NEW YORK — Bo Bichette was set to run Wednesday for the first time since spraining his left knee last month, and the Toronto Blue Jays still hope their starting shortstop will be able to return to the lineup later this postseason.
A two-time All-Star, Bichette ended the regular season on the injured list and was left off the roster for the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees. He took at-bats in a simulated game Tuesday in Toronto against teammates Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, then joined the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
“The last three days have been pretty positive for him,” manager John Schneider said Wednesday. “Running today for the first time. We’ll take it a day at a time and just listen to how he’s feeling.
“… I think he’s probably turned the corner a little bit in terms of making some steady progress. It wasn’t just kind of hitting in the cage; it was facing some live pitching and knowing that he was going to be running today for the first time.”
Bichette hasn’t played since Sept. 6, when he sprained his knee in a collision with Yankees catcher Austin Wells.
“I think he’s making some strides, and we’ll continue to take it a day at a time,” Schneider said.
If Toronto advances, they would open the best-of-seven AL Championship Series at home on Sunday.
Andres Gimenez, a three-time Gold Glove winner at second base with Cleveland Guardians, has shifted from second to shortstop with the Blue Jays lately to help fill in for Bichette.
The 27-year-old Bichette put together a strong season before getting injured, hitting .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 139 games. He finished second in the majors in batting average to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
Bichette, who can become a free agent after the World Series, is the son of former major league slugger Dante Bichette.
Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders was back at practice Wednesday, a day after undergoing surgery related to his blood clots.
Sanders had a procedure called an aspiration thrombectomy, which involves the left popliteal — located behind the knee — and tibial arteries. He appears on track to be on the sideline Saturday when the Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) host No. 22 Iowa State (5-1, 2-1).
His son Deion Sanders Jr. posted a short video of him on social media Wednesday as the Buffaloes coach stood at the 35-yard-line with a play sheet dangling from his waist. His team was practicing on the other side of the 50.
On Tuesday night, in a video posted by Well Off Media, which chronicles the Buffaloes, Sanders and his medical team talked about the procedure that would clean out his arteries to prevent more clots. Sanders said it was his 16th surgery over the past few years.
“Same position,” Sanders said as he got comfortable in the hospital bed. “Never doubting God. Never stressing. Never second-guessing.”
Sanders received a visit from longtime NFL cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, who gave his friend a kiss on the head. Sanders also took calls from sons Shedeur and Shilo.
“If you give me $5 million just to have, I will make sure that you don’t have to get surgery anymore,” Shilo Sanders cracked on the phone call.
“I know where your care is coming from,” his dad playfully responded. “I don’t want nothing to do with your care.”
“If you give me five, I’ll make sure you’re alive,” Shilo said, drawing a laugh from his father and Jones.
Soon after, Deion Sanders was taken away to the operating room.
The 58-year-old was in pain during a 35-21 loss at TCU last Saturday, alternating between sitting and limping along the sideline with his leg throbbing. He didn’t wear a shoe on his left foot in the second half, and after the game he said he was “hurting like crazy.”
Sanders dealt with blood clot issues while at Jackson State in 2021, with doctors amputating two of the toes on his left foot. He also skipped a Pac-12 media day session in 2023 following a procedure to remove a blood clot from his right leg and another to straighten toes on his left foot.
Last spring, Sanders was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. He revealed details of his treatment, which involved doctors removing his bladder and reconstructing a section of his intestine to function as a bladder.
The Tigers forced a Game 5 by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in more than a month. They went 0-8 after Tarik Skubal‘s 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 6, including Seattle’s 8-4 win on Tuesday.
The decisive game of the series will be Friday in Seattle, with Skubal facing George Kirby.
“One of the easiest and most exciting things I get to do is hand the ball to the best pitcher in baseball,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re getting on a plane across the country with a lot of optimism because of Tarik Skubal.”
The Tigers’ nine runs are their most in a postseason game since scoring 13 in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series.
After Detroit tied the score with three runs in the fifth, Greene gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage with a leadoff homer off Gabe Speier in the sixth. The 454-foot homer was the second-longest home run of Greene’s career, regular season and postseason, and longest at Comerica Park since a 453-foot shot by Gleyber Torres on Aug. 29, 2023.
“That felt great,” Greene said of his first postseason homer. “I hadn’t hit a ball like that in a while.”
Spencer Torkelson followed with a double and scored Detroit’s fifth run on Zach McKinstry‘s single before Báez made it 7-3 with his sixth postseason homer.
Torres became the third Tigers All-Star to homer when he led off the seventh with a shot to right before Báez’s eighth-inning groundout brought in Detroit’s ninth run.
“They were able to get to our bullpen today, but those guys have bounced back all season,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “There’s no better place to do that than back at home on Friday.”
Troy Melton, Detroit’s Game 1 starter, picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
The first 4½ innings looked like another Tigers disaster.
Casey Mize allowed one run while striking out six batters in the first three innings but needed 54 pitches to do it. That may have played a part in Hinch’s decision to send lefty Tyler Holton to the mound for the fourth inning.
The decision didn’t work. Holton faced three batters and left with the bases loaded and no one out. Hinch brought in setup man Kyle Finnegan, who got Victor Robles to ground into a run-scoring double play before J.P. Crawford popped out.
The Mariners, though, got to Finnegan in the fifth. Randy Arozarena led off with a single, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Cal Raleigh‘s single — his seventh hit of the series. That made it 3-0, increasing the booing from an angry home crowd.
“I’ve heard boos my whole career, so I don’t mind them,” Báez said. “That’s just showing the passion of our fans.”
Dillon Dingler‘s RBI double got the Tigers on the board with one out in the fifth — the first run Detroit had scored against Mariners starter Bryce Miller in 23⅓ innings.
Speier came in, but Jahmai Jones lined his first pitch down the left-field line for a pinch-hit double to make it 3-2 before Báez tied the score with a base hit.
