The Toronto Blue Jays are 5-4 so far in their current 15-game stretch against teams with losing records.
Decent? Sure. Ideal? No.
The Blue Jays sure could use a sweep this week against the fairly terrible Oakland A’s.
It won’t necessarily be easy, though. After going much of the year without significant injuries, the Blue Jays had four regulars out for Sunday’s game in Colorado.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays-A’s series.
Probable Pitchers
Monday, 4:07 p.m. ET / 1:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Jose Berrios (9-10, 3.70 ERA) vs. Oakland LHP Ken Waldichuk (2-7, 5.92 ERA)
Tuesday, 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (13-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Oakland TBA:
Wednesday. 3:37 p.m. ET / 12:37 p.m. PT: Toronto LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.48 ERA) vs. Oakland LHP J.P. Sears (3-11, 4.60 ERA)
All games on Sportsnet or Sportsnet NOW.
Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (75-62) took two of three in Denver against the National League-worst Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
Toronto pulled out a win in the finale 7-5 with a two-run ninth in pouring rain. Whit Merrifield broke the tie with an RBI single and Ernie Clement followed with his third hit of the game to give Toronto some insurance.
The Blue Jays used five relievers after a 59-minute rain delay caused Kevin Gausman to exit following four innings, so the bullpen won’t be in great shape Monday.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also chipped in with his team-leading 21st home run of the season, while recent call-up Spencer Horwitz hit his first career MLB homer.
The Blue Jays are 1.5 games behind the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros for the second and third wild-card spots.
Latest on the A’s
The A’s (42-95) jumped percentage points ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the race to stay out of the MLB basement with a three-game sweep of the playing-out-the-string Los Angeles Angels over the weekend.
Tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh Sunday, the A’s exploded for six runs to take charge in what ended up a 10-6 victory.
Rookie first baseman Ryan Noda continued a strong season with a two-run homer. He also reached base three times.
Another first-year player. second baseman Zack Gelof, was named American League rookie of the month for August.
Whether these two youngsters ever experience more team success in Oakland is a major question mark with the team trying to move to Las Vegas.
Injury Report
Shortstop Bo Bichette (right quad strain), third baseman Matt Chapman (right middle finger sprain), catcher Danny Jansen (fractured right middle finger) and DH/first baseman Brandon Belt (lower back tightness) all missed Sunday’s game.
It sounds like Jansen could miss the rest of the regular season. Bichette and Chapman could return next homestand, while Belt is a day-to-day issue.
Buffalo Bisons fans were very familiar with the starting infield for Toronto on Sunday: Catcher Tyler Heineman, Horwitz at first, Davis Schneider at second, Clement at shortstop and Cavan Biggio at third.
Clement Revenge Series?
Clement was claimed off waivers by Oakland from Cleveland last September and finished the season playing six games for the A’s, going 1-for-18.
Oakland released Clement at spring training this year before he signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., he has given the Blue Jays a boost since being called up from triple-A Buffalo last week to help fill in for Bichette and Chapman.
Familiar Face
A’s infielder Aledmys Diaz played for the Blue Jays in 2018 after the St. Louis Cardinals traded him to Toronto in late 2017. The trade came after Diaz lost his starting shortstop job in St. Louis to brief Blue Jay Paul DeJong.
Diaz, 33, hit a career-best 18 homers in 2018 with Toronto before he was traded to the Houston Astros for right-hander Trent Thornton.
Season Series
The Blue Jays won two of three against Oakland in a June series at Rogers Centre. Berrios gave up two hits in six innings in a 7-3 win, while Bassitt had a no-decision (four runs in five innings) in a 5-4 loss. Toronto crushed Oakland 12-1 in the series finale, behind a two-hit effort by starter Yusei Kikuchi.
Scoreboard Watching
In good news for the Blue Jays, the Rangers host the Astros in a three-game series this week.
The wild card-leading Tampa Bay Rays are home to the Boston Red Sox, who are four games behind Toronto.
Up Next
After an off-day Thursday, the Blue Jays begin a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against the lowly Royals.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina‘s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.
Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.
Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.
They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
Alabama twin bill
Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.
The 6-foot-1 guard was named a second-team AP All-America after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He was the first Division I player in 31 years to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a single season while breaking the Alabama single-season record with 26 games with at least 20 points.
Sears worked out for NBA scouts during the offseason before deciding to return to Alabama, earning the Crimson Tide a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25.
“I saw the team that we had and I wanted to be a part of it, and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said.
Across the state at rival Auburn, Broome made a quick decision about his future, announcing in April that he would be back for a fifth season.
The 6-10 forward was a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55% from the floor. With an eye on an NBA future, Broome worked hard on his perimeter shooting during the offseason and his return earned Auburn a No. 11 preseason ranking.
“My main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship, to make it as far as I can in March Madness,” Broome said. “When a team shines, everyone shines individually.”
Along Tobacco Road
Like Sears, Davis has similar aspirations after opting to return for his fifth season at North Carolina.
The 6-foot guard was an AP All-American last season and the ACC player of the year after averaging 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Davis enters this year within reach of former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record.
“I know there’s more work to be done,” Davis said. “I know my jersey’s not going up until I leave. So there’s some more records to break and some more work to be done. I’m satisfied but I’m not satisfied, if that makes sense.”
Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players. He’s part of a stellar recruiting class that has No. 7 Duke eyeing a deep March run.
Big 12 duo
Dickinson was the biggest move in the transfer portal last spring after leaving Michigan for Kansas. The 7-2 center lived up to the billing, averaging 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds while leading the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Tournament.
Love’s decision to return for a second season at No. 10 Arizona has ratcheted up expectations in the desert for the Big 12 rival of Kansas.
The athletic 6-4 guard had a high-scoring career at North Carolina and continued it after transferring to Arizona last season. He was the Pac-12 player of the year and a third-team All-American after averaging 18 points per game and making 92 3-pointers.
Love tested the NBA waters this summer before deciding to return.
“He’s had a very successful college career thus far,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it.”
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of Cleveland‘s season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Sunday against Cincinnati, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Watson will soon undergo surgery, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the results of imaging tests taken on his leg.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year.
The 29-year-old Watson went down without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson collapsed to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
As he laid on the ground, there was cheering by some Cleveland fans, leading to some of Watson’s teammates criticizing that behavior during the team’s fifth straight loss.
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s divisive stay with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million in 2022. The deal came amid Watson being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions. He settled civil lawsuits in all but one of those cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games with the Browns and then made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
