Sign In Sunday was a tough day for Boston sports fans. First, the Red Sox wrapped up their 2020 season and missed the postseason for the second straight year. Then the Celtics were eliminated from the Eastern Conference finals after a 125-113 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 6. It certainly was a close…
“My message was simple: I really appreciated the way they played basketball,” Stevens said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “… I really appreciated the way that they blocked out stuff that didn’t matter. I appreciated the way they found joy, and stuck together. We had one dustup, pretty good for a calendar year.”
TORONTO FC – Quentin Westberg; Richie Laryea (Tony Gallacher 89’), Omar Gonzalez, Chris Mavinga, Justin Morrow; Jonathan Osorio (C), Marky Delgado, Pablo Piatti (Liam Fraser 89’), Alejandro Pozuelo (Jayden Nelson 89’); Ayo Akinola (Patrick Mullins 89’), Jozy Altidore (Nick DeLeon 83’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Laurent Ciman, Eriq Zavaleta, Erickson Gallardo
COLUMBUS CREW SC – Eloy Room; Harrison Afful (Chris Cadden 78’), Jonathan Mensah (C), Josh Williams, Hector Jimenez (Milton Valenzuela 57’); Sebastian Berhalter (Aidan Morris 62’), Artur, Luis Diaz (Derrick Etienne 62’), Lucas Zelarayan, Pedro Santos (Youness Mokhtar 78’); Gyasi Zardes
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Tarbell, Aboubacar Keita, Emmanuel Boateng, Jordan Hamilton
GREG VANNEY – HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC
Given the fact that your team is essentially homeless right now playing in Hartford, you must feel pretty good about how the team is looking right now?
“Yeah, I was very pleased, obviously, as I’m sure everybody was just with the response form first half to second half. So that’s how our mindset needs to be always. The work was good, the reaction, the proactive work was good. It’s just where we need to be all the time. And then sometimes we just need that little kick in the butt we got it. Kudos to the guys, they stepped out and really took charge in the game and imposed themselves on the game and started to win duels and started to really take care of the ball. Our engagement level was high. We were proactive in what we were doing. And we took back control of the game. And when you take control of the game, it gives your special players who can do things more of an opportunity to do those special things. And those guys answered that call too. Very pleased with that. As we all know, times are not as easy, being away all the time. Every game is an away game, but we did our best tonight to try to make this feel like a home field and we will try to carry that each time that we come out, here just for our own mentality. As a group I think we are looking forward to just a quick break and a stop in (Toronto) and reset with our families. Then get back on the road and start another stretch and try to take some more points. But it’s a nice night to build off of. It’s a nice night to have when you’re going to go into a couple days of a little bit of rest.”
What did you say to your team at half?
“A lot of it was just emotionally, we were carrying our frustrations from one place to the next. If something happened, it was impacting people. And there was a lot of that going on. If there was a call that we didn’t like, it was impacting … and our reactions were leading into us getting disconnected, guys showing their emotion on the field, going from working together to maybe walking at the wrong times. And we weren’t a cohesive unit and a lot of it, I think, was just frustration for a lot of different reasons. So we just needed a reset and we needed to drop that and we needed to not be our own worst enemy on the field and we needed to move proactively and we needed to move proactively and to stay connected and be positive to get from one place to the next play. That was a big part of it to be honest and the guys took a deep breath. They came out and they reconnected and went after it. Obviously, we made some tactical adjustments in what we were doing. I think those obviously give us a good structure to work with, but it doesn’t matter what the structure is if your mind’s not in the right place. And or you’re letting things frustrate you. And tonight, we had in the first half we let it go up for the second half and all things kind of came together into a great second half performance.”
Alejandro Pozuelo has been involved in 63% of your goals this year. Is he the best player in MLS right now?
“Yeah I mean it’s hard to argue. The best players are guys who score goals, create goals, set up opportunities. You know, the other night, and even in stretches tonight he just did things that the team just needed him to do defensively. And some work that the guys who are creating the most chances don’t want to do. And he did. So, when everybody’s doing that … then we have a great team, a really great team. And tonight, everybody was doing it. Poz was one of the leaders of that. So, the short answer is, it’s hard to argue that … when he’s putting up the numbers and every game he comes out and is impacting those games.”
Was tonight a statement win given where Columbus is in the standings?
“What I care about, honestly, is the statement that it makes inside of our team. And tonight, the statement was, again, emotionally when we stay in the right place, we work together, we stay positive, we stay connected … we can be really good. If we’re not, we can be our own worst enemy and that’s not what we want. And so that’s the message that I want to be loud and clear. And that’s in our locker room. I don’t really care what everybody else thinks. The message in our locker room was clear, they responded to it in the second half, and they proved in a lot of ways what they’re capable of doing when we’re all in the right spot. And so that’s the only message I care about tonight. We got three points and the response was fabulous.”
RICHIE LARYEA – DEFENDER, TORONTO FC
What was going through your mind on the goal?
“I saw that I was pretty open on the wing and the outside back was drawn pretty far out so I thought it was the perfect time for me to try to take him on and see if I could do something. Because in the first half I wasn’t really getting in those positions and I wasn’t able to go at them. So I thought it was a good opportunity to do so and yes, a little bit of improvisation once I got close to the goal because different things open up and there’s different solutions and I went with the one where I thought was the most comfortable for me at the time.”
Your confidence seems to go up each match. Are you surprised with how well you’re playing and how good you’re becoming in this league?
“I have a lot of confidence in myself and my teammates have a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in this team. These performances, the team is trying to challenge each other to up our performances every game and step up in big games and big moments. I have it set in my mind where the guys and the coaches have instilled in me and the rest of the team where we have to be ready for moments like these. So, I don’t know if it’s quite a surprise for any of us, we’re just trying to continue to up our performances.”
What was the message you took heading out for the second half?
“It’s only 1-0. It’s not the end of the world. We have quality out there, we have very good players and we also have to understand it’s been a pretty long nine days or whatever it’s been, so it was fair for us to maybe not be as sharp in the first half, we said to each other we need to give it our all in the second half and that’s exactly what we did.”
TORONTO FC – Quentin Westberg; Richie Laryea (Tony Gallacher 89’), Omar Gonzalez, Chris Mavinga, Justin Morrow; Jonathan Osorio (C), Marky Delgado, Pablo Piatti (Liam Fraser 89’), Alejandro Pozuelo (Jayden Nelson 89’); Ayo Akinola (Patrick Mullins 89’), Jozy Altidore (Nick DeLeon 83’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Laurent Ciman, Eriq Zavaleta, Erickson Gallardo
COLUMBUS CREW SC – Eloy Room; Harrison Afful (Chris Cadden 78’), Jonathan Mensah (C), Josh Williams, Hector Jimenez (Milton Valenzuela 57’); Sebastian Berhalter (Aidan Morris 62’), Artur, Luis Diaz (Derrick Etienne 62’), Lucas Zelarayan, Pedro Santos (Youness Mokhtar 78’); Gyasi Zardes
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Tarbell, Aboubacar Keita, Emmanuel Boateng, Jordan Hamilton
GREG VANNEY – HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC
Given the fact that your team is essentially homeless right now playing in Hartford, you must feel pretty good about how the team is looking right now?
“Yeah, I was very pleased, obviously, as I’m sure everybody was just with the response form first half to second half. So that’s how our mindset needs to be always. The work was good, the reaction, the proactive work was good. It’s just where we need to be all the time. And then sometimes we just need that little kick in the butt we got it. Kudos to the guys, they stepped out and really took charge in the game and imposed themselves on the game and started to win duels and started to really take care of the ball. Our engagement level was high. We were proactive in what we were doing. And we took back control of the game. And when you take control of the game, it gives your special players who can do things more of an opportunity to do those special things. And those guys answered that call too. Very pleased with that. As we all know, times are not as easy, being away all the time. Every game is an away game, but we did our best tonight to try to make this feel like a home field and we will try to carry that each time that we come out, here just for our own mentality. As a group I think we are looking forward to just a quick break and a stop in (Toronto) and reset with our families. Then get back on the road and start another stretch and try to take some more points. But it’s a nice night to build off of. It’s a nice night to have when you’re going to go into a couple days of a little bit of rest.”
What did you say to your team at half?
“A lot of it was just emotionally, we were carrying our frustrations from one place to the next. If something happened, it was impacting people. And there was a lot of that going on. If there was a call that we didn’t like, it was impacting … and our reactions were leading into us getting disconnected, guys showing their emotion on the field, going from working together to maybe walking at the wrong times. And we weren’t a cohesive unit and a lot of it, I think, was just frustration for a lot of different reasons. So we just needed a reset and we needed to drop that and we needed to not be our own worst enemy on the field and we needed to move proactively and we needed to move proactively and to stay connected and be positive to get from one place to the next play. That was a big part of it to be honest and the guys took a deep breath. They came out and they reconnected and went after it. Obviously, we made some tactical adjustments in what we were doing. I think those obviously give us a good structure to work with, but it doesn’t matter what the structure is if your mind’s not in the right place. And or you’re letting things frustrate you. And tonight, we had in the first half we let it go up for the second half and all things kind of came together into a great second half performance.”
Alejandro Pozuelo has been involved in 63% of your goals this year. Is he the best player in MLS right now?
“Yeah I mean it’s hard to argue. The best players are guys who score goals, create goals, set up opportunities. You know, the other night, and even in stretches tonight he just did things that the team just needed him to do defensively. And some work that the guys who are creating the most chances don’t want to do. And he did. So, when everybody’s doing that … then we have a great team, a really great team. And tonight, everybody was doing it. Poz was one of the leaders of that. So, the short answer is, it’s hard to argue that … when he’s putting up the numbers and every game he comes out and is impacting those games.”
Was tonight a statement win given where Columbus is in the standings?
“What I care about, honestly, is the statement that it makes inside of our team. And tonight, the statement was, again, emotionally when we stay in the right place, we work together, we stay positive, we stay connected … we can be really good. If we’re not, we can be our own worst enemy and that’s not what we want. And so that’s the message that I want to be loud and clear. And that’s in our locker room. I don’t really care what everybody else thinks. The message in our locker room was clear, they responded to it in the second half, and they proved in a lot of ways what they’re capable of doing when we’re all in the right spot. And so that’s the only message I care about tonight. We got three points and the response was fabulous.”
RICHIE LARYEA – DEFENDER, TORONTO FC
What was going through your mind on the goal?
“I saw that I was pretty open on the wing and the outside back was drawn pretty far out so I thought it was the perfect time for me to try to take him on and see if I could do something. Because in the first half I wasn’t really getting in those positions and I wasn’t able to go at them. So I thought it was a good opportunity to do so and yes, a little bit of improvisation once I got close to the goal because different things open up and there’s different solutions and I went with the one where I thought was the most comfortable for me at the time.”
Your confidence seems to go up each match. Are you surprised with how well you’re playing and how good you’re becoming in this league?
“I have a lot of confidence in myself and my teammates have a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in this team. These performances, the team is trying to challenge each other to up our performances every game and step up in big games and big moments. I have it set in my mind where the guys and the coaches have instilled in me and the rest of the team where we have to be ready for moments like these. So, I don’t know if it’s quite a surprise for any of us, we’re just trying to continue to up our performances.”
What was the message you took heading out for the second half?
“It’s only 1-0. It’s not the end of the world. We have quality out there, we have very good players and we also have to understand it’s been a pretty long nine days or whatever it’s been, so it was fair for us to maybe not be as sharp in the first half, we said to each other we need to give it our all in the second half and that’s exactly what we did.”
Yankees (33-26, .559) Yesterday’s result:Won 11-4 vs. Marlins Where they stand: The Yankees are one game ahead of the Blue Jays for the division’s No. 2 playoff berth and hold the AL’s fifth seed. Key tiebreakers: The Yankees and Blue Jays split the season series, 5-5. The Yankees currently hold the tiebreaker with a better record vs. the AL East (23-17 to Toronto’s 22-17, though the Blue Jays have one game vs. Orioles remaining). The third tiebreaker is record vs. division opponents over the last 20 games. With a win today to pull even, the Jays would be 12-8 in their last 20 AL East games, giving them the tiebreaker over the Yankees (11-9). Today’s schedule: vs. Marlins, 3:05 p.m. ET
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Blue Jays (32-27, .542) Yesterday’s result:Won 5-2 vs. Orioles Where they stand: The Blue Jays are one game behind the Yankees for the division’s No. 2 playoff berth. They currently hold the No. 8 seed in the AL. Key tiebreakers: The Yankees and Blue Jays split the season series, 5-5. The Yankees currently hold the tiebreaker with a better record vs. the AL East (23-17 to Toronto’s 22-17, though the Blue Jays have one game vs. Orioles remaining). The third tiebreaker is record vs. division opponents over the last 20 games. With a win today to pull even, the Jays would be 12-8 in their last 20 AL East games, giving them the tiebreaker over the Yankees (11-9).
BUFFALO – They can read the standings and adhere to the slim caution of the magic number still lurking, but when the Blue Jays arrived here at Sahlen Field on Wednesday afternoon, there was a fresh excitement. Read More
BUFFALO — They can read the standings and adhere to the slim caution of the magic number still lurking, but when the Blue Jays arrived here at Sahlen Field on Wednesday afternoon, there was a fresh excitement.
With all but the most feint of mathematical probabilities in the way of clinching a playoff spot, the Jays could smell it. And perhaps there was a whiff of blood in the air as well as they laid a 14-1 beating on the New York Yankees.
Second-year manager Charlie Montoyo said felt it as soon as he walked into the clubhouse hours before first pitch. So, too, did his versatile lead-off man Cavan Biggio, who didn’t want to get ahead of himself but acknowledged the imminent accomplishment.
And that feeling carried onto the field for a statement blow-out to reduce that magic number to one with four games to play.
The clinching celebration was denied as both the Angels and Mariners clung to life with wins, but it’s now near impossible to envision a scenario where the Jays don’t return to the post-season for the first time since 2016.
And with ace Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound for Thursday’s series finale against the Yankees, playoff fever will be spiking.
“I’m going to sleep good tonight knowing he’s going tomorrow,” Montoyo said after Wednesday’s game when asked of about having the big lefty on tap with the stakes so high.
The fact that the imminent thrill of October baseball arrived this year is further encouragement for the young Jays, who have not lacked in self-belief.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said Biggio, who scored Wednesday’s first run after drawing a leadoff walk in the first then drove in two more in the Jays eight-run sixth. “I think we’re just scratching the surface on what we’re going to be able to do at this level.
“To see it coming this early on in our careers gives us a little glimpse of what we can end up doing in the future.” Montoyo was of the same mind, candidly acknowledging that he didn’t think that true playoff contention would come for his team until 2021.
That they are on the brink of it now — and sure they took advantage of the expanded playoff format — is both a bonus and a boost to the confidence of a team that is driven by its young core.
“I’m very proud of my team to be in this position at this time, to be in a position to clinch a playoff spot,” Montoyo said. “No one expected us to be here and you can feel the vibe in there.
“This is a great experience for them. Just going through this for the first time, it’s petty cool for these kids. You can see it. This is going to help them from now until they retire.”
Though the Jays had fallen from form somewhat last week, some swagger is returning. From the outset of a challenging season — one that had then turfed from their Canadian home and denied shared arrangements in other major league cities — the team has responded favourably and thrived.
“You can make it as bad as it is or as good as you want,” Biggio said of the hurdles they’ve negotiated. “Going into the season and our situation not being able to play in Toronto and coming into Buffalo … we could have easily looked at it like, man, our backs are up against the wall. It’s okay if we don’t win this year, it’s kind of a crazy year.
“But the way we took it was is we’re here for each other. The biggest thing we’ve had is chemistry.”
They are close enough to feel it now, just a win on Thursday to set up a weekend to reset and prepare for a playoff opener next Tuesday.https://www.youtube.com/embed/IUgq0BKD818?embed_config={%27relatedChannels%27:%20[],%27autonav%27:true}&autoplay=0&playsinline=1
Once that playoff spot is verified — as presumptive as that may be, the odds against it happening are prohibitive — the Jays feel they can make some noise. Put it this way, a potential first-round date with the Tampa Bay Rays doesn’t intimidate them given how tough they played their division rivals earlier in the season.
“We’ve got to get there first,” Biggio cautioned. “That being said, I think this team plays with a lot of excitement and a lot of energy. The cool part of this team is we’re never really out of a game.”
And now just a game away from getting to play at the next level.
POST-GAME NOTES
It was a mixed bag from Jays starter Robbie Ray, though he probably did enough to move himself into some playoff work. Ray allowed just one run on three hits but with an elevated pitch count of 90 lasted just four innings. … Montoyo won’t be tipping his hand for a while, but we could see Ray splitting a start with Matt Shoemaker in the post-season … Not so fast, Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen sees you. The regular Jays catcher had a four-hit night with a single, double and a pair of home runs. “I just tried to be aggressive on him and try to put the barrel on it,” Jansen said of the first dinger, a line-drive shot over the wall in left off of Masahiro Tanaka … Something about the sixth. The Jays put up eight in that inning on Wednesday following up the 10-spot they inflicted on the Yankees here on Sept. 7 … After a season-long six-game losing streak the Jays are building momentum again with wins in three of their past four to improve to 29-27 … Solid relief effort from Ross Stripling who pitched four shutout innings to close things out … Besides a chance to clinch on Thursday, the Jays could salvage a split on the 10-game season series with the Yanks currently holding a 5-4 edge.
A person with knowledge of the punishment tells The Associated Press that at least three NFL head coaches have been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s rules that they wear face coverings on the sideline. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the league wasn’t announcing specific fines, said Denver’s Vic Fangio, San…
Sign In Kendrick Perkins wants the real Boston Celtics to stand up again. The former Celtics center-turned ESPN NBA analyst ripped the team Friday morning in the aftermath of its 106-101 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Perkins didn’t mince words in describing how he believes the Celtics…
The former Celtics center-turned ESPN NBA analyst ripped the team Friday morning in the aftermath of its 106-101 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Perkins didn’t mince words in describing how he believes the Celtics have abandoned the unselfish style of play and defensive intensity, which helped them sweep the Philadelphia 76ers and edge the Toronto Raptors so far in the NBA playoffs.
“… the Celtics right now are showing up to the arena in a cute and sassy style of play,” Perkins said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “Right, they’ve got their Versace robes on and Versace slippers and Gucci slippers with their Louis Vutton swimming trunks. And right now the Miami Heat are showing up in their no-necks and their steel-toed boots. And they’re ready for action and they’re grinding it out.
“The Celtics are playing so selfishly offensively, they’re playing ‘my turn’ basketball. Kemba (Walker) comes down (saying) ‘let me show you what I’ve got: a crossover to a step-back.’ Jayson Tatum (says) ‘oh you’ve got that? Let me show you what I’ve got in my bag: the side-step 3-point shot.’ Then all of a sudden you see Jaylen Brown (saying) ‘oh, let me show you, I can do something too. I’ve got a one-legged turnaround off the baseline. That is selfish play offensively by the Celtics.
“And defensively they have lost their identity. Last night I wanted to call Bam Adebayo ‘Bam O’Neal’ he had so many dunks he was just snatching screws out the rim. Where is the Celtics’ No. 1 (ranked) defense that they’ve been leading in these playoffs? It has disappeared. They have lost their defense identity.”
Whether the Celtics will improve on their performances in Games 1 and 2 remains to be seen, but Perkins offers some useful tips on doing so and delivers them as only he can.
There were multiple reports of the sound of furniture being thrown inside the Celtics locker room, and the sight of Marcus Smart storming out as he uttered some choice words. 891 more words
“I feel like the season is just beginning. The regular season is great, but that’s not what you play for.” Candace Parker said it after the Sparks’ regular-season finale, and it was an apt summation of how a team like Los Angeles views any given year in the WNBA. The goal is a championship. There…
Sign In The Miami Heat may have eliminated the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks en route to the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, but they aren’t letting that accomplishment get to their heads. Sure, the Heat took care of business to gentleman’s sweep the league MVP and his team with ease. But to be…
The Miami Heat may have eliminated the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks en route to the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, but they aren’t letting that accomplishment get to their heads.
Sure, the Heat took care of business to gentleman’s sweep the league MVP and his team with ease. But to be fair, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed time for the Bucks with an injury.
And when it comes to Boston, Miami will have its hands full with all of the Celtics’ shooters. According to Heat guard Goran Dragić, it’s the biggest difference between the Celtics and Bucks.
“I still think Giannis doesn’t have so much help. (Jayson) Tatum, if you look, he’s got around (him) Kemba and Brown,” Dragić said, via Brendan Tobin. “He’s the leader of that team, no doubt. We need to prepare for him, but we cannot just throw out the whole defense at him and forget about other guys.
“Brown was huge for them, Kemba too. So they have a lot of guys who feed off of him and he demonstrated that he’s an all-around player. He can make plays for himself, he can make plays for others, so it’s going to have to be a team defense.”
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals tips off Tuesday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Sign In Things between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors have gotten contentious, to say the least. Especially after Wednesday evening’s Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The match went into double-overtime and ended with a verbal altercation between Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, that caused quite a commotion.…
Things between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors have gotten contentious, to say the least.
Especially after Wednesday evening’s Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The match went into double-overtime and ended with a verbal altercation between Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, that caused quite a commotion.
But unlike most NBA Playoff series, where teams can go home at night and forget about what happened in the last game to clear their minds ahead of the next one, the Celtics and Raptors can’t escape each other.
“Personally speaking, from what I know, I like the guys. But right now, I hate them,” VanVleet on Thursday said during a Zoom conference from the Coronado Springs Resort at Disney World, via USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.
And to make things more awkward, a number of Celtics players, coaches and staffers were seen walking by as VanVleet was doing his media availability.
“I don’t want to see them,” VanVleet said. “I don’t want to look at them. I don’t want to talk to them. It’s a little weird, but it’s just where we’re at.”
Fortunately after Friday, they won’t have to see each other much longer, as the result of Game 7 means someone is going home.
ORLANDO — When Grant Williams and the Boston Celtics return to the floor Wednesday night, they will look to eliminate the defending NBA champions. Boston, the NBA Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, holds a 3-2 advantage over the second-seeded Toronto Raptors in the Best-of-7 conference semifinals. Boston, which won the first two games against the […]
ORLANDO — When Grant Williams and the Boston Celtics return to the floor Wednesday night, they will look to eliminate the defending NBA champions.
Boston, the NBA Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed, holds a 3-2 advantage over the second-seeded Toronto Raptors in the Best-of-7 conference semifinals.
Boston, which won the first two games against the Raptors after sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening round, saw Toronto bounce back to even the series 2-2.
The Celtics have regained an upper hand in the series Monday night with a 111-89 victory in Game 5 at HP Field House.
Williams, a former University of Tennessee power forward played nine minutes Monday. He scored three points and dished out an assist.
He left Tennessee after his junior season in 2019 as the two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
The former Vol was a first-round draft pick by Boston in last summer’s NBA draft.
The winner of this series will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat eliminated top-seeded Milwaukee Tuesday night.
BUFFALO — The vaunted but struggling New York Yankees came here for the first time on Monday night and didn’t like what they saw, apparently. Read More
BUFFALO — The vaunted but struggling New York Yankees came here for the first time on Monday night and didn’t like what they saw, apparently.
From a 10-run sixth inning inflicted on them by the Blue Jays to what they hinted was a minor league experience at Sahlen Field, the 12-7 defeat in Buffalo didn’t sit well with the visitors.
YANKEE BOO HOOS? Bronx Bombers gripe about lighting, tipped pitches after getting rocked by Blue Jays
The Bronx Bombers didn’t like the temporary lighting — which certainly isn’t up to Yankee Stadium standards and those of other parks around Major League Baseball — and they openly questioned whether Jays hitters had an idea about what pitchers were coming as they batted around in an explosive sixth.
“A lot of it had to do with he had a tough time seeing the signs,” Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka said on a Zoom call, when asked following the game about his pitchers’ struggles. “It’s pretty dark there. Once it really got dark, yeah.
“I had the stickers on my fingers but it still seemed like it didn’t help much.”
In a stadium where lighting is an issue, catchers often wear bright stickers on their fingers to help the pitchers see the signs, something Jays backstop Danny Jansen has been employing most of the season.https://www.youtube.com/embed/MMTn0g6a48o?embed_config={%27relatedChannels%27:%20[],%27autonav%27:true}&autoplay=0&playsinline=1
“I know, (pitcher Jonathan) Holder when he came in was having a hard time seeing the signs, lighting wise,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Then there was the issue of the lengthy, savvy Jays at bats, which had more than one Yankee wondering what was up.
“Um, I mean, I’m not sure,” Higashioka said. “I guess I’ll have to take a look to see if they were maybe tipping, or something. We were a little erratic that inning.”
Ottavito, the biggest victim of the Jays’ 10-run sixth, the most runs they scored in an inning since 2010, acknowledged it didn’t make sense to him.
“It’s just bizarre,” Ottavito said. “Myself and (fellow reliever Chad Green) didn’t get any swing and misses that whole inning and we’re both well above average swing and miss pitchers.
“Not getting swing and misses, it’s either and indication that my stuff wasn’t good, my location wasn’t good or that they had something on me. They either had a great approach or they knew what was coming, any of that.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/q4lJqB7Ogo8?embed_config={%27relatedChannels%27:%20[],%27autonav%27:true}&autoplay=0&playsinline=1
Originally, several Jays players griped about having to play in Buffalo, where the home of the triple-A Bisons is decidedly minor league. But the team spent some serious coin on upgrades, the players feel mostly comfortable, and the Jays have certainly forged a noticeable home-field advantage in Buffalo.
They are now 9-5 at Sahlen Field, where their 6.1 runs per game average at home leads the major leagues.
The lighting, meanwhile, was always going to be a potential issue, even though the team upgraded the existing system prior to their home opener. It’s still darker than most major league stadiums, but few will feel sorry for the Yankees, as a witty Tweet from Jays pitching prospect Adam Kloffenstein suggests.
The view from left field 