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Blue Jays find new ways to self-inflict pain with latest late-inning collapse – Sportsnet.ca

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TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays fans recognized the moment and greeted Miguel Cabrera’s 500th career home run with a standing ovation, one that didn’t stop until the Detroit Tigers slugger came out for a curtain call. Once he had ripped through the line of celebratory high fives and hugs in the dugout, out he came, arms raised, helmet in hand, and bowed to the Rogers Centre crowd of 14,685 showing a visiting player some love.

Impressively, they overlooked how Cabrera’s line-drive to right-centre on a Steven Matz changeup off the plate tied the game 1-1 in the sixth inning and threw the Blue Jays into their place of highest peril – late leverage. Despite nine balls off the bat at 101.2 m.p.h. or higher, to that point, they had managed only an unearned run off old friend Drew Hutchison — the opening day starter on the 2015 AL East champions — extended their drought hitting with runners in scoring position and didn’t have Tim Mayza or closer Jordan Romano available in the bullpen.

So, all the pieces were there for the type of collapse the Blue Jays have experienced all too often over the past couple of weeks. And just as they were on the verge of flipping the script Sunday afternoon, they found new ways to self-inflict pain, as a Marcus Semien throwing error blew what would have been the final out of a 2-1 win, eventually leading to a 5-3 loss in 11 innings.

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The Blue Jays wasted opportunities to win the game in the ninth and the 10th, when Jonathan Schoop and Alejandro Kirk traded sacrifice flies, before Kirby Snead surrendered two-out RBI doubles to Daz Cameron and Willi Castro.

Joe Jimenez, he of the 6.49 ERA and 1.644. WHIP coming in, then retired Bo Bichette, Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in order to close out a series win for the Tigers, another hoof to the delicates for this Blue Jays team that’s lost seven of nine and is a gutting 2-9 in extra innings.

“You have to keep fighting,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “We’ve got a good group in there. Of course, we’re not swinging the bats right now, but we’re in every game still. We’re not just going out there losing every game. Today yes, of course it was another tough loss, two outs, we didn’t make the last play. But they’re going to keep fighting, I promise you that.”

During the current slide the Blue Jays have been walked off once, lost in the opposing team’s last at-bat twice, blown three late leads and gone 1-4 against the tanking Nationals and rebuilding Tigers.

Pretty gross.

While the bullpen has taken plenty of flak, in dropping two of three to Detroit, the Blue Jays went an unfathomable 1-for-31 with runners in scoring position, the lone hit coming on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. go-ahead RBI single in the eighth promptly erased by the Semien error.

There’s little time to correct and the opposition goes from mild to stiff with the Chicago White Sox in town for a four-game series beginning Monday night. Only their starting pitching is delivering the goods right now as Robbie Ray, Hyun Jin Ryu and Matz combined to throw 21 innings of two-run ball over the weekend, but with the offence discombobulated, they left two more wins on the table.

“Because no one is swinging the bat well right now, everybody’s trying harder – that’s what’s going on right now,” said Montoyo. “We’ve got to step back and relax and take one at-bat at a time.”

The issue Sunday wasn’t in creating innings but in realizing them, as the Blue Jays went 1-for-17 – for real, that’s not a typo – with runners in scoring position. Bichette showed signs of life with three hits and Gurriel also had three walks as he extended a second-half resurgence, but the rest of the lineup combined for four hits, none when it mattered.

Worth noting is that two of Bichette’s hits went to right and the other up the middle, while Gurriel also went to the opposite field three times, an approach that can prevent the type of pull-side rollovers that have been commonplace. Fatigue may also be a factor in some cases, although Montoyo wasn’t having that as a diagnosis.

“In baseball right now, everybody’s tired – that’s just what it is in August and September. It’s a grind,” he said. “We didn’t expect this from a good lineup like we have. We haven’t been hitting and it’s contagious. Hopefully when somebody gets going, that’s going to spread throughout the lineup.”

The late ending masked some of the good the Blue Jays saw Sunday.

With Romano and Mayza down for the day, Trent Thornton and Trevor Richards each delivered a scoreless inning of close-and-late relief, while Adam Cimber quickly got two outs before surrendering a two-out double in the ninth. When Harold Castro pinch hit for Dustin Garneau, Montoyo brought in fellow lefty Tayler Saucedo, who induced a routine ground ball to second.

Semien fielded it cleanly and had time but bounced a throw that Guerrero couldn’t scoop, allowing Willi Castro to score and tie the game 1-1. In essence, the bullpen did the job, even in the absence of a result.

“He’s played a Gold Glove-calibre second base, he just made an error on that one,” Montoyo said of Semien. “We made all the right moves. We’re in the game. It’s obvious we’re not swinging the bats but our pitching is giving us a chance, the bullpen did a good job before extra innings. It just didn’t work out.”

The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the third, with Bichette scoring from third when Jeimer Candelario booted a Teoscar Hernandez grounder. Matz held it there until Cabrera had his moment in the sixth, the only mistake the lefty paid for in an outing when he struck out just one and had a lot of plays made behind him.

“Well, not really,” Matz replied when asked if he had any reflections on giving up Cabrera’s 500th. “It was a 1-0 game and you’re just trying to keep runs off the board. I threw a changeup there and it was pretty far outside, it wasn’t even a strike. He’s a pretty good hitter.”

Cabrera had hoped to deliver the big moment in Detroit but noted that “it’s tough to hit home runs” at spacious Comerica Park. When he made contact Sunday, “I said ‘Come on, get up, get up,’” he relayed. “I’m glad I hit that fly ball here because if I hit it in Comerica, it’s going to be two outs (in the inning).”

“It’s something special for my country, for my family, to be able to do this,” he added. “I’m really happy.”

So, too, were Blue Jays fans, who had just witnessed a future Hall of Famer doing something that’s only being accomplished 28 other times. The only problem was it set the stage for an ending that’s become all too familiar.

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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