Sports
Slumping Blue Jays again turn to RHP Dylan Cease against Angels
Apr 27, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The Toronto Blue Jays need a repeat of the result from the last time Dylan Cease opposed the Los Angeles Angels.
The Blue Jays open a six-game homestand Friday night against the Angels in a four-game losing streak after a 2-5 road trip.
In his start against the host Angels on April 20, Cease (2-1, 3.05 ERA) struck out 12 and allowed two runs in five innings to earn the decision in the Blue Jays’ 5-2 win.
The right-hander is scheduled to go against the losing pitcher of that game, Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.28), who allowed four runs in six innings to take the loss.
Cease is 2-2 with a 3.50 ERA in eight career starts against the Angels. Detmers is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in seven career games (four starts) against Toronto.
The Angels will open a six-game road trip on Friday after defeating the Chicago White Sox 8-2 on Wednesday to finish a 3-3 homestand with two straight victories. They had not won two in a row since April 16-17 and had not won a series since taking two of three from the Cincinnati Reds on April 10-12.
“It was nice,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “They deserve it. They played well, pitching, defense, great plays made and then timely offense with big hits using the whole field. It was great.
“We felt good about (Tuesday) night and coming into today we felt confident,” Suzuki continued. “You try to carry that momentum from game to game and just keep building off of this and see where we go.”
Travis d’Arnaud, a former Toronto minor-leaguer (2010-12), hit a three-run homer in the Angels’ five-run second on Wednesday. The catcher left the game after running out a groundout in the fourth.
“He had some foot soreness, just kind of seeing what it is,” Suzuki said. “He had a tough time putting any pressure on it, so we just took him out for precautionary reasons.”
Former Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah, who has not pitched in the majors since 2024 as a result of elbow surgery, joined the Angels’ bullpen on Wednesday after reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
The Angels and the Blue Jays had Thursday off.
The timing was good for the Blue Jays after they were swept in a three-game road series by the Tampa Rays that ended with a 3-0 loss on Wednesday.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider had some advice for his players.
“Take a step back and just kind of take a deep breath,” Schneider said. “There’s not a game (Thursday) where you’ve got to go out and try to do something more, so spend time with your family. Get away from the game a little bit. Keep yourself physically ready and get prepared. But it’s a good off-day for us right now, for sure.”
The Blue Jays could get some help Friday with the expected return of right fielder Addison Barger, who has been out since suffering a sprained ankle on April 5. He started the season 1-for-19 (.053) with two RBIs.
The offense needs a boost. The Blue Jays scored four runs over the three games against the Rays.
“When you’re not scoring and you’re in it a little bit, there’s some anxiety and pressure that goes into each and every guy’s at-bats,” Schneider said. “The most important thing is to take that away. Do your thing. Know what you’re good at. And then it gets contagious. As contagious as it gets when you’re pressing, it can flip in a hurry.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
RHP Tyler Glasnow (back) exits Dodgers' win over Marlins
May 6, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow (31) delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow was removed after pitching one inning because of back spasms in the team’s 12-2 victory over the host Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Glasnow allowed a first-inning home run to Brice Matthews and attempted to return in the second. After several warmup pitches, Glasnow, 32, motioned for trainers, who along with manager Dave Roberts removed him from the game with what the Dodgers announced as low back pain. Jack Dreyer (2-1) replaced Glasnow and picked up the victory with two scoreless innings of relief.
“It’s just like a normal spasm that kind of just gives out,” the 6-foot-8 Glasnow said after the game. “I’ve gotten it since like high school, just being tall, I guess. I get it like a couple times a year. It was just a warm-up pitch and it gave out, and I tried to throw another one and it just was too hard to bend over.”
Glasnow’s first-inning strikeout of Yordan Alvarez was the 1,000th of his career. He is the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach the milestone at 793 innings.
“It’s great. It’s a cool accomplishment,” Glasnow said. “It would have been better if I didn’t get taken out of the game (before) the second (inning) … but I’ll be able to look back on it and have a nice feeling about it.”
Glasnow said he’s not worried about the back issue, saying it “doesn’t seem to feel too serious.” Roberts took similar tone.
“I don’t expect it to be an IL situation,” Roberts said. “I think that given that it’s something that’s recurring and then kind of looking at the history … it’s been more of we push him back a couple days — two, three days. As I understand it, we’re going to get back home, get an MRI, just make sure that’s kind of what we see.”
A 2024 All-Star with Los Angeles, Glasnow is 3-0 with a 2.72 ERA after his abbreviated seventh start this season. He signed a five-year, $136.5 million contract before the 2024 season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Daniel Altmaier delivers in the clutch in Rome
Jun 1, 2025; Paris, FR; Daniel Altmaier of Germany returns a shot during his match against Frances Tiafoe of the United States on day eight at Roland Garros Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images World No. 64 Daniel Altmaier outlasted first-round opponent Zhizhen Zhang in Rome at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday, setting up a second-round matchup with No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
The 27-year-old German rallied to win 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 against China’s Zhang, who finished with more winners (29-25) and fewer unforced errors (20-25). The two-hour, 23-minute match finally began to turn Altmaier’s way during a 7-3 tiebreak in Set 2, and he leveraged a 3-1 lead in the final set to the finish line.
“Recently it’s been quite tough,” Zhang said. “I haven’t won many matches and my confidence isn’t very high.
“If I had a bit more confidence, that service game at 5-4 in the second set could have been different.”
Altmaier holds a 1-3 record against his countryman Zverev, most recently suffering a loss in the Round of 16 at Munich in 2025. Altmaier’s lone win came in 2024 at Acapulco. Zverev is a two-time Rome champion.
Yannick Hanfmann defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-2 and Jan-Lennard Struff powered past Argentina qualifier Francisco Comesana 6-2, 6-4 to give Germany a clean sweep of the day’s action.
Struff advances to meet Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka (No. 13) while Hanfmann will next face No. 18 Luciana Darderi of Italy.
The Italians split their matches on their home turf, with wild card Matteo Arnaldi downing Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and Fabian Marozasan losing to the Czech Republic’s Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-3.
Zachary Svajda was the lone American winner, topping Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Elsewhere, Patrick Kypson fell to Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, while Jenson Brooksby lost to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-6 (8).
Svajda’s Round of 32 opponent will be Norway’s Casper Ruud, ranked No. 23.
Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Shevchenko will face No. 13 Karen Khachanov of Russia after taking care of Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5). On the opposing side of the bracket, the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp advanced to meet No. 22 Arthur Rinderknech of France by finishing off France’s Alexandre Muller 7-5, 6-3.
In other action, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo handled Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 6-1, Portugal’s Nuno Borges controlled the Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong 6-3, 6-0 and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur cruised past France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-0.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CONCACAF Champions Cup: Toluca FC pull away from LAFC to reach final
Mar 12, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A general view of the official game ball during the first half in the match between Tigres UANL and FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images A four-goal second half lifted Toluca FC past Los Angeles FC on Wednesday and into the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.
Toluca emerged with a 4-0 victory on Wednesday in Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico, giving the hosts a 5-2 aggregate win in the two-game, total-goal semifinal series.
The final will be an all-Mexican affair, with Toluca opposing Tigres UANL on May 30. Tigres completed a 2-0 aggregate victory over Nashville SC on Tuesday.
Mexico has both CONCACAF Champions Cup finalists for the first time since 2021, when CF Monterrey defeated Club America for the title.
For the 20th time in the past 21 years, a Mexican team will lift the trophy. The only exception in that span was the Seattle Sounders’ title run in 2022.
On Wednesday, Toluca got a chance to pull level on aggregate when LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead was called for a foul in the 18-yard box shortly after halftime. Helinho powered in a left-footed penalty kick in the 49th minute.
Everardo Lopez gave Toluca the decisive goal on an individual effort in the 58th minute. He intercepted a pass as LAFC tried to play out of their defensive third, then took one touch and fired a 28-yard into the right side of the net. Hugo Lloris didn’t even move for the ball, as he had no chance of making the save.
LAFC finished the match with 10 players after Ryan Porteous received a red card for an 86th-minute foul that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Toluca took advantage of playing a man up, as Paulinho scored twice in second-half stoppage time.
–Field Level Media
RHP Tyler Glasnow (back) exits Dodgers' win over Marlins
Daniel Altmaier delivers in the clutch in Rome
