Diamondbacks play the Blue Jays looking to stop road slide
Arizona Diamondbacks (36-37, fourth in the NL West) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (40-33, third in the AL East)
Toronto; Thursday, 3:07 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Ryne Nelson (3-2, 4.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 41 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (5-5, 4.08 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -138, Diamondbacks +116; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Diamondbacks will aim to end their five-game road losing streak in a matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Toronto has a 40-33 record overall and a 24-13 record at home. The Blue Jays have a 17-7 record in games when they did not give up a home run.
Arizona has a 16-19 record on the road and a 36-37 record overall. Diamondbacks hitters have a collective .441 slugging percentage to rank second in the NL.
The teams meet Thursday for the third time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 15 doubles and nine home runs for the Blue Jays. Ernie Clement is 16 for 43 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.
Josh Naylor has a .305 batting average to lead the Diamondbacks, and has 17 doubles, a triple and nine home runs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 12 for 37 with a home run and four RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 6-4, .275 batting average, 5.38 ERA, outscored by five runs
Diamondbacks: 5-5, .238 batting average, 5.31 ERA, outscored by nine runs
INJURIES: Blue Jays: Myles Straw: day-to-day (ankle), Jonatan Clase: day-to-day (knee), Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lukes: 7-Day IL (neck), Daulton Varsho: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Anthony Santander: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Max Scherzer: 60-Day IL (thumb), Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (back), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Diamondbacks: Gabriel Moreno: day-to-day (hand), Justin Martinez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Mena: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Christian Montes De Oca: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 15-Day IL (hip), Corbin Burnes: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Puk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow), Blake Walston: 60-Day IL (elbow)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Thunder's Gilgeous-Alexander named NBA Finals MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrates with the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy after clinching the crown with a win over the Indiana Pacers (Justin Ford) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player on Sunday after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a title-clinching victory over the Indiana Pacers. The 26-year-old Canadian star becomes the first player since LeBron James in 2012-2013 to win both the NBA regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same campaign. Advertisement "For me this is a win for my family, it's a win for my friends, it's a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up," Gilgeous-Alexander said after the Thunder's 103-91 win. "It means everything. This is why you play the sport -- you play every sport to win. We have a team full of competitors, we did what it took to be champions and we deserve this. We rose to the moment and here we are." The Thunder star joins an exclusive club of only 11 players to have achieved the feat which includes James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed. Gilgeous-Alexander produced a dazzling performance in Sunday's game seven decider in Oklahoma City, finishing with 29 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, a pair of blocked shots and a steal. rcw/bb
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
MVP. Finals MVP. Scoring champ. NBA champ. OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now holds all those titles
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — He's the most valuable player. The scoring champion. And now, an NBA champion along with NBA Finals MVP. All in one season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has entered one of the game's most elite clubs. The 26-year-old Canadian is atop the basketball world now in almost every way imaginable. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the NBA title on Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 to win the finals in a seven-game thriller. He becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP, a scoring title and play for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times, and Shaquille O'Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity — until now. 'A lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the gym,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'This isn't just a win for me. This is a win for my family. This is a win for my friends. This is a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up. This is a win for the fans, the best fans in the world.' The title caps a season where the Thunder won 84 games, tied for the third most by any team in any season in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with 64 games of at least 30 points. The only other players to score 30 points that many times in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Bob McAdoo, James Harden, Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar. It is amazing company. With due respect to those legends, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't care. The Thunder are NBA champions. That's more than enough for him. 'Focusing on just being the best version of myself for this basketball team, for whatever it takes, for however many games it is, however many possessions is needed, however many moments,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'Ultimately, I'm just trying to stay in the moment. I think that's what's gotten me here. That's what has helped me achieve the MVP award, achieve all the things I've achieved. It's helped this team win basketball games.' This was not a sneak attack up the ladder of superstardom. Gilgeous-Alexander has been climbing those rungs for years. He's one of only two players — Giannis Antetokounmpo is the other — to average at least 30 points per game in each of the last three seasons. He led Canada to a bronze medal (over the United States, no less) at the World Cup in 2023, been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA pick for three years running, played in his first Olympics last year, and just finished a season where he posted career bests in points and assists per game. He scored 3,172 points this season, including playoffs, the ninth-most by any player in NBA history. Oh, and he's a champion now. 'He's getting better every year in just about everything,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'I think he's really improved as a playmaker. … And then he's an unbelievable scorer, and incredibly efficient. We lean into that. He leans into that. He's learned when teams load up on him and they overcommit, to get off it early, and I think that's reflected in the way we've played offense throughout the course of the season.' Opponents have no choice but to marvel at how Gilgeous-Alexander does what he does. He's not a high-flying artist like Jordan, not an unstoppable force of power like LeBron James, not a 3-point dazzler like Stephen Curry. He looks like he's playing at his own pace much of time, largely because defenses have few ways to slow him down or speed him up. 'Shai, he's so good,' Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton — who suffered a serious lower leg injury that knocked him out of Game 7 in the first quarter — said during the series. 'He's so slippery in between those gaps. He splits screens, like, I don't know how he's doing that. … He's a really tough cover.' Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of basketball in Oklahoma City, is rapidly becoming one of the faces of the NBA — his jersey is now one of the highest-selling — and it's no secret that he is the icon for fans in Canada now. It used to be Steve Nash, the first Canadian to win NBA MVP. Now, Nash has help. 'You can only imagine and get excited about all the kids around the world, but in particular Canadians that will be affected so positively, whether they're basketball players or not, by the way he carries himself, by the way he executes and commits to his profession,' Nash said. 'It's remarkable and he's an amazing example for everybody out there, not just kids.' There's no question Nash had some impact on Gilgeous-Alexander's rise in the game. Another great who did: Kobe Bryant. There are parallels: similar body types, even similar ways they answer questions. Bryant famously said 'job's not finished' when asked about his Lakers getting within two wins of a title one year; Gilgeous-Alexander had a similar moment after the Thunder got to three wins in this series, saying 'we haven't done anything.' They have now. 'He is probably my favorite player of all time,' Gilgeous-Alexander said of Bryant. 'Never got the chance to meet him. With me, with kids all across the world, his influence has gone through the roof. He'll be remembered forever because of the competitor and the basketball player he was. Yeah, I'm hopefully somewhere close to that as a basketball player one day.' He's not there yet. But Gilgeous-Alexander got one day closer Sunday, when he reached basketball's mountaintop for the first time. 'It means everything,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We rose to the moment. And here we are.' ___ AP NBA:
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Rookie Chase Meidroth is proud to help give White Sox fans some hope for the future
As the Chicago White Sox rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Sunday, Chase Meidroth went one-for-four, scored a couple of runs, and provided some steady defense as he splits time between shortstop and second base. The confident rookie is part of a young core giving long-suffering Sox fans some hope for the future. Meidroth was thrown right into the deep end of the pool upon being traded to the Sox in December, and he has been swimming more than sinking — floating with hitting .300. He said it's all about discipline, and not focusing on stats. "I think you just show up every day and you try to win a baseball game. You try not, you know, to look at your own numbers — and as much as you do that, and as much as the team's having success, you'll look back and you'll be like, 'Oh, I did pretty well this year,'" Meidroth said. Meidroth, a Southern California native, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2022. He was playing in the minors until being traded to the White Sox along with Wikelman Gonzalez, Braden Montgomery, and Kyle Teel in exchange for Garrett Crochet. At the time, the White Sox were notorious for all the wrong reasons. They set the modern-era MLB record for most losses in a season, finishing 41-121, finishing 41-121. Meidroth said that was not a concern of his. "I really didn't know. I was really excited for the opportunity, and obviously blessed to be part of it, so I was really excited to get over here. I didn't know what it was like, and I didn't have any expectations," he said. "But you know, I'm having fun. We've got a really good group of guys in there, and I'm looking forward to showing up every day in the park, you know, to win a game." Meidroth said he has bonded with his fellow rookies Teel and Tim Elko, as they grow their skills together. "You know, you just take it day by day and then try to win pitch by pitch, and it's really easy, you know, bouncing ideas off those guys, competing every day with those guys," Meidroth said, "and you know, Teel especially — I was with him last year, and he's a baseball rat, and we both love the game, so it's easy to show up and compete every day with a guy like that." Meidroth did suffer through an embarrassing moment in May, when a high pop fly by the Kansas City Royals' Drew Waters clipped off Meidroth's glove and hit him in the head as he tried to catch it. "Obviously, I didn't plan for that to happen," he said. "That's part of it — errors are going to happen. But you show up the next day, and show up to win a game the next day." Meidroth said while there are inevitably ups and downs, "the rest of the season has been pretty fun, and yeah, we've had a good time here." He called Chicago an awesome city, and is proud to be part of the rebuild effort for the White Sox. "I'm really excited," Meidroth said. "It's one of those things where the feeling at the end of the tunnel is going to be worth it because of the strides that we put in now."
