Keep on Grinding

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - August 17 to 23, 2026

Week 15 saw the Maple Leafs playing for place, pride and paycheques.

Yasiel Puig edged closer to CBL history with two home runs this week.

The 2026 season of Toronto Maple Leafs baseball has been a grind.

Both to watch, and to write about.

When a club stumbles out of the gate, plays catchup all season and fades from postseason contention, highlights are few.  

It's late August and the Leafs have been eliminated from postseason play.  It's the first time this has happened since 2014 when they lost a one-game wild card play-in.  It is the first time the club will be excluded any kind of playoff games since 1983.

For the players it has been the ultimate grind.  The boys in blue are still grinding as the schedule ticks down.

Some are playing for place.  Striving to avoid finishing in the cellar.  Striving for a spot on next year's roster.  Striving for league history in pursuit of a single-season record.

Some are playing for pride.  Showing up every day.  Taking on the role of spoiler and having an impact on the standings.

Some are playing for a paycheque.  At the end of the day, despite the aches and pains that accrue over a season, they are professionals.  And one more direct deposit is incoming.

Now then, here's the recap of Week 15 in Toronto Maple Leafs baseball.

Wednesday, August 19, 2026 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Yasiel Puig drove in three of the Leafs' 18 runs in a Christie Pits shootout.

Lordy, lordy, look who scored forty.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Brantford Red Sox spent four hours whaling away on each other at Christie Pits.

When the dust finally settled, eight home runs had left the park, the pitchers had been assaulted for a total of 34 hits and the Red Sox came away 22-18 winners.  It was a Christie classic in the grand old style.

Where to begin.  The Red Sox scored in all but three innings.  Same with the Leafs.  If it was was possible to award both starting pitchers a loss there might be an argument here.  Brantford's Elian Serrata pitched into the fifth inning and gave up eight runs on five hits and seven walks.  He also hit two batters.  Wilgenis Alvarado fared worse.  He lasted three and two-thirds of an inning and got knocked around for twelve runs (eleven earned) on nine hits and a walk.  To quote Shakespeare, "A woeful pageant have we here beheld."*

As tides and swells go, the visitors rolled in hard and fast.  They opened the game with five runs, led 8-4 after two innings, and 14-6 midway through the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Leafs exploded for six runs.  Serrata put the first two men aboard and was relieved by Jose Arias.  An error loaded the bases, and then shortstop Spenser Ross grounded out but a run scored.  DH Yasiel Puig was intentionally walked to re-load the bases.  Second baseman Yordan Manduley singled to score a run.  Pinch hitter Yolki Pena singled in two runs.  Left fielder Dennis Dei Baning capped off the rally with a two-run double.  After five innings the Red Sox clung to a 14-12 lead and the Pits were bouncing.

In the sixth inning, each team scored a run to make it a 15-13 ballgame.

The score remained that way until the ninth, when both teams went wild at the plate.  Reliever Luis Florentino was the victim.  He gave up six runs (four earned) on three hits and two walks.  Alex Lanigan came in to finish the inning, and the Red Sox added another run off of him.  There was no end to it.

Bottom of the ninth, instead of folding, the Leafs erupted one more time.  Six hits, five runs, but the comeback fell short.  FINAL score was 22-18, 40 runs scored in total.

Some lucky schmoe had to win this one and it ended up being Arias.  Alvarado took the loss and Jorge De La Cruz earned a save.

For the Leafs at the plate, Puig wrote the biggest headline.  He hit two home runs, giving him 19 on the season, now two short of tying the all-time record set by Sean Reilly in 2013.  Puig, Dei Baning and third baseman Matt Brandt each drove in three runs.  Pena topped them all with four RBIs.  And he can't stop scoring!  The trade with Hamilton that brought him to the Pits is turning out to be a steal of a deal.  Ross also drove in a pair.  Manduley, right fielder Marcus Knecht and first baseman Ben Sitarenios each drove in one.

* from Richard II.

Brantford 22 19 3

Toronto 18 15 2

W - Arias (3-3, 8.51)

L - Alvarado (1-7, 10.01)

S - De La Cruz (5)

BOXSCORE

Friday, August 21, 2026 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox

The Leafs returned to Brantford and victory was elusive again. (file photo)

Swept.

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned to Arnold Anderson Stadium and lost their third game in a row to the Brantford Red Sox, 6-2.

A close game was sunk in the sixth when the Red Sox rallied to overthrow a fine effort by starting pitcher Nick Veselinovic.

Brantford took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when Veselinovic hit leadoff batter Andrew Savage with a pitch and a pair of hits brought him home.

In the top of the third, the Leafs tied the game thanks to a sacrifice fly by second baseman Yordan Manduley that plated shortstop Spenser Ross.  1-1 through three.

In the top of the fifth, the Leafs jumped ahead.  Ross drew a walk off of starter Leandro Mejia, stole second and ended up on third after the throw to second ended up in shallow center.  DH Yasiel Puig hit an easy grounder up the middle and Ross trotted home.  The Leafs led 2-1 after five innings.

Veselinovic cruised into the bottom of the six having given up just three hits.  It all came undone when two walks and an error loaded the bases with no out.  A sac fly and a wild pitch brought two runs in.  Christian Kuzemka then hit his fourth home run in two games to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead.

The Leafs were held scoreless over the final four innings.  Brantford tacked on one more in the eighth and swept the three-game series with a 6-2 FINAL score. 

Mejia earned the win and Jose Arias got a save.  The loss dropped Veselinovic's record to 6-3 on the season.

Toronto 2 6 2

Brantford 6 5 3

W - Mejia (4-4, 10.26)

L - Florentino (6-3, 4.71)

BOXSCORE

Saturday, August 22, 2026 - Kitchener Panthers vs Toronto Maple Leafs (rescheduled rainout)

This game was rained out and will be part of a Friday night doubleheader August 28 at Christie Pits, beginning at 5:00 pm.

Sunday, August 23, 2026 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Hamilton Cardinals

Cam Dimidjian overcame a tough start and battled through seven innings. (file photo)

But for a turbulent first inning.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell behind and could not catch up to the Hamilton Cardinals, losing 8-4.

The game was delayed by 90 minutes to allow a menace of vapour clouds and storm to pass over Bernie Arbour Stadium.

Once the contest began under sunny but breezy skies, the hosts jumped all over starting pitcher Cam Dimidjian.  They hit two home runs and ran up a 5-0 score.

It was unfortunate for Dimidjian, who battled hard through seven innings.  Over his final six he gave up just three hits and one more run, shutting down the Cardinals bats and giving his teammates a chance to come back.

Not if Luis Ramirez had anything to do about it.  Hamilton's starting pitcher was almost untouchable, giving up just one hit over the first six innings and leading his side to a 6-0 score.

It was in the seventh inning when the Mapes rallied and the home side did them some favours.  With two out, centerfielder J.J. Dutton singled.  DH Marcus Knecht lifted one to centerfield that was misplayed and bounced further towards the fence.  Dutton scored and Knecht churned all the way to third base.  The next man up was third baseman Crix Taveras and he reached safely on an error.  Knecht scored on the play and it was a 6-2 ballgame through seven.

In the top of the eighth, the Leafs pulled closer.  Catcher Kyle Poapst was hit by a pitch to lead off, and first baseman Ben Sitarenios followed with a single.  Shortstop Spenser Ross singled to score Poapst.  Dennis Dei Baning (who had entered the game in the fourth inning after starting right fielder Yasiel Puig was ejected for arguing balls and strikes) hit into a fielder's choice that allowed Sitarenios to score and suddenly it was 6-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Graham Sim took over on the mound and Hamilton put the game away.  They scored twice on five hits to extend their lead to 8-4.

The Leafs ran out of comeback cards and that was how the game ended.  Ramirez with the win and Dimidjian with the loss.

Toronto 4 7 0

Hamilton 8 13 1

W - Ramirez (3-1, 3.00)

L - Dimidjian (0-5, 9.45)

BOXSCORE

At 13-29, the Leafs remain in eighth place, 17 games behind the London Majors.  The baseball gods conspired with Mother Nature to jam six games into the final week of the season, including a trip to Welland and two separate trips to Chatham-Kent, beginning tonight.

The week ahead: 

Monday, August 24 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, 7:35 pm at Fergie Jenkins Field (rescheduled rainout)

Wednesday, August 26 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits (rescheduled rainout)

Friday, August 28 - DOUBLEHEADER: Kitchener Panthers vs Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 1 at 5:00 pm, Game 2 at approximately 7:30 pm at Christie Pits (rescheduled rainout)

Saturday, August 29 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Welland Jackfish, 6:05 pm at Welland Stadium

Sunday, August 30 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, 4:05 pm at Fergie Jenkins Field

** END OF REGULAR SEASON **

Good to Meet Yuto

Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 27 to August 2, 2026

Week 12 saw the Leafs begin the final month of the regular season with a pair of wins.

Yuto Nakata arrived at Christie Pits and made a memorable first impression. (photo: Craig Aikin)

What kind of wackadoodle alternate universe have we slipped into where we can read sentences like: 

"In 2026, Yasiel Puig has hit more home runs for Toronto than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.."  (What??)

and

"Yuto Nakata struck out 11 batters, more than any other Leaf pitcher in a game in 2026."  (Who??)

Have we become wanderers in the fifth dimension?

At the end of July, the Toronto home run tally went thus: Yasiel Puig 13, Vladdy Guerrero 6.  There's no way anybody could have predicted this outcome.

As for the guy nobody had heard of a week ago, Nakata was a deadline day acquisition, traded to the Leafs by the Frontier League's Québec Capitales for future considerations.

It was a short week with only two games completed.  Puig and Nakata both made big impacts.  The Cuban outfielder bopped three home runs, took command of the CBL's home run race and ignited discussion of a possible triple crown.  The Japanese pitcher introduced himself with a gem of a performance that sparked excitement throughout Leafs fandom.

And now, here's the recap of Week 12 in Toronto Maple Leafs baseball.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Yasiel Puig tilted Christie Pits on its axis with two huge home runs.

Don't hit Brando Leroux.

That was the lesson delivered by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first inning of their game against the Brantford Red Sox.

Shortstop Leroux was plunked in the back by Leandro Mejia to start the game.  The next man up, right fielder Yasiel Puig delivered immediate retribution with a two-run home run.  His teammates joined in and the Leafs tallied three hits and three runs.

Mejia hadn't learned.  Same inning, he hit first baseman Crix Taveras with a pitch.  Once again, the Carmines paid the price.  Four more hits, four more runs.  Mejia got the hook before recording three outs.

The Leafs handed a 7-0 lead to Nick Veselinovic, who likely didn't mind sitting on the bench for 30 minutes during the first inning beatdown.

The Toronto starter showed some effects of the long sitdown and laboured through the second inning.  He threw close to 40 pitches and the Red Sox scraped together a pair of runs.

It almost didn't matter because in the bottom of the second, the Leafs scored six more runs to take a 13-2 lead.

The atmosphere at Christie Pits, already festive for Caribana Night, became even more joyous from the score.  Fans have missed enjoying blowouts like this.

In the bottom of the fourth, Puig crushed another two-run homer.  Absolutely decimated it.  This one cleared not only the centerfield fence but also the snack bar.  The ball one-hopped against the clubhouse and ricocheted between the two buildings as souvenir hunters gave chase.

Veselinovic is getting more dominant with each start, validating his selection to the CBL All-Star team.  He threw five complete innings and ended up surrendering four runs (three earned).  He struck out a season-high 10, walked just one, and departed with a 15-4 lead.

Some Leaf numbers.  Puig dominated the night, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and 7 RBIs.  Centerfielder J.J. Dutton had three hits, an RBI and one run scored.  Catcher Matt Brandt and left fielder Ben Sitarenios each drove in a pair.

Kyle Poapst and Alex Lanigan each pitched two innings to close things out.  The Red Sox quietly chipped away at their deficit and the game ended up closer than it felt, a 15-11 FINAL.

Veselinovic collected his fifth win of the season, and Mejia took the loss.

Don't hit Brando Leroux!

Brantford 11 12 1

Toronto 15 13 1

W - Veselinovic (5-2, 4.34)

L - Mejia (2-3, 12.17)

BOXSCORE

Saturday, August 1, 2026 - Chatham-Kent Barnstormers vs Toronto Maple Leafs

This one will go down as The Yuto Nakata Game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' newest pitcher made a dominant debut, striking out 11 Chatham-Kent Barnstormers over five-plus innings, and the Leafs won 11-6.

Nakata's performance came in relief, following a rough up-and-down start by Wilgenis Alvarado.

After a strong first inning which he finished with two swinging strikeouts, Alvarado lost control in the second.  He gave up two singles and four consecutive walks.  That put three runs on the board for Chatham and ended Alvarado's evening prematurely.

Enter Nakata.  He struck out the first batter he faced and ended the inning.

In the bottom of the second, centerfielder J.J. Dutton was hit by a pitch from starter Yuri Yokoyama.  He advanced to second on a walk and scored on an RBI single by catcher Matt Brandt.  3-1 Barnstormers after two.

Dutton made it a 3-2 game when he hit his first round tripper of the season, a laser over the left field fence.

In the top of the fifth, things got sloppy for the Leafs.  Leadoff hitter Spencer Morin hit one off Nakata's glove and was safe at first.  He then proceeded to round the bases on three different wild pitches.  The third one should have been a strikeout of Yushin Ohta, but the ball got away from Brandt and Ohta took first base.  Nakata retired the next two batters and struck out Andy Groening for what should have been out number three.  Instead, the ball got away, Groening took first and Ohta advanced to third.  Ohta then scored on a steal attempt by Groening that bounced to the outfield.  With Groening at second, Iyad Ansari singled to shallow right field.  That brought Groening across the plate with the third run of the inning and the Barnstormers pulled into the fast lane with a 6-2 lead.

The stage was set for a great Christie comeback and the Leafs wasted no time.

Yokoyama pitched into the fifth inning, barely.  He gave up a leadoff dinger to second baseman Yordan Manduley and got the hook.  With reliever Adam McKillican on the mound, Dutton singled, stole second and scored on a double by first baseman Crix Taveras.  The Californian came around to score on a ground out by Brandt and after five innings it was a 6-5 game.

Bottom six, the Leafs overwhelmed the visitors.  Shortstop Brando Leroux walked and right fielder Yasiel Puig followed with an oppo taco blast over the Solazzo fence.  Next man up, Manduley doubled to the right field corner.  Dutton returned to the plate, and the 40-year-old Cuban immediately took off for third.  The throw from the catcher went past the bag into left field and Manduley trotted home.  Dutton walked and Taveras hit a liner to short.  Brian Parry dropped the ball, tossed it to second to begin a double play, and the ball ended up in centerfield.  Dutton to third, Taveras safe at second.  Both runners then scored on a tapper that third baseman Spenser Ross hit up the middle and the Leafs enjoyed a 10-6 lead through six.

On the mound since the second inning, Nakata pitched a scoreless seventh.  He put an exclamation point on his Christie Pits premiere with two more strikeouts, ending the night with 11 in total.

The Leafs added one more run in the bottom of the seventh.  With Manduley on first courtesy of a fielding error, Dutton hit a grounder that eliminated the Cuban at second.  Dutton was safe at first, and with Taveras at the plate he stole another base.  Taveras hit a liner off shortstop Parry's glove and Dutton raced home to make it 11-6 after seven innings.

Reinaldo De Paula pitched the final two innings and Chatham went down quietly with an 11-6 FINAL score.  

Everybody in the Leafs order got at least one hit.  Taveras went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two more driven in.  Puig, Ross and Brandt each drove in two runs, while Manduley and Dutton recorded one apiece.

In 5.1 innings of work, Nakata gave up three hits, three runs (one earned), and no walks to go with his 11 K's.  He got the W, he got the Player of the Game Award, he got to wear the Toronto Turbo Chain of Office, and he got to blast the Dominico Death Ray.  What a night for the newcomer.  McKillican got none of these things, only an L for his troubles.

Chatham 6 7 3

Toronto 11 16 2

W - Nakata (1-0, 1.69)

L - McKillican (0-1, 21.94)

BOXSCORE

Sunday, August 2, 2026 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Chatham-Kent Barnstormers

This game was rained out.

The Leafs' 11-20 record raises them to 6th place in the CBL standings.  They are 11 games behind the Welland Jackfish and remain 7.5 games away from a spot in the postseason.

The week ahead: 

Wednesday, August 5 - Hamilton Cardinals vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits

Friday, August 7 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox, 7:07 pm at Arnold Anderson Stadium

Saturday, August 8 - London Majors vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm at Christie Pits

Sunday, August 9 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals, 4:00 pm at Hastings Stadium (resumption of a previously suspended game from June 20)