George Springer’s walk off single completes Toronto’s late-game rally in 4-3 win over Detroit

It wasn’t a blowout win in front of a sold out crowd like last night, but the end of the game tonight featured almost as much excitement. After trailing much of tonight’s game, the Blue Jays scored three runs between the 9th and 10th inning, including George Springer’s walk off single as Toronto defeated Detroit 4-3 in 10 innings.
The 10th inning went about as good as it could go, as Jordan Romano stranded two base runners in the top half of the frame. He had a runner on third with one out, but he got Spencer Torkelson to fly out to shallow right, not deep enough for Javier Baez to test out Springer’s arm.
Kevin Kiermaier led off the bottom of the 10th with a sacrifice bunt that moved Danny Jansen to third base, and Springer dribbled a ball up the middle the very next pitch for the game-winning hit.
Blue Jays Nation’s Player of the Game: Kevin Gausman
All of the excitement happened after Gausman left the game, but his efforts still deserve recognition, as he struck out eleven batters versus no walks in eight total innings. He did, unfortunately, surrender his first earned run(s) on the season, as the Tigers were able to tag him for three runs. Nick M …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Nylander plays OT hero again. Leafs beat Wild 2-1: Game highlights

There wasn’t a ton of action during Friday’s game versus the Wild. It was tight checking battle with solid goaltending on both ends. The Leafs squeaked out a 2-1 win in overtime. This is the type of win that proves they can get it done in the playoffs. Below are the highlights from the game.
Disaster almost struck early as Ilya Samsonov was fooled by a Ryan Hartman dump in. Just as Samsonov left the net to play the puck Hartman threw it on net instead…

Hartman almost got Samsonov there pic.twitter.com/MWbSv2qMRM
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

The weird bounces continued when Brandon Duhaime opened the scoring from behind the net. The Wild won the battle deep in the Leafs’ zone and Duhaime’s pass banked in off Calle Jarnkrok…

the puck goes off Jarnkrok’s skate and in
Brandon Duhaime gets credit pic.twitter.com/z7d52gqQrQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

David Kampf tied it up a few minutes later. William Nylander did his best Gretzky impression setting up in the Great One’s office and feeding Kampf in front. 1-1…

That feed from Willy Nylander to David Kämpf 👌 pic.twitter.com/wiODxNW3K1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2023

Ryan O’Reilly had a chance to put the Leafs on top in the second but Filip Gustavsson made the save look easy…

O’Reilly goes for the slapper pic.twitter.com/Mgd3uFzarF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Gustavsson had the Leafs frustrated all night. He stopped O’Reilly again later in the frame…

another chance for O’Reilly
his reaction was picked up on the mic pic.twitter.com/1GI4CI3nJB
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

John Tavares had a pair of chances partway through the third. Again, it was Gustavsson who came out on top….

pair of chances for Tavares pic.twitter.com/y4qxcWHxxo
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 25, 2023

Late in the game the Wild had a great look for the go ahead goal but Timothy Liljegren broke up the Mats Zuccar …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Gustafsson nets hatty, Caps torch Leafs in Samsonov’s return to Washington: Muzzy Muzings

Gustafsson nets hatty, Caps torch Leafs in Samsonov’s return to Washington: Muzzy Muzings

Suffice it is to say, it wasn’t the return to Washington Ilya Samsonov was hoping for.
Erik Gustafsson netted a hat trick as the Capitals smoked the Leafs 5-2 to hand Toronto back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season.
Classic. Guy doesn’t score for 32 games only to erupt for three goals…always against the Leafs, right?
Charlie Lindgren was outstanding, especially in the second frame when the Leafs outshot the Capitals 14-6. He made 34 stops to improve to 6-1-0 in his past seven outings. As for Samsonov, the 25-year-old surrendered five goals on 28 shots in his first back in D.C. since Washington elected to move on from him last summer. He fell to 9-3-0 on the season; that was his first loss since October 29th.
Meantime, Michael Bunting’s 10 game point streak came to an end. Also, Alex Ovechkin failed to score, he’s still one goal back of Gordie Howe for second all-time in NHL goal scoring.
Auston Matthews had one and one while Conor Timmins notched his fifth assist in the past three contests.
 
Muzzy’s Muzings:
TOUGH START & TOUGH FINISH
For the second straight outing, the Leafs were scored on first. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of Thursday night’s game in New York. They were just a bit off. And again, that’s going to happen from time to time; it’s a tough leag …

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Author: Nick Alberga / The Leafs Nation

Leafs Fly Together: Muzzy’s Muzings

Leafs Fly Together: Muzzy’s Muzings

To quote Mighty Ducks: D2, that wasn’t a win, that was a statement.
Mitch Marner notched two assists to extend his point streak to 23 games and Ilya Samsonov made 28 stops for his second straight shutout as Toronto smoked Anaheim 7-0.
In fact, the Leafs, who extended their team point streak to 15 games (12-0-3), have now blanked their opponent in three of the past four outings. Furthermore, they haven’t lost in regulation since November 11th, a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Hall of Fame Game.
Meantime, 12 different Leafs registered at least a point. Alex Kerfoot scored twice while Pierre Engvall tallied a goal and an assist in his return from a one-game suspension. Also, Conor Timmins racked up three helpers and Michael Bunting potted his sixth of the campaign to extend his point streak to a career-high nine contests.
The Leafs went 1-0-1 against Anaheim this season.
 
Muzzy’s Muzings:
FRONT ROW SEAT
Lucky me, that was the first Leafs game I’ve attended in person at Scotiabank Arean since signing off on Sportsnet 590 The Fan after an OT win against Tampa in March of 2020. We all know what happened after that. What a first game back, right? I’m not the biggest fan of Toronto’s goal song, but I won’t lie, it was amazing to hear it seven times in one n …

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Author: Nick Alberga / The Leafs Nation

The Blue Jays are alive again

It wasn’t pretty, but it counts.

The Blue Jays came into Monday night’s game with the Chicago Cubs badly in need of a win after being swept by the Los Angeles Angels, a team you really shouldn’t be getting swept by if you have aspirations of playing in October.
Things were looking incredibly bleak in the sixth inning as Tim Mayza came into the game in relief of Jose Berrios and promptly gave up a two-run double to P.J. ‘Please Stop Asking If It’s Short For Pyjamas’ Higgins that made the game 4-0 in favour of the Cubs.
Berrios was getting squared up by the Cubs and he gave up some loud contact but the Blue Jays’ defence bailed him out a few times. He managed to navigate his way to four earned runs over five-and-two-thirds innings on 10 hits and one walk while striking out four.

What. A. Catch.#NextLevel | @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/ru6rsNCStZ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 30, 2022

As fans everywhere were debating who to fire and trade in the off-season, Matt Chapman and Raimel Tapia drew back-to-back walks before Danny Jansen brought the team to life with a three-run bomb. In the eighth inning, Cavan Biggio hit a two-out double and then Chapman drove him home with a single to tie things up at 4-4.
While the Blue Jays had played well fundamentally in the first nine innings, things started to get weird in extras. Alejandro Kirk was intentionally walked but then got doubled off as he slid into second base with his leg sticking up in the air. Jackie Braldey Jr. and Santiago Espinal let a routine fly fall between them and Bo Bichette got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tangled up with a baserunner with an errant throw to first.
Thankfully, some excellent pitching from Yimi Garcia and some impressively bad clutch hitting from the Cubs resulted in the Blue Jay …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Alek Manoah leads the Blue Jays to their fifth straight win

Well, it wasn’t 28-5, but it was still a W.

The Jays were backed by yet another quality start from Alek Manoah, his 16th of the season, as they topped the struggling Red Sox 4-1.
Most of Toronto’s offense came in the third inning. Four straight hits to start the inning included RBI singles from Santiago Espinal and George Springer. Alejandro Kirk also chipped in a sacrifice fly later in the frame. Espinal’s RBI was heavily attributed to the Blue Jays putting Matt Chapman in a hit-and-run situation. Chapman took off from first base right as the pitch was delivered, and Espinal delivered a perfect hit into right field.
That play was part of many “little things” the Jays did well today. More specifically, Bo Bichette made a sound defensive play in the 5th inning, diving for a ground ball, setting his feet, and retiring Christian Vazquez, who has been a pain in the Blue Jays’ side this series. Teoscar Hernandez doubled in pinch-runner Bradley Zimmer in the 9th inning, providing Toronto with a big insurance run. Zimmer ran for Alejandro Kirk, and he stole second base before Hernandez brought him home.
Today also marked the return of George Springer, who sat out last night’s game in order to continue resting his elbow. Springer contr …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Juan Soto upsets Julio Rodriguez to win 2022 MLB Home Run Derby

It just wasn’t meant to be.

Despite having a Home Run Derby for the record books, mighty Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez was toppled in the final round by Juan Soto.
The Washington Nationals slugger, meanwhile, showed the world why he’s worth every penny of a $500-million deal smoking 19 home runs in the final round.

JUAN SOTO WINS THE HOME RUN DERBY pic.twitter.com/1CpYTXB2H8
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 19, 2022

As great as the comeback was for Soto, Rodriguez stole the show with a performance for the ages.
The rookie Seattle Mariner blew the doors off the derby cruising through the first two rounds.
Rodriguez bested Texas Ranger Corey Seager in the first round 32 to 24, then blasted another 31 in round two to beat two-time champion Pete Alonso.
Through two rounds, J-Rod totaled 63 home runs becoming the first to ever have two 30-run rounds in the history of the derby. Safe to say he, and his pitcher Franmy Pena, were absolutely dialed in.

Through two rounds, Julio Rodríguez’s 63 total HRs are already third-most in a single #HRDerby
He’s off to the Final Roundpic.twitter.com/p4gvgWXqGu
— ESPN (@espn) July 19, 2022

Come the finals, you could see some fatigue setting in, but Rodriguez still managed to put up 18 dongs. Soto, meanwhile, had a slow start, but turned it on in the end taking it to extra time to hit his 19.
In total, Rodriguez smoked 81 home runs through all three rounds — 10 back of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who in 2019 smoked 91 (!) homers, but lost to Pete Alonso in the finals.
One has to wonder if this whole thing needs to be rejigged considering those performances.
Round one
The derby got started off in a big way as Julio Rodriguez stepped up to the plate mashing 32 dingers right off the top. He topped up  opponent Corey Seager, who st …

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Author: Zach Laing / Blue Jays Nation