Sports

Manoah excels against Cole, but Yankees walk off vs. Blue Jays

Published

1 year ago

April 22, 2023

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.”

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

16 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

16 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

16 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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