Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - June 8 to 14, 2026
Week 5 in Maple Leafs baseball saw two sides of the same club on display
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| Yasiel Puig enjoyed a 4-RBI night this week, and leads the Leafs with nine on the year. |
Lately, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a ballclub of extremes.
Their last four games have gone like this:
June 5th, 6 hits, 1 run, lost to Hamilton.
June 7th, 11 hits, 7 runs, beat London.
June 10th, 5 hits, 0 runs, lost to Guelph.
June 12th, 18 hits, 13 runs, beat Kitchener.
It's feast or famine with this batting order. When they click, the word is a wonderful place. When they scuffle, abandon all hope.
In a game where consistency is key, it's wild not knowing which Leafs club will show up from day to day. It certainly keeps writers on their toes.
And now, here's the recap of Week 5 in Maple Leafs baseball.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - Guelph Royals vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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| Camden Dimidjian made his Leafs debut but came out on the short end. |
Late Wednesday night, my phone pinged several times.
"r u ok?"
"Saw the score, is there a mercy rule in your league?"
"LMK if you need to chat/vent."
It's nice that people care. Not so nice that earlier in the evening the Toronto Maple Leafs were beaten to such an extent that friends became concerned for my wellbeing.
The final score at Christie Pits was 10-0, the Leafs getting smoked by the Guelph Royals for the second time in a week.
Rob Butler's side scraped together five hits and a walk against starter Liam Watt, who made his 2026 season debut.
Newly-signed import Camden Dimidjian made his Leafs debut and did not fare as well. The southpaw pitched four-plus innings and gave up eight hits, two walks and five runs while striking out four.
There was no monster inning for the Royals, just a steady accumulation of runs. They scored in five different innings and cruised away with the shutout. Ex-Leaf Ryan Dos Santos hit one of the Royals' two home runs.
At the plate, the Leafs hit five singles but could do nothing with them. Their record at the Pits fell to 2-5 so far this season.
Guelph 10 16 0
Toronto 0 5 0
W - Watt (1-0, 0.00)
L - Dimidjian (0-1, 10.38)
Friday, June 12, 2026 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Kitchener Panthers
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| Marcus Knecht bopped his second home run of the season as the Leafs rampaged in Kitchener. (image: Kitchener Panthers TV/YouTube) |
For the Toronto Maple Leafs to pull themselves into the race for the postseason, they need more wins like this one.
Friday night, they went into Jack Couch Park and hammered the Kitchener Panthers 13-4.
Maybe it was an extra bowl of Cheerios, maybe it was tough words in the clubhouse, maybe it was simply "see the ball, hit the ball." The Leafs did it early and often, stacking up a season-high 18 hits.
Leaf bats faced off against former teammate Evan Elliott. In the top of the first inning, centerfielder J.J. Dutton doubled and was driven home on a single by left fielder Dennis Dei Baning for an early lead.
A big second inning extended the advantage. Second baseman Yordan Manduley returned to Kitchener to face the club that abruptly released him last summer. In his first at bat he hit an oppo taco laser over the right field fence. It was the Cuban's first round trip of the season. Elliott hit two batters and gave up a single to load the bases. Right fielder Yasiel Puig drove in two runs with a line drive to centerfield. Dei Baning followed with another RBI single to give the Leafs a 5-0 lead.
Bottom two, the Panthers got on the board. Dutton and Dei Baning collided at the fence while chasing down a flyball by Rafael Gross. Both fielders hit the deck and Gross ended up on third. A single by Zane Skansi scored Gross. Skansi advanced on a passed ball and scored on a drive by Yosuke Fujie. That made it 5-2 through two.
Toronto starter Nick Veselinovic cruised through six innings for his best start of the year. His final line was two runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out five en route to his first win as a Leaf.
His teammates got into a scoring frenzy, adding to their lead every inning from the third through the sixth.
DH Marcus Knecht went 2-for-5 and hit his second home run of the season.
Shortstop Brando Leroux went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Puig went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He leads the club with nine.
Ben Sitarenios pitched the seventh and gave up a couple of runs but the Black Cats' luck ran out.
Graham Sim pitched the final two innings for Toronto and gave up a single hit. He wrapped things up for the 13-4 FINAL. Veselinovic with the W, Elliott with the L.
Toronto 13 18 0
Kitchener 4 6 1
W - Veselinovic (1-1, 4.50)
L - Elliott (1-2, 6.12)
Sunday, June 14, 2026 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs
This game was rained out.
The Maple Leafs approach the one-quarter mark of the 2026 season with a 3-8 record.
They are tied for last place with the Brantford Red Sox, 6.0 games behind the Barrie Baycats.
A huge week is on the horizon. Four games in four days, three of them on the road. Will the Leafs depart with grim faces and return with smiles?
The week ahead:
Wednesday, June 17 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish (rescheduled rainout), 7:05 pm at Welland Stadium
Thursday, June 18 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats, 7:38 pm at Athletic Kulture Stadium
Friday, June 19 - Barrie Baycats vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits
Saturday, June 20 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals, 7:05 pm at Hastings Stadium
**POST-CREDITS SCENE**
The Toronto-Guelph crossover of 2026 continues. Congratulations to Damon Topolie, another key figure in the Dominico Cinematic Universe.
Topolie is currently on the Guelph Royals roster. Last week at Hastings Stadium, the former Leafs GM, manager, player, scout, travelling secretary, groundskeeper, etc etc reached rare heights by recording his 500th RBI in the IBL/CBL. Congrats Topps!
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