TORONTO — Soon after getting word that they’ll be spending the final two months of their season at home in Toronto, the Toronto Blue Jays put together the kind of offensive outburst that shows how interesting the stretch run will be when this lineup’s at full strength.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached the 30-homer threshold by hitting two of the Blue Jays’ five home runs as Toronto beat the visiting Texas Rangers 10-2 on a rainy night at the second of the three home sites the Jays will play at in 2021, Buffalo’s Sahlen Field.
With Robbie Ray on the mound, the Blue Jays began the unofficial second half of the season with their most effective pitcher of late, and by activating Ryan Borucki before first pitch, the bullpen got some welcome support, too. Of course on a night the offence was operating at full strength, there was plenty of breathing room.
And the best news of all arrived just before first pitch.
“You should’ve seen the faces of everyone when we first found out,” manager Charlie Montoyo said afterwards. “Even though Buffalo’s been great, Toronto’s one of the best cities in baseball for sure.”
“It was great news,” Montoyo continued. “Some of the best news of the year. And we took that into the game.”
The season Guerrero Jr. is having would be remarkable at any age, but what he’s doing — 30 homers with a .335/.434/.677 slash line — should really be appreciated within the context of his age. At 22, he’s still the sixth-youngest player in the American League.
“It was only a matter of time before he started to do this at the big-league level,” Cavan Biggio said. “He went through a big learning experience in the big-leagues, where most guys they struggle in the minor leagues, learn a lot about themselves and learn how to make adjustments. He was doing it on the biggest stage.”
After starting his career with two productive but relatively unremarkable seasons, Guerrero Jr.’s breaking out at age 22 — so young that when he homered in the All-Star Game Tuesday, he became the youngest player to do so since Johnny Bench more than half a century ago. In fact, he’s still younger than four players the Blue Jays drafted last week.
Yet here he is, making a legitimate run at the American League triple crown. That might be what it takes to make a serious MVP run during a year Shohei Ohtani is doing a convincing impression of Babe Ruth in his prime, but so far Guerrero Jr. has been up to the task. Nights like this, the talent is impossible to miss.
“He’s one of the best players in baseball,” Montoyo said. “He showed it in the All-Star Game and he’s showing it again today. He didn’t really have a break. He flew to Colorado, did all the stuff he needed to do and then he goes off today again. He’s been fun to watch. And that’s what I like about going back to Toronto now: the fans in Toronto get to watch one of the best players in baseball — and of course the rest of the group, but Vladdy’s been amazing.”
At the plate, Guerrero Jr. had plenty of support as Marcus Semien, Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez also homered Friday. For the moment, at least, the five home runs give the Blue Jays an MLB-leading 135 on the season.
But even on a night the offence was at its best, the pitching staff did its part too. Pitching on regular rest, Ray gave the Blue Jays 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball while striking out eight and walking just two. Because he started the Blue Jays’ final game before the All-Star break, this marked consecutive games started for Ray, whose season ERA now sits at 2.93.
“I asked for it,” Ray said afterwards. “I told them ‘I’ll pitch whenever you want me to, but I like staying in the five-day routine… I felt really good.”
After Adam Cimber recorded the final out of the seventh inning, Borucki entered for a clean eighth with two strikeouts and Jacob Barnes allowed the Rangers’ only two runs in the ninth.
“Waking up and knowing I was going to be able to pitch in a big-league baseball game was fun,” Borucki said. “Just being there in the bullpen with these guys, it was great to be back.”
Pulling the strings for those final moves was bench coach John Schneider who took over after manager Charlie Montoyo was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Greg Gibson over the timing of a replay review challenge.
With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 46-42 on the season — a small but important step for a team that must make up plenty more ground in the standings in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, the return to Toronto will certainly provide some welcome comfort and support for a team that last played at Rogers Centre nearly two calendar years ago.
There’s plenty of work to be done before the Blue Jays arrive home, both with respect to the roster itself in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline and the many logistics involved for players, staff and their families. But with Guerrero Jr. leading a potent offence, it’s easy to see this team’s potential, too.
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.
