From umpire warnings and historic home runs to big-league debuts and strategic misfires, Tuesday’s slate of MLB playoff games had a little bit of everything.
For Atlanta, Houston, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles, the stress was worth the effort. For the Marlins, Athletics, Yankees and Padres, this was a day to forget.
Yet the results only tell us part of the story, especially in October. On a day of non-stop baseball, these were the moments stood out most…
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Yankees’ strategy backfires
Just last week, the Blue Jays tried to mix and match pitchers against the Rays only to lose in frustrating fashion. On Tuesday, it was the Yankees’ turn.
By announcing right-hander Deivi Garcia as the New York starter, manager Aaron Boone could be reasonably sure Kevin Cash of the Rays would include plenty of left-handed hitters in the starting lineup. That opened the door for left-hander J.A. Happ to enter as a bulk pitcher after just one inning, and gain the platoon advantage much more than he ordinarily would. Meanwhile, Garcia would still be free to pitch later in the series.
At least that’s how it might have looked on paper. In reality, the strategy wasn’t nearly so effective. In becoming the youngest starter in Yankees post-season history, the 21-year-old Garcia allowed a homer to Randy Arozarena in his lone inning. Then the Rays hit Happ even harder, scoring four runs, including two homers, despite all of those left-handed bats.
There was plenty of logic behind the Yankees’ decision, so in that sense it was certainly defensible. Plus, relievers Chad Green, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman are now rested entering Game 3. But to the Rays’ credit, they neutralized a sound decision by producing despite some potentially unfavourable matchups.
J.A. Happ said he told the Yankees we would have preferred to start tonight’s game but that he was ready to pitch. Wouldn’t answer when he was asked if he felt like he was put in a position to succeed.
Over the last two years, the Yankees have not been able to rely on Giancarlo Stanton, who has played just 41 regular season games since the start of 2019. But when he does take the field, the 30-year-old’s raw power remains unmatched.
He homered twice Tuesday, and both were impressive. In the second inning, he hit an opposite-field laser over the right field wall. In the fourth inning, he pulled a no-doubt homer 458 feet. He has now homered in all four of the Yankees’ playoff games, which counts for a lot on a team that measures success by what happens in October.
Clevinger injury means Padres’ depth will be tested
By the second inning, it was already apparent that the Padres’ day would not unfold as they’d hoped. Mike Clevinger, who was acquired at the trade deadline to pitch in games just like this, exited just two pitches into the second inning. His velocity was down, suggesting a possible recurrence of the elbow injury that sidelined him for the wild-card round.
Regardless, this causes problems on a few levels for the Padres, whose manager, Jayce Tingler, was ejected mid-game. First off, they had to scramble Tuesday, with 20-year-old Ryan Weathers making his big-league debut in the middle of a scoreless game. Medium-term, beating the Dodgers looks much harder without their ace. And even if San Diego beats L.A., Clevinger would be ineligible to pitch until the World Series if the Padres replace him on the roster now.
The Padres still have plenty of time ahead, but this was not the start they wanted.
Springer’s historic power puts A’s on the brink
Anyone hoping a 29-31 regular season record might foreshadow an early playoff exit for the Houston Astros is already disappointed. Not only did the Astros beat the Twins in the wild-card round, but baseball’s villains are now a win away from a fourth straight ALCS appearance after beating the A’s 5-2 Tuesday afternoon.
Once again, it was George Springer who generated the offence for Houston as the centre fielder homered twice and made some history in the process. The two home runs Springer hit give him 17 career playoff homers (in just 54 games) which ties him with David Ortiz, Jim Thome and Nelson Cruz for 10th all-time. Starting Wednesday, Reggie Jackson and Mickey Mantle are just a swing away for Springer, a pending free agent.
Now, the obvious caveat — the Astros cheated during that stretch, and all offensive numbers should be interpreted within that context. But I’m guessing Springer will keep putting up big offensive numbers even if he leaves Houston as a free agent.
Of course, offence is only part of the story here, as Houston’s pitching was excellent, too. This Astros pitching staff is far less accomplished than the group that featured Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole a year ago, but there are still some intriguing arms here, including Game 2 starter Framber Valdez. A five-foot-11 left-hander, Valdez was making his first career playoff start after a breakout summer in which he posted a 3.57 ERA. He made the most of it, holding the Athletics to just two runs over seven innings.
Impressive — but chances are most fans and teams will be rooting against the Astros when the series resumes Wednesday.
Atlanta’s lineup too deep for Marlins to contain
Atlanta’s lineup was as good as anyone’s this year (MLB-leading .355 weighted on base average) and when you think about reasons why, you think of Ronald Acuna Jr., Marcell Ozuna and Freddie Freeman. Not necessarily Travis d’Arnaud.
And yet it was d’Arnaud who delivered the decisive hit in Atlanta’s 9-4 Game 1 win over the Miami Marlins — a game that was much closer than the score might indicate. For a while it looked as though the story of the game might revolve around Acuna Jr., who homered his first time up then took a pitch off the hip two innings later, leading to warnings for both sides.
They have to hit me , because they don’t get me out
Yet Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara kept things close until the seventh, when d’Arnaud took Yimi Garcia deep with a 421-foot homer to centre field. Compared to the rest of Atlanta’s stars, d’Arnaud might be easy to overlook, but the 31-year-old has quietly become a difference-making offensive player over the last couple seasons. Counting both 2019 and 2020, d’Arnaud has played 147 games and batted 575 total times. During that stretch he’s a .273 hitter with 25 home runs, 103 RBI and an .801 OPS.
If that wasn’t enough to convince teams that d’Arnaud is dangerous at the plate, Tuesday’s homer certainly will be.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
