Sports

Blue Jays take valuable lessons from walk-off sweep of Braves

Published

1 year ago

May 14, 2023

TORONTO — For three hours, the Blue Jays and Braves held the door open for one another, begging their opponent to walk through it and win.

Danny Jansen, tired of standing outside in the cold, finally decided to barge in.

Toronto’s catcher was the walk-off hero on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, scorching a two-run single through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the ninth to seal a 6-5 win and a series sweep over the Braves. At the end of a game so riddled with imperfections, it was remarkable to see Jansen drenched in water, waving up at a roaring crowd upon stealing the win.

“If you get an ice bath, that means something incredible happened,” Jansen said. “It’s a special day. Obviously, this was my wife’s first Mother’s Day and this was a great way to cap it off.”

The air wasn’t just cold inside the ballpark. It was blowing, and it mattered.

Atlanta botched a handful of routine fly balls in the outfield, with two players often coming together at the last moment as they tried to track a knuckleball through the air. The Blue Jays made their share of mistakes, too, both defensively and on the bases. One was nearly fatal, though, to start the bottom of the ninth inning.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the home half and launched a fly ball to the opposite field that he clearly thought was gone. Guerrero jogged out of the box and eased into his wide turn around first base, but then came a sound as loud as the crack of his bat. It was the thump of the ball hitting off the wall.

He was held to a single, and following the win, manager John Schneider wasted no time saying that his star slugger probably should have been on second base to open the inning. It all worked out in the end, but that play on its own was problematic.

“It’s nice when you win and it doesn’t come back to bite you,” Schneider said. “We all thought he got it, too, and a guy like him usually knows. There were obviously weird conditions with the wind and the roof open today. They had a couple [of weird plays]. I think we should have been a bit more aware of that and a bit more aware on the bases.”

These are the conversations that great teams — or at least teams capable of greatness — need to have. There are lessons even within wins, and Sunday’s were blatant.

It doesn’t lessen the importance of sweeping one of the best teams in the National League, but this wasn’t your usual post-game victory celebration.

“You always take a win,” Schneider said, “but you’ve got to reel guys in a little bit starting tomorrow. There’s things that we need to tighten up. I thought the last two days were good and today was a weird day. A lot of guys left on base, errors on both sides, us on the bases. You’ve got to tighten that up.”

The Blue Jays have been the comeback kids this season, pulling off 10 come-from-behind wins, and their bullpen can be thanked for that. Anthony Bass, Jay Jackson, Trevor Richards and Nate Pearson combined to give Toronto five innings of scoreless relief to keep the team in the game after a difficult outing from Yusei Kikuchi, who allowed three home runs and nine hits over just four-plus innings.

Home runs have been a problem for Kikuchi, with his 11 in the season tied for fourth in MLB. But that’s a difficult adjustment to make for some pitchers, because it’s important that Kikuchi doesn’t lose his aggression.

“I’ve continued to attack the zone, and sometimes when you attack the zone, you get hit,” Kikuchi said through a club interpreter. “We’ll go back and check the data and all of that, but I’ll continue to attack the zone moving forward.”

Like everything else that went wrong in Sunday’s game, though, the home runs will be forgotten when we look back on the final score a few days from now.

Consider this a lucky escape. The Blue Jays will take the win, but they know that more is needed with the Yankees and Orioles coming to town, then a date with the Rays waiting after. Tampa Bay, in particular, is far less forgiving when it comes to mistakes, and it won’t be as patient if Toronto hesitates at the door again.

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Sports

Edler to sign one-day contract to retire as a Vancouver Canuck

Published

12 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.

The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.

He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.

The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.

Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.

“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”

Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.

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

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Sixth-ranked Canadian women to face World Cup champion Spain in October friendly

Published

18 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.

Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.

The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.

In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.

Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.

Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.

The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.

Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.

It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.

Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.

FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.

And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.

“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”

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

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

Published

22 hours 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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