Vladimir Guerrero Jr. watches the Boston Red Sox play the Washington Nationals on the big screen at the Rogers Centre, after the Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles, on Oct. 3.
Mark Blinch/Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays won their final game of the regular season on Sunday amid a heart-thumping wild-card race, but it wasn’t enough to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Four teams were fighting for two spots in Tuesday’s American League wild-card game – right down to the last chaotic day of Major League Baseball’s regular season. The Blue Jays clobbered the Baltimore Orioles 12-4 to finish with a 91-71 record, but they also needed some luck from the out-of-town scoreboard to extend their season, and they didn’t get it.
The Blue Jays were one game back of both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, so in addition to their own victory, they needed one of those two teams to lose, which would have forced a Monday tiebreaker game.
Instead the Yankees and Red Sox both won on Sunday and finished 92-70 – one agonizing victory better than the Jays – cementing their spots in the wild card without any need for a tiebreaker.
“A 91-win season is still something to be unbelievably proud of,” said Jays star outfielder George Springer. “I think it just shows, you know, how hard this division is, how hard the American League is.”
The Jays smashed the ball all over the park. They got five solid innings from starter Hyun-Jin Ryu. But even as this feel-good win was unfolding inside Rogers Centre, the air was thick with nervous tension.
The first inning looked like an extension of batting practice, as the Jays posted five hits and scored three runs – on a homer from Springer, and a pair of run-scoring singles by Teoscar Hernandez and Santiago Espinal.
The Jays ran Baltimore starter Bruce Zimmerman off the mound before the inning was over.
The runs just kept coming. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 48th home run of the season – a two-run rocket. Springer belted his second homer of the day. Hernandez brought in two more runs with his rifle into centre. Marcus Semien belted his 45th bomb of the year.
While the Jays’ bats were stealing the show, Ryu quietly went about his business. The lefty from South Korea allowed two runs on six hits in five efficient innings while earning the win. He was dinged in the leg by a line drive, but gutted through it.
This team – with Cy Young Award front-runner Ricky Ray, MVP candidate Guerrero and stars such as Springer and Bo Bichette – looked like a playoff team, and would have made a mighty intriguing one.
After the final out of the Jays game Sunday, the players spilled into Toronto’s clubhouse to watch the final minutes of the other games. Fans stuck around to watch on the video board. They learned the Yankees topped the Tampa Rays in a dramatic 1-0 walk-off win. The Red Sox earned a thrilling 7-5 come-from-behind win over the Washington Nationals.
Soon disappointment filled the Rogers Centre. It quieted and emptied.
After the game, on their postgame Zoom interviews, many Jays wondered what might have been had they had the use of their home stadium for the whole season, rather than having to move their base from Dunedin to Buffalo then Toronto because of the pandemic. Many of those games away from home had more fans of the visiting team in the stands than Jays fans. They stressed how proud they were to have overcome that.
“There was a lot of losses early on that felt they were tough to take, you know, losing with fans cheering against you at home, stuff like that,” Bichette said. “Sometimes we just have more on our minds than we should have had but like I said, no excuses – we had opportunities.”
Manager Charlie Montoyo raved about how hot his team got in September, and how he knew it would get hot. He stressed how difficult it had been to uproot families and change living arrangements as they moved around home stadiums. Many times, he repeated the same phrase.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
