TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, Bo Bichette had two hits and two RBIs in his return from injury and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Friday night.
Guerrero’s two-run double off right-hander Carlos Hernández (1-10) helped the Blue Jays (78-63) hold onto the final AL wild-card berth with their fourth win in five games.
Toronto matched a season best by moving 15 games above .500. The Blue Jays are 23-19 in one-run games. Kansas City, at 44-98, fell behind Oakland for the worst record in major leagues.
Bichette went 2 for 5 and scored once after being activated off the 10-day injured list before the game.
“When he has runners on base, he does anything to bring them in,” Guerrero said of his fellow All-Star through a translator. “It’s great to have him back.”
Bichette, the two-time AL hits leader, returned after missing nine games because of a strained right quadriceps.
“Just having him back in the lineup is definitely huge,” Blue Jays left-hander Yusei Kikuchi said through a translator. “It puts a lot of pressure on the other teams. He’s a big presence in our lineup and also a leader. It’s really good to have a leader like him back.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider called Bichette “an instant shot of energy to our offense.”
“He hasn’t seen live pitching in 10 or 12 days and he’s taking tough pitches,” Schneider said. “It’s impressive what he can do in the box.”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro wasn’t as pleased to see Bichette back.
“I would have been a lot happier if he had a few more days off,” Quatraro joked.
Blue Jays rookie Davis Schneider reached base four times. He doubled in the second and fourth, and walked in the sixth and seventh.
Chad Green (2-0) got two outs for the win and left-hander Tim Mayza got one out in the eighth. Closer Jordan Romano recorded the final four outs for his 33rd save in 36 chances despite giving up an RBI single to Salvador Perez in the ninth. Edward Olivares flied out to end it, stranding runners at first and second.
Kansas City left-hander Austin Cox had to be helped off the field in the seventh after injuring his left knee while covering first base.
“He’s in some pain,” Quatraro said. “We’re going to get more diagnostic testing and see exactly what it is.”
Cox struck out pinch hitter Santiago Espinal to begin the inning, but went down while trying to get to the base on Alejandro Kirk’s infield single.
“It’s really tough,” Royals infielder Nick Loftin said. “Saying a lot of prayers for him.”
Hernández came on to replace Cox.
Tyler Heineman pinch ran for Kirk and advanced on a wild pitch before Kevin Kiermaier flied out. George Springer walked and Bichette tied it with a first-pitch single.
Guerrero followed with a two-run double. He has 16 RBIs in 24 career games against Kansas City.
Pinch-hitter Ernie Clement capped the four-run rally with a two-out RBI single off left-hander Tucker Davidson.
Bobby Witt Jr. cut it to 5-3 in the eighth when he doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by pinch-hitter Olivares.
Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco hit a two-out solo homer off Kikuchi in the third, his second.
It was the second homer off Kikuchi in 10 starts since the All-Star break. Kikuchi allowed one run and three hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out eight.
Toronto tied it against right-hander Alec Marsh in the sixth when Kiermaier led off with a triple and scored on Bichette’s one-out double.
Kansas City reclaimed the lead with a two-out rally against right-hander Trevor Richards in the seventh. Freddy Fermin singled and scored on Loftin’s first career triple. Richards left after walking Kyle Isbel and Green came on to strike out Blanco.
Right-hander Collin Snider opened for the Royals and allowed one hit in two scoreless innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Kansas City activated 1B Nick Pratto (left groin) off the IL and optioned INF Matt Beaty to Triple-A Omaha.
Blue Jays: John Schneider said C Danny Jansen will miss the rest of the regular season after having surgery Thursday on his fractured right middle finger. Jansen’s status for the playoffs will be evaluated if Toronto advances to the postseason. … 3B Matt Chapman resumed hitting and fielding drills Friday after having a splint removed from his sprained right middle finger.
ROSTER MOVES
To make room for Bichette, Toronto optioned INF Mason McCoy to Triple-A Buffalo.
ROYAL PAIN
Toronto has won eight of its past nine home meetings with Kansas City.
ROCKY ROAD
The Royals are a major league-worst 18-52 on the road.
UP NEXT
RHP Kevin Gausman (10-8, 3.39 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays on Saturday. Kansas City hasn’t announced a starter.
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.
