TORONTO — Time and again, no matter what circumstance throws his way, Alek Manoah finds ways to meet the moment. Be it shutting down a division rival after one of their player beaks off like he did in his last time out, or taking the mound 17 hours after being drained by a stomach bug, the way he did Tuesday night, the big man takes the ball, locks in and shoves.
Even without his best stuff he did precisely that over 6.2 gutsy innings, stepping up after the Toronto Blue Jays lost the front end of a doubleheader largely due to some sloppy play in the field, while also keeping their rotation plans in these critical final weeks intact.
That Manoah handed the ball over down 2-1 after surrendering a go-ahead solo shot to Jonathan Aranda in the top of the seventh inning was beside the point. He’d more than left his team in position to pull out an important win, which they did with a bottom seven rally keyed by Whit Merrifield’s pinch-hit two-run double and George Springer’s two-run homer.
The end result, a 7-2 victory before a charged up Rogers Centre crowd of 25,103, secured a twin-bill split and put the Blue Jays (80-62) back up a half-game on the Rays (79-62) and Seattle Mariners (79-62) atop the wild-card race.
“My job is not to feel good, my job is to just go out there and compete,” said Manoah. “No matter what’s going on, just kind of go out there and give this team a chance. I know they knew I was going through it, so I knew they’d pick me up.”
Said Springer: “That’s heart. That’s pretty much who he is.”
A Tampa Bay sweep Tuesday would have left their hosts in a tough spot, with Drew Rasmussen set to start Wednesday against Ross Stripling and Shane McClanahan due to come off the injured list and start Thursday against Kevin Gausman.
Offence was already hard to come by as the Blue Jays had to scratch and claw to push across a pair in the opening 4-2 loss and had barely tied the game 1-1 in the sixth on Alejandro Kirk’s soft dribbler up the first-base line to bring home Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
But some well-played leverage machinations by interim manager John Schneider when the game hung in the balance in the seventh led to exhale swings for Merrifield, with his biggest moment since his deadline addition, and Springer, who went deep for the first time since Aug. 28.
“Big emotion, it’s a big moment in a big game” said Merrifield, who is adapting to life as a utility player off the bench. “I’ve always played every day from the time I was little ’til I got here. This is the role that I have right now. I really haven’t earned much more of a role than what my role has been. I’m learning how to work throughout the course of the game, not to overdo it, but when to sort of rev it up. You get a feel for it, I guess, for when you might be needed. I try to get myself a good two-inning cushion to go over to the cage, get some swings, run a little bit, get my legs going. It’s a new process for me and I’m working through it.”
Santiago Espinal, hitting for Cavan Biggio, started the rally with a four-pitch walk against lefty Colin Poche and after a Matt Chapman strikeout, Danny Jansen came in for Raimel Tapia and worked another base on balls. Merrifield then stepped in for Jackie Bradley Jr., and ripped Poche’s first pitch down the left-field line to erase a 2-1 lead.
The run of three lefties in four batters at the bottom of the Blue Jays lineup could have been a vulnerability for the Rays to expose. But with Jason Adam likely to be their only leverage righty available, Schneider found a spot where he could lock in platoon advantage, saving his moves for the seventh after an opportunity to flip hitters first came up in the fifth.
“Set it up that way to give guys a chance against (starter Yonny) Chirinos with the lefties,” said Schneider. “Being patient there, knowing that we have really good options in the bench later in the game with how their bullpen was set up, guys stepped up. Walk, walk, Whit with a huge double … everyone stepped up and did their thing and it was just really cool to see the entire team contribute.”
A couple of add-on runs in the eighth extended the lead and allowed the Blue Jays to use Zach Pop in the ninth after Jordan Romano recorded the final out of the eighth with Yandy Diaz up as the tying run in a 5-2 contest.
Everything started with Manoah, who woke up “feeling terrible,” initially thinking he was in a nightmare until realizing that “I couldn’t breathe, chest was tight, everything just didn’t feel too well,” he said.
After debating an ER visit, he reluctantly texted Jose Ministral at 2 a.m. — the trainer’s phone is always on for just such occurrences — finally fell back asleep at about 6:30 a.m., had his alarm go off about two hours later, offered to pitch the opener but eventually was pushed back.
The call was made to start Julian Merryweather instead as an opener to Mitch White, who delivered six solid innings
The Blue Jays weren’t certain Manoah could pitch the nightcap until he woke back up at 2:30 p.m., arrived at the field, took some IV fluid and then received clearance to pitch. As he warmed up, “I just worried about not throwing up.”
No worries there, he didn’t, working through a dip in velocity to hold the Rays to two runs.
“The biggest thing is just attack, just trying to throw as many strikes as possible, let them get themselves out and let that defence make some plays,” Manoah said of pitching without his best stuff. “They had a couple of guys on base in a few innings and had to lock it in and get some big outs. As long as you give that offence a chance and keep it close there, they’re going to come through.”
Had he missed the start, it would have been detrimental not only to the Blue Jays’ plans for the day, but also for the coming weeks. His spot in the rotation also falls during upcoming series against Baltimore this weekend, the Rays in St. Petersburg next week, the New York Yankees back at home and the Orioles at Camden Yards in the final series of the season, if needed.
Manoah’s will made all that mute.
“He’s firmly cemented himself as one of the best pitchers in the league or the game,” said Schneider. “He was grinding today and everyone knows that. Just a great effort by him.”
Very much so, the type that makes Manoah so unique.
Matt Buschmann, the Blue Jays’ bullpen coach and pitching development director, noted how “a lot of what makes Alek special is not even physical, it’s him, the mental capacity to handle failure, handle things at a high level and be competitive as he is. … He’s obviously very comfortable in the spotlight. I don’t know how you teach that. I would love to teach that. But it’s the outcome of his upbringing, the outcome of every aspect of his life up until and becoming a professional baseball player. If we could recreate that, it would be great. He’s a special person for that reason.”
On a day his team needed it, in a high-stakes series with the finish line closing in, Manoah once again showed why, and the Blue Jays found a way to make it count.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
