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First place in AL East is new Blue Jays target even after falling flat in series finale against D'Backs

First place in AL East is new Blue Jays target even after falling flat in series finale against D'Backs

National Post19 hours ago

There are any number of motivational checkpoints in a 162-game season to help contending teams ride the inevitable swings of the odyssey, both high and low.
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When a three-plus weeks of solid baseball allows you to wake up in late June just two games out of the division lead, that would be one of them.
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That was the position the Blue Jays found themselves in prior to a flat Thursday matinee against the Arizona Diamondbacks that resulted in a mostly lopsided and deflating 9-5 loss.
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Sure, it wasn't pretty but at least the home side took the three-game series 2-1, cooling a team that had arrived on a give-game heater.
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Baseball players are generally better equipped at riding out highs and lows than other sports — in part in the name of retaining some sanity giving the length of the season. So dropping a game against the D'Backs shouldn't destroy momentum, especially with the opportunity presented by a three-game weekend series against the Chicago White Sox, the worst team in the American League, right around the corner.
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With the New York Yankees defeating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Jays slipped to three games in arrears of the division leaders. But with a big four-game home series against the Yankees starting on June 30, for the first time in 2025 the prospect of chasing the division lead has a whiff of believability.
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'There is so much season left but, yeah, you look up and want so see yourself where you envision yourself,' manager John Schneider said prior to Thursday's lopsided affair played out before 33,978 at the open-roofed Rogers Centre. 'There's the wildcard and that's great, but the goal every year is to try to win the division. 'A lot (of season) to go but nice to look up and say we're playing well and where we are in terms of games back.'
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The unsightliness of Thursday aside, the Jays have still won 14 of their past 20 games and with a record of 40-34 have distanced themselves from that annoying dalliance with .500 that consumed the first two months of the season.
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'I remember at the start of the month when I said you kind of want to put your best foot forward before you get into July and the dog days and the trade deadline and all that stuff,' Schneider said. 'I think it's nice that we have done that, and it kind of keeps the carrot at the end of the stick, right there, even though it's a long way to go.'
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The Jays couldn't get much of anything going on Thursday, early on the offence reduced to just two hits through the first seven innings, both of them Alejandro Kirk home runs. An eighth inning mini-rally — started by a Jonatan Clase homer — added three to bring the final score closer to respectability.
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Elks lose home opener to Alouettes, drop to 0-2
Elks lose home opener to Alouettes, drop to 0-2

CTV News

time12 minutes ago

  • CTV News

Elks lose home opener to Alouettes, drop to 0-2

Montreal Alouettes' Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund (91) tries to tackle Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (2) during first half CFL action in Edmonton, on Thursday June 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson The Montreal Alouettes are off to their traditional solid start. Tyson Philpot reeled in a pair of touchdown passes as the Alouettes remained perfect on the year with a 38-28 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday. Montreal is 3-0 to start the current campaign, and 9-0 in June over the past three seasons. 'You want to win them all, I don't think we are conceding one. We prepare to win every week,' said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. 'The expectations are very high in our locker room. We are going to continue to grind and to work to get better and to make this start count. We've played three games and won them all and want to continue down that trend.' Quarterback Davis Alexander passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. 'It's just something I've been dealing with for a little bit,' he said. 'It was kind of more cautionary to not go back into the game. We were up 24-6 going on a drive and we didn't necessarily need the risk there.' Edmonton is off to another poor start to the season, dropping to 0-2. The Elks were 0-7 to start last season and 0-9 in 2023. However, they did manage to score 22 points in the final quarter to offer some hope going forward. 'We have fight on our football team,' said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. 'We just got in a hole early, too many explosions on defence. That's on the coaching staff, we've got to get that cleaned up. 'Our offence took a step tonight, which is a positive, but we're still looking for that complete team effort.' The Elks struck on their opening drive as Vincent Blanchard kicked a 42-yard field goal, welcome news after missing both attempts in his team's first game. Montreal answered right back on its first possession as Alexander marched down the field before connecting with Philpot on a six-yard touchdown pass. The Alouettes added to their lead late in the first quarter as a 54-yard pass to Charleston Rambo set up a second strike to Philpot, this time a 13-yard TD reception. Edmonton got a second field goal from Blanchard, from 32 yards, six minutes into the second. Montreal almost had a third major after a long pass interference call against the Elks, but was forced to accept an 11-yard Jose Maltos field goal. The Alouettes continued to dominate with a 38-yard bomb from Alexander to a wide-open Tyler Snead in the end zone with two minutes to play in the first half. The Elks looked poised to cut into the lead just before the end of the first half but a long pass by starting quarterback Tre Ford into the end zone was intercepted by Kabion Ento to keep it 24-6. There was definite cause for concern midway through the third as Alexander clutched his thigh while running after delivering a ball and went down. He left the game and didn't return, with McLeod Bethel-Thompson coming in as his replacement. After a punt single, Montreal added a 26-yard Maltos field goal to close out the third. The Elks finally gave their crowd a reason to cheer to start the fourth as Ford took it in himself for an 18-yard rushing TD, adding a two-point convert pass to Justin Rankin. Maltos responded with his third field goal from 32 yards before Montreal added a 23-yard rushing major from Sean Thomas-Erlington. To its credit, Edmonton kept pushing as Ford found Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a 33-yard touchdown with six minutes left and then went even deeper with a 51-yard TD bomb to Kaion Julien-Grant with 2:35 to play. Notes Alexander is now 7-0 as a starting QB, tying Jeff Garcia and Bo Levi Mitchell for the second-best starts in CFL history. Danny McManus holds the record with an 8-0 record to launch his career … Ford passed the 300-completion and 4,000-yard marks for his career. Up next Alouettes: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, June 27. Elks: Are in Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers on Thursday, June 26. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. Shane Jones, The Canadian Press

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