Another game, another complaint about taking out the starter early.
Chase Anderson pitched 5 innings, gave up a run in the first inning. 2-5 he gave up just 1 hit. He struck out 8 (his first 6 outs were strikeouts). He was rolling. At 84 pitches and coming up on the top of the order for the third time. I would have sent him out for the sixth, likely with the plan that he comes out on the first base runner. I get that managers like to have relievers start an inning if possible, but I didn’t see the point. Of course, Charlie is closer to the players than I am and maybe there was a reason to pull him. I’m thinking that they didn’t want him above about 95 pitches today, but I’d still lean to leaving him in.
Part two of the complaint, Wilmer Font came in and Font has not been good and really shouldn’t be in ‘high leverage’ spots. Up by 1 in the sixth is too high leverage to me. Font gave up a single and double, to start the inning, and we were tied. A strikeout and two hard hit flies to the outfield got us out of the inning tied, but we were lucky.
Ryan Borucki started the seventh and had his problems too, but then giving up 2 hard hit singles. Thomas Hatch came in and got out of the inning and pitched the eighth.
Rafael Dolis gave up a couple of base runners in the ninth, but got out of the inning.
On offense, we didn’t do much, just 5 hits in the first 9 innings. Lourdes Gurriel and Joe Panik had 2 each. We had a lot of bad at bats. It looked like the guys were out drinking after last night’s walk-off win.
We got our two runs in the fifth only because of some bad Orioles’ defense. With 1-out, Danny Jansen walked and Panik doubled. After a Santiago Espinal strikeout, Cavan Biggio hit an easy grounder to Hanser Alberto at second base but he fired the short throw well wide of first and both runners scored.
We had a shot to win in the bottom of the ninth. Daniel Vogelbach walked (on a pretty closes pitch). Derek Fisher came in to pinch run and was almost doubled off when Danny Jansen popped up a bunt attempt. Panik tried to win it for us, lining one hard to right field but it was caught. Travis Shaw came in to pinch hit for Espinal, but Derek Fisher was throw out trying to steal second. I thought he was safe. I was ok with the idea of Fisher being the guy starting the tenth at second over Shaw.
In the top of the tenth with A.J. Cole in, and Mason Williams starting at second, Hanser Alberto tried to bunt his way on. Cole got him at first on a very very close play. Williams to third. Anthony Santander followed with a fly ball to right which I thought was plenty deep enough to score the runner, but Teoscar Hernandez proved me wrong with a terrific throw from right. Almost Bautista ish. Orioles don’t score.
Bottom of the tenth started with Derek Fisher at second, as the winning run. Shaw back at the plate. Shaw pulled a ground ball to the first base side and Fisher moved up to third. Good at bat. Biggio up to be the hero, but he ground out softly. And Randal Grichuk did the same.
Top of the eleventh. Orioles start with Santander at second and Anthony Bass in to pitch. Jose Iglesias doubled to put the Orioles ahead. Why didn’t someone trade for him today? A strikeout was followed by a Bryan Holaday double. Chase Sisco flew out to medium center. Ryan Mountcastle struck out.
Bottom of the eleventh: Grichuck at second, tying run at the plate. Vlad up to start the inning. He hasn’t looked good at the plate today. He grounds out very weakly, on the first pitch. Hernandez chased two bad pitches to strikeout. Lourdes Gurriel got his third hit of the day, a soft single, scoring Randal. Rowdy Tellez pinch hits, hits a double down the right field line, the Orioles right fielder threw it very softly in towards the infield. Gurriel slowed going around third and then started running again. He was out by 20 feet. I don’t know if he was waved in, it seemed like he was going to stop at third until the bad throw, but there was time for the Orioles to track down the throw and get him out. Once he slows you have to stop him.
We really didn’t deserve that one, we gave away far too many at bats. And if you can’t score the game winning run from third with one out, you really shouldn’t win.
Jays of the Day: Hatch (.263 WPA), Anderson (.163), Dolis (.147), Cole (.147)
Suckage: Espinal (-.195), Grichuk (-.187), Hernandez (-.187). Vlad (-.104) and Vogelbach (-.177) and Bass (whose WPA is mess up by the runner starting on second).
We had 727 comments in the thread. EMK19 led us to crushing defeat.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
