Sports

Yankees and Red Sox set to renew rivalry in wildcard clash

Published

3 years ago

October 3, 2021

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox scored dramatic late inning wins to bring the Major League Baseball regular season to an enthralling end on Sunday, setting up a wildcard showdown between the long-time rivals.

The final day of a 162-game, six-month marathon began with four teams — the Yankees, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners — all in contention for two American League wildcards and when the dust settled it was two of baseball’s most storied clubs still standing.

The Yankees left it about as late as they possibly could to clinch their place as Aaron Judge swatted a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth for a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It’s been a crazy, wild year,” said New York manager Aaron Boone after the Yankees reached the postseason for the 23rd time in 27 years. “Fitting that it would come down to the last day to get in.

“We’re ready to take our shot.”

It was also a nailbiter in the U.S. capitol, where the Red Sox were trailing the Washington Nationals 5-1 after five innings then rallied for six unanswered runs.

Rafael Devers broke open a 5-5 tie in the top of the ninth with his second homer of the day, a one-out, two-run shot to deep centre field.

The Red Sox will now host the Yankees in the wildcard game on Tuesday at Fenway Park with the winner moving on to the Divisional Series against the AL East champion Rays.

Toronto and Seattle went into the day needing a win combined with a New York or Boston loss to force a tiebreaker and extend their seasons.

The Blue Jays did what they had to do, hammering the Baltimore Orioles 12-4 while the Mariners season finished with a disappointing 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Angels Shohei Ohtani, the hot favourite for American League most valuable player honours, launched a leadoff homer, his 46th of the season, to put the Mariners in a hole they would never climb out of.

After slamming five home runs in a 10-1 rout of the Orioles on Saturday, the Blue Jays’ bats were booming again on Sunday banging out four homers, including a third inning grand slam from George Springer and a two-run shot from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his 48th of season.

Over in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, Major League Baseball’s two top teams, started play with top spot in the West division up for grabs.

Both Los Angeles and San Francisco would finish the campaign with impressive wins — the Giants beating the San Diego Padres 11-4 while the Dodgers thumped Milwaukee 10-3.

But top spot in the West goes to the Giants with a record of 106-55 while the 105-56 Dodgers settled for an NL wildcard and a Wednesday meeting with the St. Louis Cardinals.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Kim Coghill)

Sports

Edler to sign one-day contract to retire as a Vancouver Canuck

Published

6 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Sports

Sixth-ranked Canadian women to face World Cup champion Spain in October friendly

Published

13 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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

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Sports

Maple Leafs announce Oreo as new helmet sponsor for upcoming NHL season

Published

16 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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