Based on the schedule, the Toronto Blue Jays need to make a serious playoff push over the next few weeks.
The inconsistent Blue Jays begin a stretch of five series in a row against teams with losing records this weekend, when they entertain the Cleveland Guardians at Rogers Centre.
After this stretch, it’s the American League West-leading Texas Rangers followed by five series against AL East foes — and we all know intradivision play has been a challenge for Toronto this season — to finish the season.
Of course, the Blue Jays, whose hitting concerns are well documented, aren’t guaranteed to win just because they have the edge on paper — see the season series section below.
Here is a look at this Blue Jays-Guardians series.
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 7:07 p.m. ET / 4:07 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (12-6, 3.92 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Tanner Bibee (9-3, 3.01 ERA)
Saturday, 3:07 p.m. ET / 12:07 p.m. PT: Toronto LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (2-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (6-6, 3.31 ERA)
Sunday, 1:37 p.m. ET / 10:37 a.m. PT: Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (9-4, 3.52 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Noah Syndergaard (2-6, 6.42 ERA)
All games on Sportsnet and SN NOW.
Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (70-58) completed their season series against the AL-leading Baltimore Orioles with a bad record of 3-10 after losing their final two games of a series at Camden Yards.
MLB Highlights: Orioles 5, Blue Jays 3
Pretty much needing a sweep to have a shot at making a late run at the AL East, the Blue Jays are now a whopping 9.5 games behind the Orioles.
Thursday night’s finale, which started 70 minutes late because of rain, saw the Orioles score two in the fourth to tie it at 2-2 before cashing in three more runs on Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios in the next inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. Baltimore ended up winning, 5-3.
Brandon Belt is holding the hot bat for Toronto, homering twice in the series after putting two over the fence in the previous series finale against Cincinnati.
The Blue Jays are now 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, who are tied for second in the wild-card race.
Latest on the Guardians
The Guardians (60-68) had a long, unsuccessful day at home on Thursday, losing 6-1 in the completion of a suspended game (the first two innings were played Wednesday) against the Los Angeles Dodgers before falling 9-3 to the same team in the regularly scheduled game.
MLB Highlights: Dodgers 9, Guardians 3
The Thursday sweep gave the Dodgers a 2-1 series win over a Guardians team that was a seller at the trade deadline despite being in a close race at the time with the Minnesota Twins in the weak AL Central.
The roster subtractions, not surprisingly, haven’t helped. The Guardians are 7-14 in August and have fallen six games behind Minnesota.
Injuries, especially to their starting rotation, have not made things easy for the Guardians, who have ran out four rookies to start for much of the year.
One of those newcomers, Bibee, is in the running for the AL rookie of the year award, though he likely won’t top Orioles slugger Gunnar Henderson.
The young arms have held up relatively well. Offence has been the bigger problem for the Guardians, who are 27th in the 30-team MLB in OPS.
Vlad’s Troubling Power Numbers
Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting over .300 the past 15 games, which is good.
What’s not so good is his lack of power.
Guerrero Jr.’s power struggle hinders Blue Jays again as they drop series finale to Orioles
The Home Run Derby champ has just one homer in August — and that came way back on Aug. 6 — to go with seven RBIs.
With just 18 home runs this year, Guerrero Jr. needs 14 to match last year’s total. He is well back of his career-high 48 in 2021.
Pitching Powerhouses
Despite all the injuries, the Guardians (60-68) have the fourth-best team ERA in baseball at 3.80. The Blue Jays lead the way at 3.68.
Canadian Corner
Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, a native of Mississauga, Ont., has had two multi-hit games in his past three outings.
His older brother Josh, Cleveland’s first baseman, has been sidelined with an oblique sprain.
Fellow Canadian Cal Quantrill, a right-hander from Port Hope, Ont., has been out with right shoulder inflammation. He’s scheduled to make a rehab start at triple-A Columbus on Saturday.
Last Call for Francona?
Long-time Guardians manager Terry Francona hinted at retirement after the season this week, meaning this could be his final series in Toronto.
Francona, 64, has scheduled shoulder replacement surgery and plans on having a pair of hernia operations at the end of this season.
MLB Highlights: Dodgers 6, Guardians 1
Francona, who started his playing career with the Montreal Expos, began managing the Guardians in 2013. Previously, he was the manager for the Boston Red Sox for eight years, winning two World Series.
Season Series
The Blue Jays managed to score all of seven runs in four games in Cleveland early this month, yet still managed to split the series.
Kevin Gausman was a winner in a 1-0 shutout victory, while Kikuchi was a loser in a 1-0 defeat during which Bibee went seven shutout innings.
Syndergaard, a 2010 Blue Jays draft pick, held Toronto to one run in 5.2 innings in a 4-3 win in the series finale.
Out Of Town
The teams directly ahead of the Blue Jays in the wild-card race play teams well out of the playoff picture this weekend.
The Mariners entertain the Kansas City Royals, while the Astros are in Detroit to face the Tigers.
The Red Sox, who are two games behind Toronto, host the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Up Next
The Washington Nationals, tied for last in the NL East, are at Rogers Centre for three games starting Monday.
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.
