NEW YORK (AP) — The latest clash between Gerrit Cole and Alek Manoah morphed into the newest chapter in Anthony Volpe’s storybook start.
Cole and Manoah pitched scoreless ball after a chirpy buildup, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Saturday on pinch-hitter DJ LeMahieu’s walkoff bases-loaded single in the ninth inning.
Volpe hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Yimi García and pinch-hitter Danny Jansen hit a two-run homer in the ninth against Wandy Peralta after a leadoff walk to Alejandro Kirk. Anthony Rizzo doubled off Jordan Romano (2-1) starting the bottom half.
Intrigue began even before the first pitch. Just as Cole was about to start the game, he was forced to wait, crouching behind the mound as Manoah and Kirk slowly walked from the Blue Jays bullpen down the left-field line to the dugout.
“Didn’t notice,” Cole said.
Cole allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks, extending his scoreless streak to 20 2/3 innings and lowering his ERA to 0.79.
Manoah gave up two hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and one walk, dropping his ERA from 6.98 to 5.13.
“Kind of old-school baseball,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It was who was going to blink first and, really, neither one of them did.”
Last Aug. 21, Manoah threw an inside pitch early in the game that went near Yankees star Aaron Judge, then hit Judge on the arm guard above the left elbow. Judge glanced at Manoah as Cole started yelling and a few other Yankees came over the dugout railing. Cole was intercepted by bench coach Carlos Mendoza before reaching the umpires.
“I think if Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time,” Manoah said, referring to the advertisement stenciled on the grass between the Yankees dugout and first-base line.
Asked in November on NBA player Serge Ibaka’s YouTube show “How Hungry Are You?” “who is the worst cheater in baseball history, Manoah responded: “Gerrit Cole. He cheated. He used a lot of sticky stuff to make his pitches better. He kind of got called out on it.”
Neither Cole nor Manoah addressed their past Saturday, though Cole praised Manoah’s performance.
“Obviously, Alek was on his game today,” Cole said. “He threw tremendous.”
Manoah has a 1.17 ERA in five appearances at Yankee Stadium, where he won his big league debut by tossing six scoreless innings of two-hit ball on May 27, 2021.
“Like I’ve said all weekend, we’re not facing each other — I’m not getting in the box against him, he’s not getting in the box against me,” Manoah said.
Volpe homered one pitch after Oswald Peraza singled for the Yankees’ third hit. After racing around the bases, the 5-foot-9 Volpe leaped to bash forearms with on-deck hitter, 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge.
García and Kirk called time to go over their signals, which gave the 22-year-old Volpe a chance to emerge from the dugout for a curtain call.
“It was pretty crazy,” Volpe said. “I didn’t really know what was going on. I did’t want to assume to go out or anything like that. Once I got told to do it, it was pretty cool.”
Jansen hit his first pinch homer and the first tying homer for the Blue Jays in the ninth inning or later since John Mayberry Jr.’s on Sept. 14, 2014.
Jimmy Cordero (1-0) got George Springer to hit into an inning-ending double play in the top of the ninth for his first win since 2020. New York improved to 11-0 this year when facing a series loss.
WELCOME BACK
The Bleacher Creatures serenaded Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly with chants of “Donnie Baseball!” in the first inning and Mattingly saluted the fans in right field. He played his entire 14-year career with the Yankees, serving as captain for his final five seasons.
LONG MEMORIES
Springer was met with chants of “You’re a cheater!” as he stood in right field during the fifth inning. Springer was a member of the 2017 Houston Astros, found by Major League Baseball to used electronics to steal signs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: 2B Santiago Espinal left with a bruised right wrist after he was hit by a 98 mph Cole fastball in the second inning.
Yankees: OF Harrison Bader (left oblique) had a day off after his first rehab game Friday for Double-A Somerset. … RHP Luis Severino (right lat) is expected to throw at least two more batting practice sessions in Tampa before the Yankees map out a rehab stint.
UP NEXT
Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (1-2, 3.65 ERA) starts Sunday after giving up eight runs — seven in the first inning — over 4 2/3 innings in a 9-2 loss to Astros. Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-1, 8.79 ERA) hasn’t pitched more than four innings in any of his first four starts.
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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.
