Connect with us

Published

on

TORONTO — Rookie Trey Yesavage set a Blue Jays postseason record by striking out 11 in 5 1/3 no-hit innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the first postseason grand slam in team history and Toronto beat the New York Yankees 13-7 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS.

Daulton Varsho had two home runs among his four extra base hits, and Ernie Clement and George Springer also both homered as Toronto reached double figures in hits (15) and runs for the second straight game.

The Blue Jays had three home runs among their 14 hits Saturday in a 10-1 victory. They have as many home runs (eight) as strikeouts (seven) through two games.

Varsho went 4 for 5 with two doubles, scored four runs and drove in four. Guerrero went 3 for 5 and scored twice.

Cody Bellinger homered and drove in three runs and Ben Rice had two hits and two RBIs in a five-run seventh but Toronto won for the eighth time in nine home meetings with New York. The Blue Jays went 2-4 in six games at Yankee Stadium, where the series shifts for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Yesavage (1-0) was selected by Toronto with the No. 20 pick last year in the amateur draft. The 22-year-old right-hander rose through four minor league levels this season before joining the Blue Jays and going 1-0 in three September starts.

Yesavage needed fewer than four innings to beat Toronto’s previous record for postseason strikeouts, eight, held by Dave Steib, David Price (twice) and Juan Guzman.

“It’s obviously a big stage,” Toronto manager John Schneider told FOX during his in-game interview. “[A] 22-year old kid, he’s throwing strikes and really commanding everything really well.”

Known for his elite split-finger fastball, Yesavage set a Blue Jays record by striking out nine Rays batters in his Sept. 15 debut. Eight of his 11 strikeouts Sunday came on the splitter. The other three came on fastballs that reached 96 mph.

Yesavage opened the game by striking out Trent Grisham on a splitter. He walked Aaron Judge on four pitches, then fanned Bellinger and Rice to start a streak of 12 straight outs that ended when Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on Guerrero’s fielding error in the fifth.

“It was nasty stuff,” New York manager Aaron Boone said of Yesavage’s arsenal. “That split is unlike most of the stuff you’d ever run into. He had it going. … We just didn’t have an answer for that split. He was on his game.”

Yesavage responded by getting Ryan McMahon to pop up and fanning Anthony Volpe for his 11th strikeout.

Yesavage struck out six straight over the third and fourth innings as Volpe, Austin Wells, Grisham, Judge, Bellinger and Rice were retired.

Left-hander Justin Bruihl came on to face Grisham after Yesavage threw 78 pitches, 48 for strikes. Manager John Schneider was booed as he came out to remove Yesavage with Toronto leading 12-0. The crowd of 44,7564 then roared until Yesavage came out for a curtain call, lifting his arms over his head at the top of the dugout steps.

Bruihl retired Grisham on a grounder before Judge reached on an infield single for New York’s first hit. Bellinger followed with a homer.

Yankees left-hander Max Fried (0-1) allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3-plus innings. He gave up seven runs in 33 1/3 innings in five September starts.

Fried went 11-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 16 starts after a Yankees loss in the regular season, but suffered another difficult start in Toronto. He was 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in two regular season road starts against the Blue Jays, giving up 10 runs, eight earned, five walks and nine hits, including two home runs.

Toronto righty Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner with Cleveland, is scheduled to start against Yankees lefty Carlos Rodon in Tuesday’s Game 3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Grzelcyk, 31, nets one-year deal from Blackhawks

Published

on

By

Grzelcyk, 31, nets one-year deal from Blackhawks

CHICAGO — Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has made the Chicago Blackhawks, agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract with the team.

Chicago announced the deal on Sunday. Grzelcyk had been with the team in training camp on a personal tryout agreement.

The Blackhawks visit the Florida Panthers for their season opener Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Grzelcyk had one goal and a career-high 39 assists in 82 games for Pittsburgh last season. He also set a career high with a team-leading 101 blocked shots.

Grzelcyk, a Massachusetts native, was selected by Boston in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft. He had 25 goals and 110 assists in 445 games for the Bruins over eight seasons.

Continue Reading

Sports

Lightning, Panthers net 312 PIM in preseason tilt

Published

on

By

Lightning, Panthers net 312 PIM in preseason tilt

Niko Mikkola had an assist on a goal that gave the Florida Panthers an 8-0 lead. Problem was, he had been kicked out of the game a few minutes earlier and nobody noticed.

It was that kind of night between the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Florida defeated Tampa Bay 7-0 in the preseason finale for both clubs Saturday night, though the score was irrelevant. There were 65 penalties for 312 minutes on the stat sheet, including 13 game misconduct penalties — seven for Tampa Bay, six for Florida. The penalty count kept rising after the game, as officials were making sure everything that was called got logged.

“I have no idea,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said, when asked what message Tampa Bay was trying to send with its style of play. “I’m not worried about it. Training camp is over. We had some good games … and no one was complaining about ice time by the end of it, so it’s over.”

Florida had 17 power-play chances in the game, by the NHL’s count.

“It got silly. It got stupid by the end of it,” Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “It wasn’t really hockey out there.”

The parade to the penalty boxes started about two minutes into the game when Tampa Bay’s Scott Sabourin — who was among six players the Lightning called up for the game — went after Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. Sabourin got a major penalty after playing 19 seconds.

“It made you think there might be something coming,” Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen said, when asked what he thought when he saw the Lightning called up players for the game.

What would have been the eighth Florida goal of the night, midway through the third period, was taken away 15 minutes after Jesper Boqvist scored. Off-ice officials realized that Mikkola couldn’t have had an assist on the play — since he had been ejected earlier in the period.

The teams skated with the scoreboard saying Florida led 8-0 for about five minutes of actual game time before officials informed both teams that the goal had been taken away and Mikkola had to leave the game.

The Lightning took nine penalties and had no shots on goal in the third period.

Saturday’s game came two nights after the teams combined for 49 penalties and 186 minutes in another preseason contest, one the Lightning won 5-2.

Tampa Bay went to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals from 2020 through 2022, winning two titles in that span. Florida has been to each of the past three Stanley Cup Finals and has won the past two Cups. And there has long been a heated rivalry between the franchises.

“I think anybody that’s been a part of this rivalry would probably look at this box score and A, not be surprised and B, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for something like that to happen,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ellis joins Sharks after injury-filled Flyers tenure

Published

on

By

Ellis joins Sharks after injury-filled Flyers tenure

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers rid themselves of defenseman Ryan Ellis‘ contract in a trade with the Sharks, ending his tenure at four games played in four seasons.

Ellis and a conditional sixth-round draft pick were traded to San Jose on Sunday for forward Carl Grundstrom and defenseman Artem Guryev. The condition on the sixth-round pick is that San Jose shall receive the earlier of two picks Philadelphia currently owns in the 2026 sixth round, its own and Columbus‘.

The Flyers now have five picks in the 2026 draft. They own one pick in each of the first three rounds, one in the sixth and one in the seventh round.

Philadelphia thought it acquired one of the NHL’s best defensemen when it landed Ellis from the Nashville Predators ahead of the 2021 season. Ellis was selected by Nashville with the No. 11 pick in the 2009 draft and helped the Predators win the Stanley Cup in 2017. He had 270 points in 562 career games at the time of the trade.

Ellis played four games in 2021 until he suffered a pelvis injury believed to be career-threatening.

The Sharks likely will place Ellis on long-term injured reserve. He has two seasons left on an eight-year, $50 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $6.25 million through 2027.

Grundstrom scored nine points in 56 games with San Jose last season.

Continue Reading

Trending