adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Sports

Jonathan Davis homers, Jays beat Yankees – Bluebird Banter

Published

 on


Yankees 1 Blue Jays 2

There are few things better than beating the Yankees. A sweep would be so good.

This was a strange game. Our pitchers didn’t have a 3-up, 3-down inning until the seventh.

300x250x1

Taijuan Walker pitched the worse four shutout innings you are ever going to see.

  • In the first, he got the first two batters and then walked the next three, but got out of it.
  • In the second, he gave up a one-out double and walk, and got out of it.
  • To lead off the third, he hit Aaron Hicks, who then stole second but would be caught stealing third, and then got three strikeouts.
  • In the fourth, he got the first two batters again, then gave up a single and walk, before getting out of the inning. Walker wasn’t happy with the plate umpire when he left the field, I figured he would get tossed, but it didn’t matter, he came out of the game after four.

He could have gotten a bit more help from his defense, Danny Jansen dropped a popup, and Lourdes Gurriel had two fly balls go in and out of his glove.

Shun Yamaguchi wasn’t much better. He loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, before getting his first out of the fifth. But he got out of the inning with just the one run scoring. He just gave up a two-out single in the sixth. Yamaguchi gets the win, being the only pitcher to give up a run.

We did finally get 3-up, 3-down innings from A.J. Cole and Anthony Kay in the seventh and eighth. Rafael Dolis picked up the save (his 3rd), taking forever getting the 3-up 3-down ninth.


All our offense came off the bat of Jonathan Davis, who hit a two-run homer in his first at bat of the season. J.A. Happ was terrific, going 6.1 with just 4 hits, 2 walks and 10 strikeouts.

And we couldn’t get a hit off Yankee relievers Michael King and Zack Britton.

The top of our order went 0 for 12 with 2 walks. No Jay reached base twice.


Jays of the Day: Walker (.216 WPA, though that comes more on luck and bad Yankee hitting than from skill), Davis (.154), Kay (.126), Cole (.099) and Dolis (.099).

Suckage: Rowdy (-.103) was the only Jay to get the number. It is hard to build up a big negative when there is no one on base.

Rowdy came out of the game in the eight, he was limping after chasing a foul ball over one of the bullpen mounds. I hope he is ok.


We had 484 comments in the GameThread. I led us to a very narrow victory.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

Published

 on


* public_profileBlurb *

* public_displayName *

300x250x1

* public_name *
* public_gender *
* public_birthdate *
* public_emailAddress *
* public_address *
* public_phoneNumber *

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

Published

 on


* public_profileBlurb *

* public_displayName *

300x250x1

* public_name *
* public_gender *
* public_birthdate *
* public_emailAddress *
* public_address *
* public_phoneNumber *

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

Published

 on

LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

300x250x1

Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending