Leafs show ‘fight’ in OT loss, as Matthews returns
-
Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
BOSTON — Auston Matthews‘ return to the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ lineup wasn’t enough to lift the road team Saturday in Game 7 of its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series vs. the Boston Bruins.
The Maple Leafs fell 2-1 in overtime as the Bruins advanced to a second-round series that begins on Monday. It was the Maple Leafs’ sixth consecutive defeat in a Game 7, and their fourth straight to Boston.
Matthews was a late addition for Toronto’s lineup after being absent from the third period of Game 4 all the way through Game 6. He had been battling both an illness — which he played through in Game 3 — and an undisclosed injury. Toronto’s top forward didn’t want to delve into specifics directly after the loss, however.
“I’m not going to go into that tonight,” Matthews said. “I think maybe in the next couple days. We’ll just process this [first]. It was really hard to watch those two games [when I was out]. Just really proud of the guys to fight and battle back and give ourselves a chance.”
Matthews said he didn’t know until Saturday morning that he’d receive clearance from the Maple Leafs’ medical staff to play, and said his team, ultimately, gave all it could to try to get past the Bruins one final time.
“They’re always a tough opponent,” Matthews said. “They’re a well-put-together team. But I thought we were right there with them. Tonight was a tight game. It’s tough, could have gone either way.”
Matthews finished the night with one assist in 17:35 of ice time, as Toronto tried to pull off a rally from a 3-1 series deficit.
The two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 in Game 7 until midway through the third period, when William Nylander beat Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Hampus Lindholm responded just 80 seconds later with an equalizer that would eventually take the game to overtime.
David Pastrnak needed less than two minutes in the extra frame to flummox Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov and send Boston on to face Florida in the second round.
Samsonov, who had been replaced by Joseph Woll in the third period of Game 4 before the latter then backstopped Toronto to consecutive wins, was a surprise starter on Saturday. Woll was sensational in both outings, posting a .964 save percentage and a 0.86 goals-against average in the series, but he suffered an injury that kept him from Game 7.
“Obviously, we didn’t practice yesterday, we traveled, and it wasn’t any better, in fact it was a little bit worse yesterday,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said of the injury. “We had told Samsonov he had to stay ready last night, there was a chance that Joe wouldn’t be able to go, but Joe was going to do everything he could to try to be ready. The medical team was going to continue to work with him to get him ready, and that’s the process they went through this morning.
“It wasn’t until this afternoon that it was determined that Joseph wouldn’t be available.”
Samsonov came through with his best outing of the playoffs in a 29-save performance, but that couldn’t cover up for Toronto’s continued inability to produce offense. The Leafs scored just 12 goals total in seven games, which was a hurdle that helped determine their fate.
Before Matthews was forced out due to injury, it was Nylander who missed the first three games of the series with what he confirmed was a migraine issue. Nylander said on Saturday that at times the headaches would be so intense he couldn’t see. Nylander said the Leafs’ doctors thought the symptoms might be concussion related and held him out until he felt better.
“The situation is very complicated. It’s hard to explain what it is,” Nylander said. “It’s hard to play [through that].”
Nylander also defended Toronto’s nucleus of players, which includes himself, Matthews and Mitch Marner. Combined they scored five goals and 10 points in the first-round series that once again ended in disappointment.
“Look, I don’t think there’s an issue with the core,” Nylander said. “I think we were right there all series. We battled hard.”
Keefe concurred.
“When teams play the Leafs, they set up the game for the Leafs to beat themselves,” he said. “I thought we did that in Game 3 and 4, we beat ourselves. We’ve been trying to break through for a long time. Any answer [now] is going to fall on deaf ears, and I get that. The core isn’t different, but the feeling around the team was different and played different. I thought we showed signs in this series of a team that could win.”
Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.
Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.
If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.
Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.
“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”
Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.
“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”
Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.
The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.
“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”
The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.
Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.
Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.
The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”
Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.
San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.
-
Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Former White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle was forever immortalized inside Rate Field as the team unveiled a statue in his honor Friday.
Buehrle, 46, played 16 years in the majors, including the first 12 with the White Sox, who he helped win a World Series in 2005. He won 214 games and pitched 200 innings or more in 14 consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2014.
“I can’t put it into words,” Buehrle said after the unveiling. “You don’t play the game for any of this. You never think of number retirements or statues. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make sense.”
The statue is an action shot of him throwing a pitch.
His wife and kids were in attendance and helped pull off the cover to unveil the statue while his 2005 teammates looked on. The event kicked off a weekend reunion for the World Series team which went 11-1 in the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in four games to take home the title.
Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005.
“Well-deserved,” former right fielder Jermaine Dye said of the statue. “Great teammate. Great leader. Definitely someone you want on a ballclub to lead a pitching staff.”
The White Sox rotation — led by Buehrle — threw four complete games in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2005, missing a fifth complete game by two-thirds of an inning. It’s an unheard of accomplishment in today’s game since starters infrequently go the distance.
Besides being an innings-eater on the mound, Buehrle was a fast worker — a favorite trait of his catcher, A.J Pierzynski. And he wasn’t someone who threw a lot of different pitches. He caught it and threw it without much input from behind the plate.
“He was fast,” Pierzynski said. “We had Jermaine Dye calling pitches from right field some games. We did come crazy things you wouldn’t recommend to people to do nowadays.”
Buehrle is a notoriously low-key guy who hates the spotlight but even he was moved by the team’s decision to honor him with a statue, which joins former slugger Harold Baines in the right-field concourse.
“I joked with him when I saw him,” Dye said. “I told him ‘Man it takes you getting a statue to get you out of the house.'”
Buehrle added: “I was literally nervous as can be today. This is not my comfort zone but by no means am I taking it lightly. This is incredible.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike