
‘Didn't miss a beat': Savvy veteran Bassitt leads Jays to win in return from break
TORONTO — Chris Bassitt doesn't mind leaving his comfort zone.
So for the third season in a row, the Toronto Blue Jays veteran pitcher volunteered to start in the first game back from the All-Star break.
Bassitt (10-4) came through with 6 1/3 shutout innings to lift the Blue Jays to a series-opening 4-0 win against the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
The 36-year-old Bassitt's last start was on July 8, and he even came out of the bullpen against the Athletics last Sunday to pitch an inning and help an overburdened relief corps.
'Chris does weird well,' Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. 'I think coming out of the pen in Sacramento was not easy to do.
'We trusted him to do his thing over the break, and he didn't miss a beat.'
Bassitt became the first pitcher in Blue Jays' history to yield 10 hits and earn a shutout. But he didn't issue a walk and struck out five in his 97-pitch outing. He reached the 10-win mark for the fifth straight season.
'I've done it (started the first game out of the break) the last two years, so I'm confident in doing it,' Bassitt said. 'I understand the routine we need to do at home to be sharp out of the break.
'I wasn't the sharpest, but overall it was OK.'
While some of his teammates vacationed in exotic locales, Bassitt spent the break at home with his wife and children.
'It makes me happy just seeing them in their element rather than mine,' he said. 'I just enjoy time with them.'
The Blue Jays hit the break with a two-game losing streak, but in occupancy of the top spot in the American League East.
Toronto's 55 wins were a club record win total before the break, and for only the sixth time in team history, they have the division lead after the league's mid-season showcase.
But after back-to-back losses to the Athletics heading into the pause in action, the Blue Jays didn't know how they would emerge.
'You never really know how it's gonna go,' Schneider said. 'But I thought the guys did a good job of coming in (Thursday) to shake the rust off a little bit. But it starts in the mound, and Chris was outstanding.'
Third-baseman Will Wagner also enjoyed a sound first game after the break with his two-run double in a four-run second inning that took some pressure off Bassitt.
The Blue Jays sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning to make life rough for 42-year-old Giants starter Justin Verlander (0-8).
'It was kind of weird,' Wagner said. 'We want the break, but we're playing so well that you don't want to take the break at the same time.
'I think everyone was just excited to get back and keep going with what we were doing before the break.'
At 33-16, the Blue Jays have the best home record in the American League.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.
Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner are set for Hall of Fame induction
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki was always known for his meticulous preparation during his 19-year Major League Baseball career. For his induction into the Hall of Fame? Not so much. 'Of course, I'm nervous and I probably should be preparing more, but this morning I actually went to the field, long tossed and kind of ran and did my workout, so I guess for me that was more important,' Suzuki said Saturday through an interpreter on the eve of his enshrinement. Suzuki is the first Japanese player chosen for the Hall and fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection. He will be joined Sunday by CC Sabathia, a six-time All-Star who won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award, and relief pitcher Billy Wagner. Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen will be honored posthumously. They were voted in by the classic era committee. MLB has been profoundly impacted by Japan since Suzuki's arrival in 2001. His induction coincided with the opening of an exhibit at the Hall on Thursday entitled Yakyu/Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game, which celebrates the ways Japanese and American baseball are interconnected. It honors not just Suzuki but also pitcher Hideo Nomoi and current two-way star Shohei Otani. As interconnected as the two countries are, Suzuki does not want Japanese baseball to become a carbon copy of MLB. 'I don't think Japan should copy what MLB does. I think Japanese baseball should be Japanese baseball and the way they do things, and MLB should be the way they are. I think they should be different and not the same,' he said. Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes (99.7%) from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Sabathia was on 342 ballots (86.8%) and Wagner on 325 (82.5%), which was 29 votes more than the 296 needed for the required 75%. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Miami. He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256. Suzuki visited the Hall seven times during his career, but this time is different. 'I had a purpose. I would come to the basement and look at some of the artifacts. This time around, though, I didn't come to have one purpose to see something. I just wanted to experience Cooperstown, take it all in. That's the difference this time around. 'This is the place where I'd come (during the season) and kind of cleanse myself and get a great feeling again,' he said. For Sabathia, his induction represents a full-circle moment because his plaque will have him sporting a Yankees cap with the interlocking NY. A native of Vallejo, California, Sabathia 'thought I wanted to be close to home,' but after 'pretending' the Yankees didn't offer him a contract on the first day of free agency, his wife persuaded him to sign with the Bronx Bombers following an in-home meeting with general manager Brian Cashman. 'My wife was the one that said: 'You're trying to do all these different things, figure out all these contracts. You need to go where they want you. All you talk about is you want to win, be a winner and all these things. How can you not go to New York? That's the one place they try to win every single year.' When she put it that way, it was like I was born to be a Yankee,' Sabathia said. 'And I think for the longest time I tried to run away from that because my father would always tell me I was going to play for the Yankees. He passed away when I was 23, so he wasn't there to tell me it was OK if I failed. I think I was scared to go there and fail. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made. I ran from that decision for a long time. I thought I wanted to play on the other coast, but I think I was born to play with the pinstripes.' Suzuki and Sabathia were teammates for more than two seasons, which makes their induction extra special. 'It feels like we're teammates. Obviously, Ichi and I were rookies together. I always say he stole my Rookie of the Year award (in 2001) so it's great to be able to go in the HOF with him and Billy,' Sabathia said. Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees. While Sabathia and Suzuki were elected in their first appearance on the ballot, Wagner made it on his 10th and final try. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'Well, after seeing how a lot of guys like Lee Smith and Ted Simmons and (other) guys had to wait their turn to get to this point and go through the veterans committee, and how hard it is to get in here, you know, it's well worth the wait,' Wagner said. Wagner, a seven-time All-Star, became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever, after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Mariano Rivera. Wagner is the only left-hander. Two others honored Saturday were longtime Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, and retired Washington Post sports writer and columnist Tom Boswell, who received the BBWAA Career Excellence Award. ___ AP MLB:


National Post
12 minutes ago
- National Post
NHL saying 'hold on' to Hockey Canada five is a good message, but still lacking
Let's begin by giving the NHL some credit: they made clear this week that just because a court says you're not guilty of something, that doesn't mean you are suddenly in the 'good' column again. Article content 'The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behaviour at issue was unacceptable,' the NHL said Thursday about the Hockey Canada five being found not guilty of sexual assault. 'We will be reviewing and considering the judge's findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.' Article content Article content Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod and Dillon Dube are still on the hot seat as far as the NHL is concerned. There's an expectation of good conduct here, the NHL is reminding everyone. Article content And they're right on that. Article content The NHL's standard player contract has a clause declaring players must conduct themselves on and off the ice 'according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and to refrain from conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club, the League, or professional hockey generally.' Article content In other words, do what you want on your own time, but if your dirty laundry gets out, we're going to have to talk about it. Article content That, presumably, is the crux of the NHLPA's challenge to the league's eligibility position. Article content 'After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work. The NHL's declaration that the players are 'ineligible' to play pending its further analysis of the court's findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA,' the PA insists. The PA's job is to protect their members' working conditions. Article content Article content But in the end, both the league and the PA are missing the bigger picture: there's a broader cultural leadership role to play and neither organization has said or done what needs to be here. Article content Article content And a huge factor in this is the NHL being the only league of the big four North American professional sports leagues to not have a clearly defined policy around domestic violence and sexual assault. Article content The NFL, for instance, does. That's how they handed Deshaun Watson an 11-game ban after being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Article content The NFL took those accusations and had their own investigation under the auspices of the policy. Article content But everything the NHL does is ad hoc. They have an amorphous standard that they can enforce capriciously. Doing it this way doesn't exactly lay out to players what the expectations are beyond 'don't get your name splashed about in public.' Article content That's no way to lead. All it does is perpetuate a 'boys will boys' culture, where the worst sin is getting caught. Article content


CTV News
12 minutes ago
- CTV News
Wilderness Traverse, adventure race draws hundreds to Sudbury
Sudbury hosts two adventure races this weekend: the 24+ hour Wilderness Traverse championship and the beginner-friendly Apex Adventure Challenge. Sudbury hosts two adventure races this weekend: the 24+ hour Wilderness Traverse championship and the beginner-friendly Apex Adventure Challenge. Hundreds will navigate rugged terrain using only maps and compasses, with live tracking available online. Hundreds of adventurers will be in the Sudbury region this weekend for two endurance races, including one that's more than 24 hours non-stop. Competitors Two previous competitors in a past Wilderness Traverse race are shown in this promotional image. (Supplied/Wilderness Traverse) On Saturday, 74 teams or more than 220 racers from all across Canada and parts of the U.S. are participating in the Wilderness Traverse, the 2025 Adventure Racing World Series North America Championship. Teams of three will hike, paddle and bike their way through an unmarked course using only maps and compasses, making their way to the finish line at Laurentian University. It takes between 24 and 30 hours to complete. The other race is the inaugural Apex Adventure Challenge, where 30 teams will participate in a more beginner-friendly and much shorter event on Sunday. It's between three and six hours and will be confined within the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area. 'I'm excited to have teams come and experience the wilderness of our region,' said Dennis Legault, founder of Apex Warrior Gym in Sudbury. 'Working with experienced organizers like the Wilderness Traverse team for this new event will help create just the right kind of safe, challenging adventure I know Sudbury athletes will love.' For the past 15 years, the Wilderness Traverse event has been held all over Ontario's Cottage Country. This is the first time the event has come north for the course. 'The topography is amazing. It really suits the event,' said Sudbury's Wilderness Traverse race director, Bob Miller. 'The final leg we're going to have here through Lake Laurentian Conservation Area is really one of the more unique stages we've ever hosted.' Bob Miller Bob Miller, Sudbury's Wilderness Traverse race director, talks with CTV News ahead of the race on July 25, 2025. (Angela Gemmill/CTV News Northern Ontario) 'Even just driving around the city, we were all commenting on how it's not like your normal Southern Ontario grid. You've got amazing winding streets, and all this elevation gain and loss. It's a really neat city and it really suits the event,' Miller added. The youngest participant is 16 while the oldest is in their 60s. Miller told CTV News that they're 'outdoorsy men and women that have participated in sport, probably have some outdoors background with canoe tripping or mountain biking.' 'Once they're 5 to 6 hours in then they're going to really start feeling the endurance fatigue and they're going to be tired and a bit cranky,' Miller said of the participants. 'A bit part of this sport is staying positive. You know it's going to be tough. Everyone knows they're going to go through these lulls out on the course, but if the team can remain positive and just keep moving forward that will be a big help to get them to the finish line.' The course is kept secret until the morning the longer adventure event starts. Teams will each have a satellite tracking beacon so their locations can be followed online 'They're not allowed to know where their location is. They're only using map and compass, but the rest of the world will be able to see where they are and they can track them,' Miller said. The winning team wins a free entry to the World Championship in France next year.