OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Former Athletics ace Chris Bassitt allowed one run in eight strong innings and the Toronto Blue Jays took sole possession of the third American League wild-card playoff berth with a 7-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday night.
Toronto’s fifth win in six games moved the Blue Jays past the Rangers in the crowded AL playoff race. Texas lost to Houston 14-1 earlier in the day.
“We’re showing a lot of maturity behind the scenes of not chasing a 3 1/2-game deficit within one game,” Bassitt said. “Just concentrate on ourselves and win every series. If we win every series the rest of the way, we’re going to be world champions. That’s the way it is.”
The Blue Jays did it behind plenty of offence and a superb outing from Bassitt (14-7), who was 30-24 over six seasons with the A’s and was an All-Star in his final season with Oakland in 2021. The 6-foot-5 right-hander allowed seven hits and didn’t walk anyone while striking out seven.
Despite his history with the A’s, Bassitt said he didn’t have any added motivation other than trying to keep Toronto in the playoff hunt.
“I would say it’s more business as usual,” Bassott said. “Obviously I have a lot of friends from the staff (in Oakland) but I didn’t play with that many guys that are on this team anymore. So there’s no real adrenalin when it comes to that.”
The A’s traded Bassitt to the Mets on March 12, 2022 before the right-hander signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent nine months later.
“He’s been this guy for a while,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s had some huge games for us, another one tonight.”
Bowden Francis recorded three consecutive strikeouts in the ninth for Toronto in front of another small crowd of 4,751 at the Oakland Coliseum. It was Bark at the Park Night so there were a few dogs in the crowd, too.
Kevin Kiermaier hit an RBI single to break a scoreless tie as part of a six-run seventh inning for Toronto. George Springer followed with a two-run single and Whit Merrifield added a sacrifice fly. Cavan Biggio drew a bases-loaded walk, his second free pass of the inning, to force in a run and make it 5-0.
Oakland reliever Zach Neal, who retired one batter in relief after starter Ken Waldichuk pitched six scoreless innings, suffered his first loss since Sept. 2, 2016 against the Red Sox.
Kiermaier finished with three hits and two RBIs for Toronto. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and has reached base in his last 21 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
It’s all coming together at the right time for the Blue Jays, winners in seven of the last 10 games. That’s rewarding to a team many had written off not long ago.
“They’re all going to be big games,” Schneider said. “Really, really proud of the way that they’ve kind of come together and kind of embraced an all-hands-on-deck approach.”
Zack Gelof and Seth Brown each had two hits for the last-place A’s. Jordan Diaz drove in the team’s only run with a two-out single off Bassitt in the seventh.
Waldichuk had one of his most efficient starts of the season but left without a decision for his sixth consecutive outing. He allowed four hits in six scoreless innings and raised his season strikeout total to 117, ninth-most by an Oakland rookie.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: 1B Brandon Belt was not in the starting lineup for a fourth consecutive game. Belt has been dealing with an illness and lower back tightness.
Athletics: OF Lawrence Butler was placed on the Bereavement List and is expected to be back Friday, according to the team. 3B Kevin Smith was called up from triple-A Las Vegas.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.48) faces the A’s for the first time this season in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Ryu has 15 strikeouts in 15 innings over three career starts against Oakland. The A’s will start LHP JP Sears (3-11, 4.60), who leads the majors with 15 hit batters, the most by any A’s pitcher in the past 112 years.
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.
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
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.
