Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 15 to 21, 2024
The Leafs went one step forward, two steps back in a week that appeared to be the norm and no longer an exception in this 2024 season.
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| Toronto Maple Leafs pitcher Wilgenis Alvarado's face betrays some of the exasperation that's becoming the norm at Christie Pits this season. |
Smiles everywhere except on the field of play.
It was another win-one, lose-two week for the boys in blue. This 2024 team is hurtling down the road towards a critical junction. Will the rest of the season be more of the same? Or will the Leafs finally go off the chain?
This past week of baseball action provided mixed results. A wild romping victory in Kitchener was bookended by a pair of lifeless defeats at home. Will the real Maple Leafs please stand up?
Here now is a recap of Week 10 in Maple Leafs baseball.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - Barrie Baycats vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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| A quiet evening at Christie Pits saw the Leafs drop another to the Barrie Baycats. |
More of the same.
New signing Landon Leach took to the mound for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they hosted their rivals the Barrie Baycats.
Leach, a 25-year-old Toronto native and former Minnesota Twins farmhand, made his debut on this Wednesday Nighter. The Baycats welcomed him to the IBL and proceeded to do Baycat things.
A run in the first inning, a run in the second. In the top of the third, Wilgenis Alvarado took over from Leach and gave up two more. Just like that, the visitors were off to a 4-0 lead.
Frank Garces stymied Leaf bats all night. He pitched seven innings of shutout baseball, scattering six hits while striking out five.
Toronto's offence finally got a run across the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Facing reliever Brad Grieveson, first baseman Jordan Castaldo doubled and scored to break up the shutout and make it a 6-1 ballgame. However that would be the Leafs' lone scoring output on the night.
Barrie 6 10 3
Toronto 1 7 1
W - Garces (5-1, 2.14)
L - Leach (0-1, 6.00)
Thursday, July 18, 2024 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Kitchener Panthers
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| With a football score on the board, Julian Valdez prepares to wrap things up for his second save of the season. (image: Panthers Baseball Online) |
Off the chain!
Not 24 hours after a listless one-run performance at home, the Toronto Maple Leafs barged into Jack Couch Park and lit up the scoreboard with 19 runs.
The scoring assault was almost matched by the host Kitchener Panthers, who put up 17 in an occasionally tense battle.
Pitchers Yadian Martinez and Angel Castro absorbed most of the body blows over the first six innings. Martinez was tagged for seven earned runs off eight hits while striking out five. Castro surrendered nine runs off eleven hits while striking out six. He departed the game after hitting a batter with a pitch. Some jawing ensued as Castro left the field, and both clubs were issued warnings.
Through six innings, the Panthers clung to a 9-8 lead. Then the Leafs exploded. In the top of the seventh, they put seven runs on the board for the second consecutive inning to take a 15-9 lead.
Bats on both sides continued to pummel every relief pitcher who dared venture to the mound. Castro continued his disruptor role from the Leafs bench, eventually getting tossed from the game in the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth, Julian Valdez pitched the game's first scoreless inning since the fifth, locking down a 19-17 FINAL score. Greg Carrington got the win for Toronto and Valdez earned himself a save.
At the plate for Toronto, centerfielder Charlie Towers led the way with three hits and four RBIs. Shortstop Jose Vinicio, right fielder Marcus Knecht and second baseman Dan Marra also notched three hits apiece. Virtually everyone else in the Leafs lineup either scored a run or drove one in. Towers, Vinicio and pinch hitter Michael Cecchetto each hit a home run.
Kitchener's scoreboard operator is said to be recovering from severe nerve and tendon damage in both hands.
Toronto 19 19 1
Kitchener 17 18 2
W - Carrington (1-1, 8.18)
L - Laird (1-1, 12.46)
S - Valdez (2)
Sunday, July 21, 2024 - Chatham-Kent Barnstormers vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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| Sunday at Christie Pits, the Leafs mascot engaged the help of some superfriends to try and find the key to turning this season around. |
More of the same.
The Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to have spent their entire week's worth of runs all in Kitchener.
They returned to Christie Pits and to their listless ways with a three-hit, two-run performance against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers.
Just as in the Leafs' previous home game against Barrie, the Barnstormers scored in small bunches. A run here, a couple there, enough to amass a 7-0 lead after eight innings.
Sam Greene made the start on the mound for the Leafs, going five innings and giving up five runs on seven hits. He struck out five.
Wilgenis Alvarado pitched the next three innings, giving up a pair of runs on three hits while striking out three. Chris Nagorski wrapped things up with a scoreless ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth the Leafs' offence showed a flicker of life. Chatham reliever Connor King loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single. Two of those runners would score courtesy of another walk and a fielder's choice. The Leafs broke up the shutout but the game ended with a 7-2 FINAL score. Greene took the loss while Chatham starter Brock Whitson got the win.
Midway through the game, the Leafs mascot teamed up with some superfriends to perform a lively dance number on the infield grass. A snarkier writer might have said it was the most energy seen on the diamond all day. A snarkier writer just might.
Chatham-Kent 7 11 1
Toronto 2 3 0
W - Whitson (3-0, 3.10)
L - Greene (1-2, 5.52)
Ten weeks and 30 games into the season the Leafs still reside in the IBL cellar. Their 9-21 record leaves them 13 games behind the Welland Jackfish and half a game behind the Brantford Red Sox in their pursuit of a postseason spot.
The week ahead:
Friday, July 26 - Toronto Maple Leafs at London Majors, 7:35 PM at Labatt Memorial Park
Saturday, July 27 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox, 2:00 PM at Arnold Anderson Stadium
Sunday July 28 - London Majors vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00 PM at Christie Pits
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