TORONTO — For the second time in five days, the homeless Toronto Blue Jays watched as a stadium plan fell apart in front of their eyes Wednesday when Pennsylvania state health authorities put the kibosh on a deal between the club and the Pittsburgh Pirates to play out of PNC Park.
Tick, tock … the clock on the Blue Jays’ home opener, scheduled for July 29, is down to just seven days.
Of the known options we reported Monday, there are three left: Camden Yards in Baltimore, Sahlen Field in Buffalo, or a trek back down to the COVID-19 hotbed of Florida to play out of their spring training complex in Dunedin.
A fourth option of the Jays barnstorming and playing as the home team in that particular opponent’s stadium was floated Wednesday, but the organization — and the players would have all the say in this, as they did over the weekend when the Jays’ front office went seeking an MLB ballpark — would have to weigh having their own setup in Buffalo versus a 66-day road trip and no home base for the 30 games it will bat last in front of zero fans.
The Pittsburgh plan fell apart for the exact same reasons the Toronto plan did Saturday when the Canadian federal government decided there was too much risk to public health to allow the Jays to fly south to places like Tampa and Miami, as well as those teams flying north, Rogers Centre/hotel quarantine bubble aside.
That’s on Major League Baseball’s plan, one that includes lots of testing, but no bubble, lots of travel, and many, many ways you can envision things going sideways as the U.S. attempts to rein in a pandemic that even has the U.S. President warning it will get worse, a stark departure from his usual messaging.
The deal with the Pirates, an organization ready, willing and on record wanting to help the Jays, was signed off on by both clubs, and players inside the hotel in Boston on Wednesday thought they were going to be calling PNC Park home.
They also thought next week’s home-and-home series at Nationals Park in Washington was now going to be a home-and-“home” with the Jays batting last in the final two games of the four pack.
That’s how far down the road this had gone, again, and the Jays were confident it would get final approval, again.
Then the Pennsylvania Department of Health weighed in late in the afternoon.
“In recent weeks, we have seen a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement. “To add travelers to this region for any reason, including for professional sports events, risks residents, visitors and members of both teams. We know that this virus does not discriminate, and can even make professional athletes very sick. We are committed to protecting the health and well-being of all Pennsylvanians.”
End of story.
Now it’s on to the next option, likely a push to convince Maryland that the extra travellers will pose no risk to public health and a simultaneous negotiation with the Baltimore Orioles to convince them that sharing a facility in a time of social distancing is a smart plan.
For that plan to work, scheduling conflicts for two series, July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 14-16, would have to be resolved, but that’s a relatively minor problem that could be solved with some flexibility, likely the Jays playing games as the home team in Washington, Philadelphia and Tampa.
“As opposed to a minor-league stadium, just staying on the road and being the home team at an away ballpark is something we have to consider,” Jays GM Ross Atkins said Monday. “And to hear our players talk about it, they say, ‘Hey, that wouldn’t be so bad.’”
If not, it could be back to Buffalo, which would not make Jays players happy.
That would also be after not exactly shining positive light on Sahlen Field, with Jays players and management essentially scoffing at a venue generally considered one of the better Triple-A facilities out there.
There are two main issues with their Triple-A affiliate’s ballpark.
The first is the lighting has to be upgraded to comply with MLB requirements.
The second is the amenities are both far from big-league ready and the confines are tight, something players like Randal Grichuk have openly panned this week.
The Jays had an operations team in Buffalo this week, and president Mark Shapiro said Saturday that he’s confident it could be a viable alternative if needed.
“There’s a lot that we have to do and some of it might get done after we start playing, but I’m confident that Buffalo is a viable alternative and that with the amount of resources that we would marshal if we focused solely on Buffalo that we could make it what it needs to be for us in time to play games,” Shapiro said.
Meanwhile, manager Charlie Montoyo has a 30-man roster to set ahead of Thursday’s deadline and a trip to Tampa to prepare for ahead of Friday’s opening day clash with Charlie Morton and the Rays.
Montoyo is trying to keep his group focused on the task at home, not their unenviable situation.
“You have no control over what’s going on, just play the game, play to win and keep going,” manager Charlie Montoyo said of his message to the players Wednesday. “We’ll see where we’re going to play. Don’t worry about the stuff you can’t control.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
