The Toronto Blue Jays‘ run of games against National League playoff contenders continues this week with a two-game mini-series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Rogers Centre.
The defending National League champs are leading a tight race for the three wild-card spots in the senior circuit.
The Blue Jays and Phillies are coming off a much-needed off-day after both teams played 17 games in the previous 17 days.
Here’s a look at a Blue Jays-Phillies series featuring four starters with a combined five all-star selections.
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Probable Pitchers
Tuesday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (9-4, 3.53 ERA) vs. Philadelphia RHP Zack Wheeler (9-5, 3.74 ERA)
Wednesday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (9-6, 3.04 ERA) vs. Philadelphia RHP Aaron Nola (9-8, 4.49 ERA)
Both games on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW.
Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (66-54) avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Chicago Cubs with an elusive offensive outburst in an 11-4 win on Sunday.
Outfielder Daulton Varsho, whose struggles at the plate have been well-documented this season, keyed a five-run second with a three-run home run and finished the afternoon with five RBI.
The five runs Toronto put up that inning were more than they scored in any other full game the entire week.
Second baseman Whit Merrifield continued his strong season, going 4-for-6.
The Blue Jays are two games up on Seattle for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League after the Mariners lost 7-6 to the lowly Kansas City Royals on Monday in their series opener.
Latest on the Phillies
The Phillies (65-54) wrapped up a 10-game homestand with a 6-4 record after losing the final two games of a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins.
Canadian-born manager Rob Thomson and third baseman Alec Bohm were both ejected in the finale. Thomson was tossed after arguing balls and strikes and Bohm was sent to the clubhouse when he voiced his disapproval after he struck out looking with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a 3-0 loss.
The homestand was highlighted by Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter in just his second start with the Phillies last week against the Washington Nationals. The Phillies acquired the 2023 AL all-star from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline.
The Phillies are two games ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the race for the top wild-card spot, which comes with home-field advantage in the wild-card round.
Injury Report
Phillies star Bryce Harper left one game early and missed another because of back spasms on the homestand. He was designated hitter in the last two games. Harper could return to first base at some point this week.
Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh is expected to be out until late August after suffering a knee injury last week while crashing into the centre-field wall attempting to make a catch.
The Blue Jays are hoping to activate closer Jordan Romano (lower back inflammation) on Tuesday after he pitched a scoreless inning for triple-A Buffalo in a rehab appearance on Saturday.
Third baseman Matt Chapman was a late scratch with middle finger inflammation on Sunday. The hope is it is a short-term absence.
Star shortstop Bo Bichette (right patellar tendinitis) could return by the end of this week or next week.
Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (right elbow laceration) is eligible to return Friday.
Toronto Connection
The Blue Jays drafted Nola, Tuesday’s Phillies starter, in the 22nd round in 2011 out of high school in Louisiana.
But Nola opted to go to LSU instead of signing with Toronto. Three years later, the Phillies picked him seventh overall.
In that same 2014 draft, the Blue Jays selected right-hander Jeff Hoffman ninth overall. He was considered a possible first-overall pick before he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Hoffman made it to double-A with the Blue Jays before he was shipped to the Colorado Rockies in the Troy Tulowitzki deal in July 2015.
While Hoffman, 30, has bounced around, he has enjoyed success this year after originally signing a minor-league contract with the Phillies. He is 3-2 with a career-best 2.88 ERA in 34.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Season Series
The Phillies swept a mini-series against visiting Toronto in May.
The finale was a 2-1 Philly win in 10 innings, ending on a Bo Bichette throwing error after strong starts for Gausman and Wheeler.
The opener was an 8-4 Philly win, with the Phillies scoring three in the eighth off against Toronto reliever Trevor Richards to break the game open. Nola started for Philly and was solid (two runs in six innings).
Out of Town
Two teams chasing Toronto are facing two of the worst teams in baseball this week.
The Mariners have three more games in Kansas City after Monday’s loss, while the Boston Red Sox, three games behind Toronto, open a three-game series in Washington against the Nationals on Tuesday
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.
