Fresh off another electric outing against the Yankees Wednesday night, the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays now have themselves a seven-game win streak — and have been victorious in 10 of the last 11 — as they look ahead to their final matchup of this crucial four-game series in New York.
Here’s a closer look at where they stand in the MLB playoff picture…
If the playoffs began today The top teams in each division make the playoffs. In addition to the six division winners, the top remaining two teams per league qualify as wild cards for a total of 10 playoff teams.
The wild card teams in each league face off in winner-take-all games for the chance to advance to the LDS against the top seeded division winner. Meanwhile, the remaining two division winners match up against one another in each league.
If the post-season began today, these five American League teams would qualify:
Wild-card game: Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays vs. winner of wild card game No. 2 Houston Astros vs. No. 3 Chicago White Sox
And these five National League teams would qualify:
Wild card game: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
No. 1 San Francisco Giants vs. winner of wild card game No. 2 Milwaukee Brewers vs. No. 3 Atlanta Braves
In striking distance When we last checked in a week ago, Toronto sat behind the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners as the clubs closest to challenging for a wild card spot. They’ve since leapfrogged both teams and are knocking on the door.
With their 76-62 record, the Blue Jays are now the closest American League squad to jumping into the wild-card picture. Right behind them is Seattle (76-64) followed closely by Oakland (75-64), leaving no room for error.
Meanwhile, in the National League, it’s all about the best teams in the NL West. The Giants jumped from the first wild-card spot up to the No. 1 seed in the past week, bumping the Dodgers down as the division’s top teams jockey for post-season position. Realistically, there’s really only one wild card spot up for grabs here. Cincinnati (74-67) is currently the closest team on the outside looking in, followed by Philadelphia (71-68).
Playoff odds report Objectively speaking, here’s where the Blue Jays stand in relation to their closest adversaries, according to FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference:
Blue Jays’ FanGraphs odds: 41.9% | Blue Jays’ Baseball-Reference odds: 55.8%
Next up The Blue Jays will send José Berríos to the mound on Thursday as they aim to complete the series sweep, while the Yankees will counter with Nestor Cortes Jr. Meanwhile, the A’s will face the White Sox and the Mariners have Thursday off before facing the Diamondbacks Friday.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
