TORONTO — It may only be the second month of the season, but Kevin Gausman felt like he had to put in a playoff-calibre performance Sunday.
Gausman struck out 10 and allowed two runs over seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays held off the Houston Astros 3-2 at Rogers Centre. The victory gave Toronto a 4-2 regular-season record over Houston, the defending American League champions.
“Almost felt like a post-season game,” said Gausman, who noted that the Astros’ roster is largely unchanged from last year’s World Series. “The amount of adrenaline that you have every pitch you know, you’ve got to be really fine.”
Gausman has been more than fine this year.
Sunday’s win made Gausman the only pitcher since Cy Young (1906) to begin a season with five straight starts and a minimum of 20 innings pitched without allowing a walk or home run. No other pitcher has accomplished the feat since the World Series era began in 1903.
“It’s not like I’m trying not to walk guys, I’m just throwing competitive pitches,” said Gausman (2-1). “Obviously, it’s cool. But I’ve got another start in five days, you know?
“This game wasn’t the last game of the season. We’re not the last one standing yet. So, on to the next one.”
Bo Bichette‘s two-run homer in the sixth was the first hit of the game for Toronto (15-8), breaking up a no-hit bid by Astros starter Framber Valdez. Gausman said his teammates were trying to jinx Valdez in the dugout but Bichette insisted he was focused on scoring a run with the Blue Jays down 1-0.
“I just care about winning or losing so, for me, it had nothing really to do with breaking up a no-no,” said Bichette. “Just going out there, trying to have a good at bat to win the game for my team.”
Toronto has won six series and tied another to start the 2022 season. The Blue Jays have won two series apiece against Houston and Boston, taken sets from Texas and Oakland, and split one in New York against the Yankees.
“Not only that, but we’re playing the best teams in baseball and we have won them,” said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo. “That’s a great credit to our pitching, great work by our defence and, of course, our timely hitting.”
Santiago Espinal’s RBI single in the seventh brought home the winning run for Toronto. Tim Mayza pitched a scoreless eighth for the Blue Jays before Jordan Romano earned his Major League-leading 11th save of the season.
Valdez (1-2) allowed three runs on just two hits and two walks for Houston, striking out two over 6 1/3 innings. Phil Maton and Héctor Neris pitched two innings of relief.
Niko Goodrum and Aledmys Diaz drove in runs for Houston (11-11) with a double and a single, respectively.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Espinal came to the plate with one out and runners on first and second.
Espinal hit a single to deep left field with Alvarez coming up firing as Matt Chapman rounded third. The Blue Jays third baseman slid cleats-first into home, beating the throw for a 3-2 Toronto lead.
Romano induced a pop fly to shallow right to start the ninth before Kyle Tucker doubled. The Blue Jays closer then got pinch-hitter Alex Bregman to line out to a diving George Springer in right field.
The 31,802 in attendance at Rogers Centre were already on their feet as Romano struck out Goodrum to end the game.
ON DECK — Ross Stripling (0-0) will take the mound for the Blue Jays on Monday as Toronto hosts the New York Yankees in a critical American League East matchup. Jordan Montgomery (0-1) will get the start for the Yankees. New York sits atop the AL East standings after one month, with Toronto second.
BOUNCE BACK — The Blue Jays have not lost back-to-back games since Sept. 24. Their current stretch of 30 games without consecutive losses is the longest active streak in Major League Baseball. Toronto’s longest such streak in team history is 45 games, stretching from Aug. 30, 1992-April 20, 1993.
OPTIONED — After the game the Blue Jays optioned infielder Gosuke Katoh and right-handed pitcher Bowden Francis to triple-A Buffalo. The Bisons have Monday off but the moves could be to create space on Toronto’s roster if left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu (forearm), outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (oblique), or catcher Danny Jansen (oblique) are ready to come off the injured list.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2022.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
