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BOSTON — One of manager John Schneider’s messages to his Blue Jays players upon arrival to Fenway Park this weekend: Have fun.
BOSTON — One of manager John Schneider’s messages to his Blue Jays players upon arrival to Fenway Park this weekend: Have fun.
You want fun?
How about scoring runs in bunches, running up one of the longest winning streaks of the season and, for good measure, beating down a nose-diving division opponent in humiliating fashion.
Producing at a sizzling rate to match the 38C temperatures here, the Jays finished off a three-game sweep of the Red Sox that, in totality, was pure domination.
In Sunday’s finale, a five-run first inning sent the Jays off to a cruise-control 8-4 win as they essentially kicked the collective backside of the Sox, who are careening out of playoff contention.
“I feel like we did what good teams do when they see and sense a weakness in a team,” said starting pitcher Ross Stripling, who gave up two runs on five hits over four innings. “That Red Sox team is riddled with injuries and not playing as good as they can, but we took advantage of it and we swept them here in Fenway,.
“When good teams smell blood in the water, they get after it. It’s just a really good way to start off the second half.”
There is certainly some big momentum with the Jays now. Winners of six in a row — their second-longest streak of the season — they Jays are 7-1 under manager John Schneider and return home for a six-game homestand beginning Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Even better, with the Rays losing in K.C., the Jays moved into second place in the AL East and are now atop the AL wild-card race.
Pushing the right buttons on the field and off of it, Schneider is getting the most of his players
“I love having fun because baseball is hard,” said Schneider, who capped off his first road road trip as manager with three wins and an aggregate margin of 40-10. “I respect what (the players) do every day — playing and grinding and travel and the heat and all the stuff that goes with it.
“So you’ve got to try to keep it light. But at the same time, you’ve got to understand what you’re here for.”
It would appear that the Jays players are well aware of the mission. The managerial bump is alive, for sure, as the Jays clearly have responded to Schneider’s verbal and tactical initiatives.
The aggression was in evidence yet again when leadoff man George Springer singled to lead off the second inning, stole second base and advanced to third on the first installment of what would be a sloppy defensive effort by the Sox.
Springer also was the first across the plate in a nine-batter, five-run first.
What may be most impressive about the weekend was the one-sidedness of it all.
On Friday, it was putting up 28 runs and Saturday starter Alek Manoah mowing down Boston hitter then letting the Red Sox dugout know about it. The 40 combined runs are a club record for a three-game series.
The Jays improved to 10-3 against the Sox this season and have won five of six at Fenway. Toronto has also clinched a season series win over the Sox (the first since 2016) and swept them for the first time at Fenway since 2015.
“We’ve been through some tough spots and right now is more of what we’re expecting and more of what we’re hoping for going forward,” Schneider said. “All the respect in the world for (the Red Sox) but to come in here and play like this … that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Jays sent nine to the plate in the first inning and five of them came home, the biggest shot a bases-loaded triple from left fielder Raimel Tapia. All five runs came with two outs, which is becoming a thing with the Jays these days … The five-run first was the fourth inning in the series in which the Jays scored four runs for more … Matt Chapman, who had a pair of doubles on the day, scored a run the hard way in the fifth, taking a 92 mile-per-hour throw from Jeter Downs on his back as he was running from third to home … Tapia’s four RBIs on Sunday gave him 10 for the weekend, one short of the franchise record for a series at Fenway. Junior Felix, who also had an inside-the-park grand slam, had 11 back in June of 1989 … Vlad Guerrero Jr. is heating up at the plate with a four-hit day. It was a the fourth four-hit outing of his career and third this season … Sunday’s victory capped the Jays’ fourth sweep of the season.
Looks like it will be a spartan St. Louis Cardinals team shipping in to Toronto for games against the Jays on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Cards announced on Sunday that two of their all-stars will not make the trip because they’ve yet to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Infielders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt will be the biggest impact absentees, but backup catcher Austin Romine is also ineligible.
Goldschmidt (who leads the National League in batting average at .333) and Arenado are the heart of the Cardinals batting lineup. Combined, they have 133 RBIs and 40 home runs.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
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