 1, 2022

Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate clinching a playoff spot after beating the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre on September 30, 2022 in Toronto. Photo by Vaughn Ridley /Getty Images

The bottles were popping and the champagne flowing as mayhem erupted in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse in the aftermath of their beatdown of Boston on Friday night at the Rogers Centre.

It was the same Red Sox team that helped the Jays officially clinch a post-season berth by beating the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, an off-day for Toronto.

The Blue Jays promised to throw themselves a bash and they did.

For the record, the Jays showed no mercy in handing the Red Sox a 9-0 loss Friday night, the first of a three-game series that will wrap up their final home stand before the post-season begins.

When the assembled media was allowed access to the jubilant clubhouse, the strains of Lil’ Wayne were being belted out. On the field, the Jays belted three home runs in support of Alek Manoah, who didn’t need much help on this night.

After the initial celebration in the clubhouse, the players gathered on the field for group pictures, to soak in the moment and swill more of the bubbly.

Given the recent history of the team and its itinerant existence during the onslaught of COVID, the scene was expected and justified. The Jays needed to exhale and they left no bottle unopened.

The Jays, however, still have games to be played — two more against the Bosox, then three in Baltimore — which will determine where they begin their wild-card series.

For fans of the team, they may have seen the last of Manoah, for the time being anyway.

What has been made abundantly clear is that the big right-hander must be on the mound when the playoffs begin. However, Manoah is lined up to pitch in the season’s final game — with the operative word being ‘needed.’ If Wednesday’s finale in Baltimore carries any home-field repercussions, turning to Manoah is a no-brainer.

The hope, however, is that home field will already be clinched with Manoah being a tabbed to start baseball’s second season. Heading into Saturday’s action, the Jays lead the Seattle Mariners by a game and a half, and the Tampa Bay Rays by two in the chase for wild-card seeding. The top WC team gets home field for the entire best-of-three series.

Manoah was marvelous Friday night against the Red Sox. He didn’t exactly steal the show, but he did show why he’s the ace of Toronto’s staff.

In the sixth, leadoff hitter Jarren Duran hit a broken-bat single to centre. Manoah then got Rafael Devers to ground into a double play and ended the inning ended with a meekly hit ground out by Xander Bogaerts.

Turns out it was the end of the line for Manoah, who was met with well-deserved congratulatory handshakes in the dugout.

Boston didn’t get its first base-runner in scoring position until in the top half of the fourth inning, when Devers and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But he would be left stranded after J.D. Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.

With out in the fifth, Manoah induced a grounder behind first base to Abraham Almonte but was slow coming off the mound and wasn’t able to even take the throw. Almonte easily reached base as Boston recorded its first hit off Manoah.

VLAD THE IMPALER

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. belted one of his patented no-doubters in the third inning, a two-run blast that gave the home side a 4-0 lead.

For Vlad, it was his 31st long ball of the season to drive in his 94th and 95th runs of the season.

While he’s nowhere near last year’s 48-homer campaign, a hot-hitting Guerrero heading into the playoffs will go a long way in determining how deep Toronto can make a run.

Friday’s bomb was his first homer since Sept. 21 when the Jays were in Philly.

He ended the month of September with just four homers.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

George Springer didn’t waste much time in getting on base. On the first pitch he saw from Boston starter Nick Pivetta, Toronto’s leadoff hitter hit a shot to centre for a single.

Up stepped Bo Bichette. On the second pitch Bichette saw, he stroked a single to left.

Springer and Bichette both advanced on a passed ball.

Springer would come around to score the game’s first run on a groundout by
Alejandro Kirk, who batted cleanup.

In the eighth inning, Bichette knocked in his 47th run of September to tie Tony Fernandez and Lloyd Moseby for the most in any calendar month in franchise history.

TO CELEBRATE IS GREAT

The Jays took to the field knowing they had already clinched a berth in the post-season when Boston defeated Baltimore on Thursday night.

The plan, according to interim manager John Schneider, was for the team to celebrate its accomplishment regardless of Friday night’s outcome.

“I think whenever you have a chance to do that you have to embrace it,” said Schneider prior to opening pitch. ”That doesn’t happen all the time and I can’t wait to have a good time with that group.”

For Bichette, who watched the Red Sox defeat the Orioles with teammate Santiago Espinal, the Jays have every right to bask in the glow of a playoff appearance.

“All the hard work paid off,’’ he said. “We put a lot in and we had high expectations of ourselves and we were able to accomplish it.

“There’s still more work to do, obviously, and we expect more but we definitely need to enjoy this.”

SOBERING MOMENT

As part of the team’s recognition and acknowledgments to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a moment of silence was held.

The Survivors’ Flag was featured throughout Rogers Centre to honour survivors and all the lives impacted by the residential school system.

The anthem was performed in Blackfoot, English and French.

CATCH-22

Kirk was behind the plate in the series opener serving as Manoah’s unofficial personal catcher.

In fact, only once hasn’t Kirk been Manoah’s battery-mate this season when the big right-hander was on the mound.

The pitcher-catcher combo seems to be working and there appears to be no discernible reason why the Blue Jays would deviate from this pattern once the post-season begins.

Danny Jansen, Toronto’s other catcher, was also in the lineup in the rare role as DH, batting eighth in the order.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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Sports

Maple Leafs announce Oreo as new helmet sponsor for upcoming NHL season

Published

52 mins ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.

The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.

The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.

Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.

The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.

Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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Weegar committed to Calgary Flames despite veteran exodus

Published

56 mins ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.

The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.

A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.

Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.

“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”

His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.

Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.

Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.

“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.

“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”

The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.

After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.

He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.

“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”

Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.

“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”

Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.

“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”

Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.

It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.

“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.

“You never know.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.

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Fledgling Northern Super League adds four to front office ahead of April kickoff

Published

2 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

The Northern Super League has fleshed out its front office with four appointments.

Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.

The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.

“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”

Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.

Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans

Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.

Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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