NEW YORK – Whatever Alek Manoah and Gerrit Cole really think about each other, regardless of the Audi sign in foul territory at Yankee Stadium or anything Manoah said on Serge Ibaka’s cooking show last winter, what counts the most is what happens between the lines.
That doesn’t mean Manoah’s comments are meaningless. The Yankees, obviously, are aware that he invited Cole to walk past the painted-on Audi sign last summer then called him MLB’s biggest cheater a few months later. But it’s results that count most in the end, not verbal jabs.
On a cool afternoon in the Bronx Saturday, both starters pitched near the peak of their abilities. Cole held the Blue Jays scoreless for 5.2 innings. Manoah kept the Yankees off the board for seven. But after a drama-free afternoon from the starters, Anthony Volpe and Danny Jansen exchanged late-game two-run home runs to set up a DJ LeMahieu walk-off single against closer Jordan Romano as the Yankees won 3-2.
Yankees’ LeMahieu walks off Blue Jays with bases-loaded RBI-single against Romano
“Old-school baseball, right?” manager John Schneider said. “It was like, who’s going to blink first and neither one of (the starters) did. A pitching duel from top to bottom. They made big pitches in big spots, both of them, and we just came up with the short end of it.”
From a distance the Cole-Manoah matchup seemed primed for tension – especially after Yankees reliever Greg Weissert hit Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a fastball late in Friday’s game. Yet as first pitch approached Saturday, and the two managers were asked about the possibility of bad blood, they seemed to be reading from the same playbook.
“No,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “It’s two good teams going at it.”
“Not at all,” Schneider echoed. “It’s just two good teams that play hard against one another.”
As it turns out, the managers were right. Cole was effective limiting the visitors to just two walks and four hits. His fastball touched 99 m.p.h. on his way to four strikeouts, and at one point he retired nine consecutive Blue Jays.
“He’s been doing it for a long time,” Schneider said afterwards. “You tip your cap, but you’ve got to take advantage when you do have him on the ropes.”
While Cole did hit one batter, there was no suggestion it was anything other than an accident. With two outs and one on in the top of the second inning, the right-hander hit Santiago Espinal on the right wrist with a 98 m.p.h. fastball, forcing the second baseman from the game. The team’s describing the injury as a contusion, with further tests to come.
Blue Jays’ Espinal leaves game after taking fastball to the hand
But there was no retaliation from the Blue Jays, who fall to 12-9 with the loss. On a day Manoah had far better command than he has for much of the season, he stayed around the strike zone with only one walk and two hits allowed. Wearing short sleeves and high socks, he struck out five and needed only 85 pitches to work through seven innings.
“Much better command,” Schneider said. “Slider was good. He got a lot of quick outs with the sinker against a pretty aggressive team. Change-up was on against the lefties, too. More of what we’re used to seeing from him.”
Afterwards, Manoah attributed the strong start to early strikes that kept the Yankees behind in the count.
Blue Jays’ Manoah says feud with Yankees’ Cole didn’t spur strong outing
“Come in here and attack,” he said. “Get ahead early in the count and throw some of my nasty stuff. I think that’s what we’ve got to keep doing – getting ahead in the counts and making them put the ball in play or having some wiggle room to throw some put-away pitches.”
Defensively, it was a tough game for Alejandro Kirk, who dropped a pop-up for an error while allowing the Yankees to steal a pair of bases. Thankfully for the Blue Jays, though, Manoah escaped the second inning unscathed despite the misplay.
Even if it was soon overshadowed, Jansen’s home run was a significant development for the Blue Jays. The catcher started slowly at the plate but – like Brandon Belt, who hit his first homer Friday – has been swinging better of late.
Blue Jays’ Jansen delivers with ninth-inning game-tying pinch-hit homer
“Jano’s been coming quietly with the quality of at-bats,” Schneider said. “Great at-bat. I liked his first swing on the foul ball and it’s obviously a big spot. Great swing by him.”
Aside from Jansen’s home run, the Blue Jays were quiet at the plate, combining for just seven hits as a team. Without much offence, they were unable to take full advantage of Manoah’s strong start. Maybe he out-duelled Cole, but as the final score reflects, the Yankees outplayed the Blue Jays as a collective.
“It’s just really good and exciting baseball,” Manoah said. “We’re excited to compete against them and go out there and battle. Every game in the AL East is a battle. We’re looking for a series win tomorrow.”
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
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.
