Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 17 to 24, 2024
A rough week saw the Toronto Maple Leafs lose four games in a row and hit the low point of their 2024 season.
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| Discussion, contemplation, all in search of answers to the Leafs' losing skid. |
The Toronto Maple Leafs endured a brutal week in the IBL.
They lost four in a row and slid down the standings. A week ago they seemed on the brink of busting into the top half of the league. Today, they cling to the final playoff spot, one game out of the cellar.
What caused this reversal of fortune? Some injuries, some bad luck, some hot teams on the other side of the diamond. All of these things came together to make for an ugly losing streak. The sooner the Leafs can put this June swoon behind them, the better.
And now, here is a recap of Week 6 in Maple Leafs baseball.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 - Guelph Royals vs Toronto Maple Leafs (rescheduled rainout)
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| Jordan Castaldo makes a mockery of the new double-high fence at Christie Pits with this grand slam launch on Wednesday night. |
The pitchers.
I'm guessing they were the only people who did not enjoy this instant-classic Christie Pits slugfest between the Guelph Royals and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The clubs combined for 35 hits and 27 runs, with Guelph emerging on top of a 15-12 FINAL.
Going into the evening, the narrative centred around Leaf legend Garrett Takamatsu's return to Christie Pits. In the top of the second inning, Guelph's new DH went to bat and immediately reminded everyone why he is a former IBL Rookie of the Year and MVP.
Sam Greene had pitched one inning before handing the ball to Max Lanoue. Takamatsu went to the plate and blasted an 0-2 pitch for a home run. Lanoue's very next pitch was crushed by Josh Garten. Two pitches, two home runs and an early lead for the Royals.
The Leafs struck back in the bottom of the second. Guelph starter Brandon Deans loaded the bases and DH Jordan Castaldo promptly unloaded them with a no-doubt, watch-it-leave-the-area-code grand slam over the caged monster in right. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo singled to drive in a run and the Leafs went ahead 5-2 after two.
Back and forth it went, both clubs hitting haymakers off each other. Seven homers left the ballpark. There was so much pimping going on it rivalled Times Square in the 70s. The fans loved it, and I'm sure the players did too. When you have two clubs that respect each other and like to have fun, everyone wins.
The final tally of taters: two by Castaldo, two by Garten. One each by Takamatsu, Solazzo and right fielder Marcus Knecht.
Down 15-10 in the bottom of the ninth, the Leafs rallied for two more runs but ultimately fell short.
Julian Valdez got tagged with the loss for Toronto, on a night the pitchers would like to forget.
Guelph 15 22 2
Toronto 12 13 0
W - Concepcion (1-0, 4.69)
L - Valdez (1-1, 6.07)
Friday, June 21, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals
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| The Cardinals sent their fans home happy with a win on Friday night. (Image: Cable14Now.com) |
Miracle of nature.
Back then he had the vibe of a grizzled veteran, possibly counting down to the end of his playing career.
Eleven years later, Lawson is still playing. He is impossibly old. Sending him out there to face cocky young batters feels like elder abuse. He could get killed out there.
However, on Friday night in Hamilton, Lawson did the killing. He defied time itself and pitched six innings of shut-down baseball. The Cardinals starter held the Leafs to just one run and five hits while striking out four. Hamilton took a 7-3 win and Old Father Time took the W.
His opposite, Wilgenis Alvarado, is not off to the same start he enjoyed last year. Alvarado pitched into the sixth inning and gave up all seven of Hamilton's runs (six earned). The reigning IBL ERA leader is labouring under a 7.33 average this season.
In the third inning, DH Justin Marra hit an RBI single to put the Leafs on the scoreboard.
Down 7-1 in the eighth inning, the boys in blue got two more runs across, thanks to a sacrifice fly by catcher Lachlan Maude, and a wild pitch that allowed third baseman Johnathan Solazzo to score. The Leafs could go no further and took the loss at Bernie Arbour Stadium.
Toronto 3 7 1
Hamilton 7 7 2
W - Lawson (2-1, 4.43)
L - Alvarado (0-3, 7.73)
Saturday, June 22, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish
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| Toronto Maple Leafs players and coaches swarm around the umpires after three of them were ejected in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday. (Image: Welland Jackfish YouTube) |
It was toe-to-toe until the gong show.
On Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs went to Welland Stadium to do battle with the defending IBL champion Jackfish. The Leafs held their own, and held a lead into the seventh inning before the rug was pulled out from under them.
The champs jumped on Toronto starter Angel Castro early, scoring three runs in the first inning.
The visitors battled back. In the top of the second inning, first baseman Cole Murchison drove in a run. In the top of the third, the Leafs scored two more to make it a 3-3 ballgame.
In the top of the seventh, junior call-up Lucas Alberti put his stamp on the game. The centerfielder crushed a solo home run over the fence in left for his first IBL four-bagger. That put the Leafs ahead 4-3.
Castro pitched into the bottom of the seventh before handing the ball to Dustin Richardson. With two men on and one out, Dawson Tweet hit a sure-thing sac fly to left, but a baserunning blunder kept anyone from scoring. The runner on third earned a reprieve as a wild pitch from Richardon allowed him to score. With the game now tied 4-4 It looked like Richardson would get out of the inning as Jake Sanford hit a grounder for an easy out, but Sanford ran it out and was called safe at first. A run came in, Welland went up 5-4, and a gong show ensued. As the Leafs argued the call at first, the umpire began ejecting them. Coach Brian Sewell was the first one tossed. A steaming Richardson went next. The Leafs were hot and did not let up. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo apparently said something that could be heard all the way across the infield, and he was also tossed. A close contest devolved into a mess.*
In the top of the eighth, two more Leafs were ejected for arguing, bringing the total to five.
The Jackfish scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-4 lead.
In the ninth inning, the Leafs scratched out one more run but it was not enough. Welland took the game with a 7-5 FINAL.
* The three Leafs were thrown out by the same activist umpire who presided over a similar gong show in Guelph on June 8th.
Toronto 5 5 1
Welland 7 11 2
W - Howat (1-0, 3.37)
L - Castro (1-2, 5.19)
S - Mendez (4)
Sunday, June 23, 2024 - Hamilton Cardinals vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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| Despite giving up just one run and two hits on Sunday, Julian Tymochko took the hard luck loss in a game that spiraled into a late-innings blowout. |
An ugly end to an ugly week.
On Sunday afternoon at Christie Pits, the Toronto Maple Leafs got their asses handed to them by the Hamilton Cardinals. There's no nice way to write around that.
A bullpen game saw six different pitchers take the mound for Toronto, with varying degrees of success. Sam Greene, Julian Tymochko and Adam Marra pitched the first five innings. Tymochko gave up the lone Cardinals run.
Toronto's only run of the game came off the bat of right fielder Marcus Knecht, who hit an RBI single.
Over the final four innings, everything fell apart. The Cards racked up eleven more runs en route to a 12-1 laugher. Julian Valdez, Max Lanoue and Chris Nagorski were the victims.
It felt like the 2024 season had hit its low point. As the runs piled on, the Leafs bench went quiet. Heads drooped, and no one had much to say.
Frustrations appeared to boil over after the final out of the game. An infield fracas erupted and both teams converged in the infield. After some shouting and jostling they came apart, but the shouting match continued all the way to the clubhouses.
On that sour note, the Leafs ended their worst week of the season.
Hamilton 12 14 0
Toronto 1 5 0
W - Eguchi (5-1, 4.10)
L - Tymochko (1-1, 4.90)
After six weeks, the Maple Leafs are in eighth place in the standings, 8 1/2 games behind the Welland Jackfish and one game ahead of the Kitchener Panthers.
The week ahead:
Thursday, June 27 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats, 7:35 PM at Vintage Throne Stadium
Sunday, June 30 - London Majors vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 PM at Christie Pits
Monday, July 1 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, 6:05 PM at Fergie Jenkins Field
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