LOS ANGELES (AP) — Daulton Varsho hit a tiebreaking two-run double in Toronto’s three-run 11th inning, sending the Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
Matt Chapman homered in the eighth for the Blue Jays, who earned their 11th win in 16 games.
Toronto loaded the bases in the 11th on third baseman Chris Taylor’s throwing error and Whit Merrifield’s single before Varsho’s low line drive to right was misplayed by Jason Heyward, who wasn’t charged with an error.
Varsho had been batting .128 (6 for 47) in his previous 16 games before arriving at Dodger Stadium, but he capped his first two-hit game since June 17 with the go-ahead RBIs.
“Obviously it’s been a tough month for me, but you’ve got to keep your head up, keep grinding and help this team win in any way possible,” Varsho said.
Varsho drills clutch double in extras, plates a pair to push the Blue Jays ahead.
Bo Bichette, who was supposed to have a day off, drew a bases-loaded walk from Phil Bickford (2-3) to make it 6-3.
“You know who they have in the bullpen, and luckily enough, I’ve faced a lot of these guys before,” said Varsho, who spent the previous three seasons with Arizona.
Jay Jackson (3-0) pitched two hitless innings of relief, retiring all of the Dodgers’ top hitters. All-Star closer Jordan Romano finished for his 28th save, tying Baltimore’s Félix Bautista for the AL lead.
“Seems like these guys are tested mentally every night,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Games are close. Games are tight. Hopefully that makes us a little more battle-tested down the road.”
Max Muncy homered in his third consecutive game for Los Angeles, hitting a 435-foot tying shot in the eighth inning. Heyward also homered for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who took their first back-to-back losses since July 2.
Blue Jays’ Chapman takes Dodgers’ Graterol deep for clutch solo homer
After Chapman put the Blue Jays ahead 3-2 with his first homer since July 6, Muncy tied it with a drive off Trevor Richards for his 25th homer of the season. The slugger, who also had an early RBI single, has eight hits, four homers and 13 RBIs in his last five games.
The Dodgers loaded the bases later in the eighth, but pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas flied out.
Michael Grove yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning for the Dodgers. Grove is one of three rookies currently in LA’s injury-plagued rotation with the trade deadline looming.
Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged his team urgently needs starting pitching, even with Clayton Kershaw likely returning in August. Los Angeles’ starters entered Monday ranked 29th in the majors with a 6.12 ERA since Kershaw’s last start in late June.
“Given the experience and the health of the starters, this is probably as forefront of mind, just kind of the (overall) pitching in general, as it’s been in my tenure here,” Roberts said.
Newly acquired Genesis Cabrera sets down Heyward for first Blue Jays punchout
José Berríos yielded five hits and four walks over five innings for Toronto.
Heyward connected in the fourth for his 10th homer with Los Angeles after hitting only nine for the Cubs in the previous two seasons combined.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. delivered a tying RBI single in Toronto’s two-run fifth.
CONFLICTED DEWEY
Drew Doughty threw out the first pitch on L.A. Kings Night in a particularly appropriate matchup for the star defenceman. The Ontario native is a longtime fan of the Blue Jays, whose cap he wears frequently around town, but he also regularly attends Dodgers games.
What does the future hold for Hyun-Jin Ryu after joining the Blue Jays in Los Angeles?
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: LHP Hyun Jin Ryu joined the Jays in Los Angeles as his return from Tommy John surgery nears. Ryu spent seven years with the Dodgers before joining Toronto on a four-year, $80 million contract that ends this season. He might throw a simulated game before he returns to the major league mound.
Blue Jays’ Schneider elated with unlikely heroics from Jay Jackson and slumping Varsho
Dodgers: All-Star slugger J.D. Martinez missed his second straight game with hamstring tightness. Roberts said Martinez will start Tuesday. … Noah Syndergaard threw at Dodger Stadium between starts in his rehab assignment. He has been out since June 7, ostensibly with a blister, after a series of terrible starts. Roberts said that after Syndergaard makes his third appearance for triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, “that’s when the rubber meets the road and we’ll have to make a decision.”
UP NEXT
Julio Urías (7-6, 5.02 ERA) makes his first start for the Dodgers since yielding a career-high eight runs in Baltimore last week. He faces Toronto’s Chris Bassitt (10-5, 3.92), who is 3-0 with a 3.68 ERA in his last seven starts.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
