TORONTO — Jose Berrios allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings while Toronto batters belted four homer runs as the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletic 10-8 on Saturday.
It was the second straight win over Oakland for Toronto. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Breyvic Valera, Danny Jansen and Teoscar Hernandez all homered for the Blue Jays.
Oakland pulled to within 4-3 with two runs in the seventh but Hernandez belted a three-run homer in Toronto’s half of the inning. It was his 24th of the season and No. 100 of his career.
Gurriel added a bases-loaded clearing double in the eighth.
Oakland’s Mark Canha had a three-run homer in the ninth off Toronto reliever Joakim Soria before Sean Murphy added a two-run shot two batters later. After Soria gave up a walk and three hits to begin the final inning, closer Jordan Romano was summoned from the bullpen.
But he gave up the homer to Murphy before settling down to record the final three outs.
The Blue Jays (72-62) and Athletics (74-62) began the day five and three games, respectively, behind the Boston Red Sox in the battle for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
Berrios (10-7), who had seven strikeouts, took a no-hitter and 4-0 lead into the fifth. But Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman led off with his 24th of the year to straightaway centre.
The Toronto starter allowed another two runs in the sixth.
Matt Olson led off with a double off the top of the wall in centre field. Berrios struck out the next two batters, but Canha singled to left to score Olson and knock Berrios out of the ball game.
Oakland’s Chad Pinder’s single under the glove of Blue Jays second baseman Marcus Semien scored Canha, who advanced to second on the throw home from Gurriel in his attempt to get Olson.
The only other Berrios blemish was he hit Tony Kemp in the first. But Kemp was erased on his steal attempt by Jansen.
The bad blood between the teams continued from the series opener. Toronto starter Alek Manoah plunked Starling Marte in the head Friday.
Marte was kept out of the Athletics lineup Saturday. Not only was Kemp drilled, so was Hernandez in the fifth and Bo Bichette was hit in the head in the eighth.
Berrios made his seventh start since arriving in Toronto in a trade with the Minnesota Twins on July 30. He became the fourth Blue Jays starter to hit double-digits in wins, joining Hyun Jin Ryu (12), Robbie Ray (10) and Steven Matz (10).
In Friday’s opener, Hernandez, Gurriel and Semien went deep as Toronto overcame a six-run deficit to win 11-10. Gurriel tied the game in the eighth with a grand slam, and Semien hit a three-run walk-off blast in the ninth.
On Saturday, before a sellout of 19,947 fans at Rogers Centre, Gurriel drilled a solo shot to left field in the second. Jansen, who also had two doubles, made it 2-0 with a homer to left in the third.
Toronto third baseman Breyvic Valera belted his first of the year, a two-run shot, in the fourth.
The Blue Jays enjoyed a 15-hit attack. Each Toronto batter checked in with at least a hit, including slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who extended his hit streak to 12 games with an infield hit in the eighth.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2021.
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.
