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Soaring Blue Jays add to Yankees’ misery, extend win streak to four – Sportsnet.ca

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NEW YORK — In recent days the Toronto Blue Jays have described the switch in their play over the past few games after an extended skid in different ways. John Schneider used the word urgent. Kevin Gausman echoed that and said there was a realization of where they are and what’s at stake. Teoscar Hernandez sees the team playing together more effectively. Ross Stripling called it an understanding that they can’t simply out-talent other clubs.

However it’s framed, what’s been clear is that the Blue Jays have been far more in control of the play during what’s now a four-game winning streak after Saturday’s 5-2 win over the sliding New York Yankees than they were during the 3-9 stretch that preceded it.

“It’s a real thing,” Schneider said before his team triumphed in the on-paper mismatch between Mitch White and Gerrit Cole. “If you’re dictating the pace of the game on either end it just allows you to do things you’re more comfortable with. It allows guys to come in out of the bullpen at the right time.

“If you can score early, if you can get good starting pitching, things usually fall into place the way you have them planned.”

By and large that’s happened in recent days, although Saturday’s victory definitely featured a healthy dose of can’t-predict-ball, too.

Through the first four innings, Cole didn’t allow a hit and faced only two batters over the minimum, while White was in constant traffic, forced to navigate around seven hits and constant pressure.

That might have been expected but the Yankees, now 3-14 in their last 17 games, managed just one run despite the disparity in offence and the Blue Jays’ relentlessness at the plate broke through in the fifth.

Santiago Espinal lined a double off the left-field wall to break up Cole’s no-hit bid and Danny Jansen then shrunk his zone to work a critical four-pitch walk. Jackie Bradley Jr., followed with his biggest moment with the Blue Jays so far by lining a two-run double into the right-field corner for a 2-1 lead.

“Huge at-bats by both of those guys,” said Bradley. “Danny kind of wore him down a little bit, mound visit and I knew he wanted to get ahead early. I swung at the first pitch my first at bat so I wanted to see a pitch and then from there I wanted to be aggressive with my pitch, get something I can handle, and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

Pivotally, they kept the heat on, with some help from the BABIP gods, as Raimel Tapia and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., both reached on infield singles to load the bases for Alejandro Kirk, who on the sixth pitch of the at-bat pummelled a 99.6 m.p.h. fastball to left centre for a two-run double.

Guerrero, only a few feet behind Tapia who had to hold at second in case the ball was caught, was thrown out at the plate on the plate a hair after the speedy outfielder slid in safely.

By the time the inning was over, the Blue Jays had the game firmly in their grasp, with a crowd of 45,538 restless and booing their ace right-hander. One of them stood up and extended his middle finger at the Yankees dugout while shouting many words starting with the letter ‘f.’

Tough town.

“Guys worked the count,” said Bradley. “We were able to get some good swings. Obviously, Gerrit’s a really tough competitor, a very good pitcher and I felt like we were able to put together some good at-bats on him towards the middle of the game and made them count.”

The Yankees, of course, did not and the Blue Jays knew such misery at the beginning of this week, underlining how quickly things can turn.

That’s why Yankees manager Aaron Boone was slamming the table in his post-game availability afterwards, saying, “we’ve got to play better, period, and the great thing is it’s right in front of us. It’s right here. And we can fix it.”

Cole criticized himself for letting a good start – helped by Aaron Judge’s leaping catch by the right-field wall on a Bichette drive, likely stealing a home run – slip away by not attacking Jansen and failing to field the Guerrero grounder.

“When you’re going well, sometimes you cover those mistakes,” he said, “and when you’re not you just have to be crisp.”

Over the past four games the Blue Jays have been just that, the completeness of their play changing the tide.

Stripling’s return from the injured list with six perfect innings Wednesday along with a crucial Bo Bichette barehanded play on a Ryan Mountcastle infield ball helped set the stage for a breakthrough and that level of attention to detail has followed since.

“You started to hear guys say like, look, we’ve got to … like we got to do the little things and we need to shore up the defence, we need to fill up the strike zone, the basic things, which sounds so corny, but we’ve got to do it,” said Stripling. “You can’t show up and expect Vladdy to hit a three-run homer every night or for Gausman to go seven shutty every night. Baseball isn’t going to work that way. You need everyone on board with the process — once again, super corny — but that’s what it takes to win at this level, down a stretch in a playoff race. You started to see that the last couple days. That’s what good teams do and you’re starting to see that.”

White, making his first start since displacing Yusei Kikuchi in the rotation, did a strong job of limiting damage, helped by five strikeouts. After the Blue Jays took the lead, Adam Cimber — the first of five relievers — struck out Aaron Judge leading off the bottom half to start a three-up, three-out shutdown frame.

“Obviously not ideal to have all that action going on the bases, but made pitches when we had to,” White said of his four-inning, seven-hit, one-run outing. “In that situation with the way Gaus pitched the other night, and (Jose Berrios) too, there’s a fresh ‘pen, so it’s just my job to keep those first few innings as clean as possible, never give in and we got to the ‘pen.”

David Phelps and Anthony Bass each followed with a scoreless inning and, after Zach Pop allowed a Gleyber Torres solo shot in the eighth and Matt Chapman responded with one of his own in the ninth, Yimi Garcia — with Jordan Romano down after back-to-back days — closed out the ninth.

“They know they’re really good,” Schneider said of his team. “The Chappy homer was awesome in the ninth inning to kind of just say, ‘OK, yeah, we’re here.’ So they’re not going to back down from anybody.”

Under the circumstances, the Blue Jays couldn’t have mapped out the game any better, seizing control and then dictating the outcome.

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Armstrong scores, surging Vancouver Whitecaps beat slumping San Jose Earthquakes 2-0

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VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.

“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”

With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.

Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.

Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.

“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”

Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.

Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.

Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.

He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.

“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.

“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”

Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.

Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.

Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.

Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.

The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.

San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.

Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.

First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.

“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.

“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”

NOTES

Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.

UP NEXT

The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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Liverpool ‘not good enough’ says Arne Slot after shock loss against Nottingham Forest

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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.

A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.

“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.

“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”

Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.

But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.

Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.

United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.

Unstoppable Haaland

Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.

The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.

Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.

“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.

Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.

He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.

He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.

Rashford snaps run

Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.

Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.

Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.

Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.

“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.

De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.

It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.

Villa comeback

After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.

Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.

Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.

Late drama

Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.

Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.

But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.

Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.

West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

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