Alek Manoah’s season went from bad to worse on Monday night.
The Blue Jays right-hander gave up six earned runs and lasted just one-third of an inning as the Houston Astros dumped Toronto 11-4 at Rogers Centre.
“[I] understand this game is hard,” Manoah said. “It’s going to kick you in the butt. But that doesn’t change how we work. We’re not going to give up on that.
“We’re going to keep going at it and we’ll find a way to push through.”
Corey Julks delivered the big blow with his first career grand slam. Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker chipped in with RBI singles in the opening frame as the Astros had seven hits against the Toronto right-hander.
Manoah (1-7), who hasn’t won a decision in two months, had his earned-run average jump by nearly a run to 6.36. It was the shortest outing of his career.
“Manoah wasn’t himself,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. “That helped us a lot.”
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Manoah gave up a single to Mauricio Dubon on the first pitch of the game and things went downhill from there.
Two singles, a flyout, another single and a walk preceded the no-doubt Julks blast that landed just inside the left-field foul screen.
“I thought it was a really good sinker at the knees and he kind of just ambushed it and hit a home run,” Manoah said. “A lot of the things I’d been working on, [I] didn’t have a chance to really go out there and use [them].”
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An American League Cy Young Award finalist last year, Manoah has struggled in most of his 13 starts this season.
He excelled in a one-hit, seven-inning victory over Kansas City on April 5 and pitched well in an April 22 no-decision in New York. But Manoah hasn’t made it past the sixth inning since.
The Blue Jays have lost nine of the last 10 games that he has started.
“You’ve got to continue to do whatever is best for him to help him get better,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “That’s what we’re going to do, starting tonight and going forward.
“That’s been our focus the whole time so we’ll continue to do that.”
Demotion ruled out
Schneider said before the game that the possibility of sending Manoah down to the minors wasn’t on the table. It will be interesting to see if this latest start changes that.
The 2022 all-star looks lost on the mound, sapped of the confidence and swagger that was a trademark over his first two big-league seasons.
“We’re talking about a really good pitcher,” Schneider said. “It’s been a tough go for him. He understands that. There’s no concern but I think the main focus is just do whatever we need to do to get him better.”
Manoah, the team’s Opening Day starter and ace at the start of the season, gave up a single to Mauricio Dubon on the first pitch of the game and things went downhill from there. (Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
Alejandro Kirk put Toronto (33-28) on the board in the second inning with a solo shot off Houston starter Brandon Bielak (3-2).
Daulton Varsho added a solo shot in the eighth. Bo Bichette, Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier had two hits apiece for the Blue Jays.
Alvarez and Tucker hit solo homers in the fourth inning as Houston (36-24) ended Toronto’s four-game winning streak. Jake Meyers piled on with a two-run blast in the fifth.
Bielak allowed three earned runs and 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts and issued one walk.
Yainer Diaz and Meyers both had four hits for Houston. The Astros have won eight of their last 11 games and 19 of 25.
Scattered boos were heard from the Rogers Centre crowd of 23,982 when Manoah loaded the bases and again after the grand slam. Schneider was cheered as he came out to make the pitching change.
Manoah, the team’s Opening Day starter and ace at the start of the season, walked slowly back to the dugout. He was sporting a despondent look as he took a seat on the bench as Jay Jackson relieved him on the mound.
“Anybody who’s struggling, you’ve got to try to find some positives,” Manoah said. “If you get caught in the negatives, you’ll never see the positives.”
Houston outhit Toronto 19-12 in a game that took three hours one minute to play.
Sullivan remembered
A moment of silence was held before the game for longtime Blue Jays coach John Sullivan, who died Thursday at age 82.
Sullivan spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues as a catcher and was a coach for the Blue Jays for over a decade. He retired after Toronto won a second straight World Series title in 1993.
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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.
