Shun Yamaguchi starting the inning with a runner on second, decided let’s give them a couple more runners, so he walked the next two. But then he got two strikeouts.
Then a ground ball that Shun kicked at. Kicking at a ball is not a good idea. If he hadn’t kicked it, I think it would have gone straight to Cavan Biggio and he would have been out of the inning. Instead it bounced up to Biggio, getting to him later. Cavan dived to the second base bag, and was just late. Called safe. Review and, we didn’t see a view that showed the play well enough to overturn it.
I thought the play was to first base, the runner on first has a leadoff, he’s going to be quicker to second than even a fast runner, like Adam Eaton. In the time it took him to decide to dive to the bag, he could have thrown to first.
But, maybe a better play still would have been to dive at the runner instead of diving to the bag. The runner was closer to Cavan than the bag and, I think, he could have tagged him before he touched second. I know Cavan had to make a quick decision, so making the wrong one is understandable. It should have been an out and we should have been out of the top of the tenth without allowing a run.
Cavan too could have stayed with the play and tagged the runner when he came off the bag, but he was busy showing the umpire that he had the ball. Staying with the play and getting the tag when the runner came off the bag is a play we should be making. A run would still have scored, but the 3 after that wouldn’t have scored.
After that, Shun totally lost the strike zone. He went 3-0 to Asdrubal Cabrera. Then he got a gift strike ball (only about 6 inches off the plate) and then threw a balling practice fastball that was grounded hard at Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I’m not sure Vlad had a chance on it, it was hit so hard. It turned into a triple and we were down 4-0.
Shun got very unlucky, but then he wasn’t good. A play made and he gets out of it. But you walk 2 batters, it puts pressure on the defense and things tend to go bad.
The important part was: Nate Pearson was as good as we hoped he would be. He struck out the first batter he saw, Trea Turner and would go on to throw 5 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. He didn’t hit 100 on the radar gun (that I saw) but there was a beautiful 99 at the knees for a strikeout in the fourth. It was a big strikeout too, with a runner on third (Eric Thames doubled to lead off the inning, and went to third on a one-out double. It was the biggest jam Nate was in).
If Nate can continue like that, it is going to be a good season.
Rafael Dolis pitched a quick sixth, ground out, fly out, strikeout. The trifecta.
Sam Gaviglio got very lucky in the seventh. After a one-out walk and single, Andrew Stevenson lined one to left, over Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but Lourdes made a terrific diving catch. It was a huge catch. That was enough for Charlie, he pulled Sam from the game.
Jordan Romano got the third out and pitched a quick eighth. A couple of weeks later in to the season, I’d have wanted him to go another inning.
Anthony Bass pitched a nice neat ninth, just 13 pitches. Again, later in the season, I’d expect him to stay in the game, but smarter to be careful early.
Max Scherzer was terrific. We only managed 3 hits and 3 walks off him in 7.1 innings. He struck out 10 Jays.
We only had him in trouble once. In the eighth inning, Joe Panik singled. Anthony Alford pinch ran and stole second. Santiago Espinal tried to bunt him to third, but fouled off the attempt with one strike and then tried to bunt again, again foul, for the strikeout. I’m really not a fan of bunting with 2 strikes.
Derek Fisher had a very good at bat and worked a 6-pitch walk, after falling behind 0-2. That was when they took Scherzer out of the game.
During Fishers’ at bat, Scherzer tried to pick Alford off second base. He turned and threw it at the second base umpire. To me, the dark tops the umpires wore were much like the dark jerseys the Nationals were wearing. I’m almost sure Max spun and saw the dark shirt and threw. Or maybe he just made a bad throw. Either way Alford was at third with one out.
Runners on the corners and Teoscar Hernandez up. Infield in. Teoscar, on a 2-2 pitch (he took two fastballs in the middle of the zone), ground one hard up the middle. I thought we won. But shortstop Trea Turner made a nice stop of the ball and, instead of going home, he made a very nice play to start a double play.
Now Fisher could have stolen second, but you don’t expect a ground ball double play with the infield in. If he had gone to second….well, as Wilmer used to say, we’d have to see into the alternate universe to see how it would have gone. The same ground ball up the middle would have made for an interesting play, Turner would have come home, Alford is fast….who knows. But then it likely wouldn’t have been the same pitch, same grounder.
In the tenth, down by four. Tanner Rainy struck out Rowdy Tellez. Rowdy wasn’t happy with the third strike call and was thrown out of the game (It looked like a strike on TV). Then someone from the Jays bench was also tossed.
Danny Jansen followed with a strikeout. And then Brandon Drury struck out on a wild pitch and reached first, but Santiago Espinal popped out to center.
It was one we thought we should win.
Jays of the Day: Pearson (.291 WPA), Romano (.189) and Bass (.147). Alford had the number too, (.150) basically just for the steal and moving to third on the error. We should have scored him.
Suckage: Yamaguchi (Fangraphs doesn’t do the WPA properly with the runner starting on second but he earned the award), Teocar (-.289, 0 for 3, walk, 2 k), Espinal (-.158, 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts), Biggio (-.149, 0 for 3, 1 k, plus the misplay in the tenth) and Vlad (-.131 0 for 4, 2 k)
Gurriel also had the number (-125) but I figure that catch saves him from a Suckage Award.
Tomorrow’s game is earlier, a 4:00 Eastern start. Hyun-Jin Ryu verus Erick Fedde.
We had 1094 comments in the GameThread. Paigne led the way.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
