Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman hits a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning. The Blue Jays won 4-1 in Toronto on July 28, 2023.The Canadian Press
It’s only late July but a playoff-like atmosphere has arrived at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
Matt Chapman and Danny Jansen hit solo home runs in the second and third innings to take the lead as the Blue Jays held off the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 on Friday. The win snapped L.A.’s four-game win streak and gave Toronto a critical win in the American League’s post-season hunt.
“We’re fighting every day for a playoff spot,” said Chapman. “So I think with that in the back of our heads and just continuing to play as a team and play with each other, things are just rolling pretty good right now.”
Whit Merrifield went 3 for 4, including a home run, as the Blue Jays (58-46) won for the 13th time in 19 games, including four of their last five. Bo Bichette had an RBI double to score Merrifield in the sixth.
Toronto sits five games back of the division-leading Baltimore Orioles in the American League East and holds the third and final AL wild-card berth. The Angels are four games back of that wild-card spot with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox between them and the Blue Jays.
“It’s not quite September yet,” said Merrifield, who hit leadoff for Toronto instead of George Springer. He was bumped down to fifth in the batting order. “Where we are in the standings, the games aren’t quite as dramatic as they will be later on in the year.
“But still important games against good teams that are going to be in the race.”
Kevin Gausman (8-5) was superb for the Blue Jays over six-plus innings, adding nine strikeouts to his American League-leading total of 171. He allowed a run on five hits and three walks.
Relievers Erik Swanson, Tim Mayza, Jordan Romano of Markham, Ont., and Yimi Garcia preserved Gausman’s win, with Garcia picking up his third save.
Superstar Shohei Ohtani’s first inning home run was all the offence Los Angeles (54-50) could muster. Lucas Giolito (6-7) pitched 5 1/3 innings in his Angels debut, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Jose Soriano and Jacob Webb came out of L.A.’s bullpen.
Giolito was traded to Los Angeles from the Chicago White Sox along with fellow right-handed pitcher Reynaldo Lopez on Wednesday.
“We’re in the second half of the year, August is right around the corner,” said Chapman. “Teams are starting to make moves, teams are making pushes, so it’s pretty obvious what’s in front of us.”
Ohtani took the first pitch he saw deep to right field to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead in the first inning. His 39th home run of the season – best in Major League Baseball – had an exit velocity of 103.5 m.p.h.
“Looking back, obviously, it was way too good a pitch,” said Gausman. “I felt like we did a good job after that of bouncing back and mixing some pitches but, I mean, he’s been an MVP for a reason.”
After the home run, TV broadcasts showed Chapman apparently confronting Schneider about not pitching around Ohtani.
“That’s just everybody being competitive, wanting to win baseball games,” said Chapman of the exchange. “Just kind of heat of the moment thing and I’ll keep that between me and my teammates and the coaches.”
Chapman replied for Toronto in the second, sailing his 14th homer of the season into the Rogers Centre stands, delighting the sold-out crowd of 42,106.
Jansen gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the game the next inning, putting the ball just over the outfield railing. The veteran catcher has 14 home runs this year, one off of his career best in 2022. It also added to his career-best total of 46 runs batted in.
Merrifield led off the sixth with a single, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Angels catcher Matt Thaiss. Bichette then came to the plate and bounced a double into the outfield to score Merrifield for a 3-1 Toronto lead.
Merrifield continued to thrive in the leadoff position in the seventh, hitting his eighth home run of the season for a 4-1 lead.
Romano came on in the ninth inning but after inducing a flyout from Hunter Renfroe got into some trouble. He gave up singles to Trey Cabbage and Eduardo Escobar and then a walk to pinch-hitter Luis Rengifo loaded the bases.
That should have brought Ohtani to the plate one last time, but cramping in both of his calves forced Angels manager Phil Nevin to have Michael Stefanic pinch hit.
Romano got a called strikeout on Stefanic that incensed Nevin but the Blue Jays closer was clearly labouring after the pitch. Romano left the game with lower back discomfort and Schneider brought on Garcia for the final out.
Nevin confronted home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook as he passed through the visitor’s dugout after the game with L.A. players and even Toronto police having to keep the two separated.
Going Green
Reliever Chad Green will throw in a single-A game in Dunedin, Fla., on Saturday. He’s returning from Tommy John surgery that he had while still a member of the New York Yankees last season. He signed with Toronto as a free agent in the off-season.
Up next
Alek Manoah (2-8) gets the start in Saturday’s matinee for Toronto.
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.
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