TORONTO — Hyun-Jin Ryu’s spent his entire career pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, an extremely successful MLB franchise that’s been to the post-season seven seasons running, so keep that in mind here. But it’s not for nothing that Ryu’s team won 20 of the 29 games he started last season. And 10 of the 15 the season before that.
That’s a .682 clip in all, good for a 110-win season under normal circumstances, or a 41-win season in this strange, fan-free MLB world we’re temporarily living in. Of course, extrapolating that is an insane exercise and no team will ever have a rotation entirely compromised of Ryu’s. But it’s a pretty good thing to at least have one.
“You need guys like that. That’s how you win in the big leagues,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was saying Friday afternoon, holding a Zoom media availability while wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt. “Because Ryu’s pitching today, we know we have a chance to win.
“You can see it on the good teams in the big leagues. The teams that make it to the playoffs, they’ve all got two, three, four good starters. That’s how you never go into losing streaks. You always have the chance to win every day. That’s where we want to get. And Ryu’s one of those guys.”
Now, three or four front-line starters is a luxury the Blue Jays do not have. But Ryu gives them one, and the results so far speak for themselves, as Toronto won its first game of the season Friday night, 6-4, over the Tampa Bay Rays.
If Ryu doesn’t miss a turn in Toronto’s rotation, he’ll make 11 more starts, and possibly one or two extra if the Blue Jays can get creative and utilize off days to keep him on a five-day schedule. That’s at least 20 per cent of this shortened season, and every win he helps the Blue Jays achieve this year is the equivalent of 2.7 wins in a normal one. There’s the potential here for Ryu to have a sizable impact on this club’s chances, particularly now that eight American League clubs will qualify for the playoffs.
Which is all to say there’s a lot riding on him. And it seems like he feels it. Ryu called Friday’s start “nerve-wracking” and described the sensation he experienced on the mound as “like I was floating in air.” You don’t hear that every day from a guy with 125 starts — career ERA a sparkling 2.98 — on his FanGraphs page.
“That’s what this game does to you,” Montoyo said. “Everybody wants to do well.”
By his own estimation, Ryu didn’t pitch up to his standards, but he was certainly good enough, holding down a very good Rays lineup over 4.2 innings while Toronto’s offence went to work in support. He didn’t have his best fastball command, and said he couldn’t find his normal balance on the mound in the early going. Not that the results demonstrated that struggle.
Ryu went three-up, three-down on 10 pitches in the first; three-up, three-down on 12 in the second. He allowed a double and a walk in the third, but proceeded to locate some ridiculous changeups to Hunter Renfroe with those two on and two out, getting two called strikes and a knee-buckling swinging one to escape the mini-jam.
A run crossed in the fourth, when Manuel Margot reached on a force out before Mike Brosseau went down below his knees to drive a well-located sinker to the wall in right-centre. And the Rays extended Ryu from there, as Willy Adames worked a six-pitch walk. But then Ryu gave Kevin Kiermaier fits, locating five straight pitches on the outer edge of the strike zone until he got the swing-and-miss he was after.
As he does. Ryu’s best weapon is his command — his ability to locate five different pitches for strikes on the edges of the zone. Pitching up-and-down, side-to-side. Changing speeds, mixing-and-matching, picking corners. Sequencing and variability are everything for Ryu, as he uses unpredictable pattens to keep hitters off balance and guessing. And with a steady mix of four-seamers, sinkers, changeups, sliders and curveballs, he was doing just that.
But what was strange about the outing were the three walks from a guy who walked only 24 over 182.2 innings last season. And that caught up to him in the fifth, when he lost Hunter Renfroe with a two-out, full-count changeup that missed by a mile.
Ryu went 3-2 to the next batter, Yoshi Tsutsugo, as well. And the next pitch was his worst of the night — an 89-m.p.h. fastball, up and over the plate, that Tsutsugo lofted into the left-field seats. Two pitches and a Jose Martinez double later, Ryu’s night was done.
“My changeup, it got better as the game progressed, which I was happy about. My fastball command just wasn’t there,” he said. “It was so easy to tell it was a ball coming out of my hand. So, that’s something that I definitely need to work on and improve moving into the next game.”
Ryu was able to ride his secondary stuff into the fifth, but appeared to lose some effectiveness in that final inning, finally wearing down under the pressure of some pesky Rays plate appearances. And that’s understandable. It’s the first game of the season following a rushed, three-week training camp, after all. While Toronto’s starting staff is in pretty good shape from a workload perspective, they’ll all be on pitch counts during this first trip through the rotation, and the late fade we saw from Ryu is the reason why.
Still, he threw 97 pitches — 54 for strikes — and reached back for the odd 92-m.p.h. heater, which is as hard as he’ll throw. That’s encouraging and sets him up to surpass 100 pitches in his next outing — provided things go well — as he did nine times last season. He was only supposed to pitch around 85 on Friday. But Montoyo clearly wanted to give him every opportunity to get that final out in his fifth inning. And when the Blue Jays manager finally did make the walk, Ryu wasn’t giving up the ball easily.
“He didn’t want to come out. That’s what I love about the guy,” Montoyo said. “I knew Ryu was like that. I heard from the Dodgers that he was like that — which I love. That’s beautiful. But I knew that he had too many pitches and I had to make that move.”
Something to build on, certainly. But a familiar result to the ones he helped produce so many times over seven seasons in Los Angeles — a team win. During a year in which each game is worth two-and-a-half times what it normally is, it helps having a guy like Ryu going once every five, giving you a chance
“Honestly, I think I was the weak link in today’s game,” he said. “So, as long as I pick up my pace and then everyone else does what they did today, I think we’ll be fine moving forward.”
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
