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Blue Jays bullpen trying to stay ready
TORONTO – Every five games the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen has had to step up.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes, like Toronto’s 7-1 loss to the lowly Chicago White Sox on Friday, it does not. Spencer Turnbull, who served as the so-called opener in the bullpen day, said it’s been a team-first mentality for his fellow relievers.
“It’s a stay ready, next man up kind of thing,” said Turnbull (1-1) after giving up four runs on five hits and two walks over two innings. “Everybody’s pulling their own weight. We all want to win. We want to do whatever we can to contribute.
“Just being able to stay flexible and be able to do whatever is needed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do my job tonight, and I’ll flush that one but hopefully, I’m sure moving forward, it’ll be better.”
It was a double bullpen game, with both teams trotting out a handful of relief pitchers with no starters available.
Mason Fluharty followed Turnbull to the mound for the Blue Jays (40-35). He gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, before Braydon Fisher, Nick Sandlin, Chad Green, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman combined for six scoreless innings.
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Toronto’s bullpen entered the game with a 3.61 earned-run average, 11th-best in Major League Baseball and seventh in the American League.
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“I thought they did a good job from the fourth inning on,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “(Fisher) was great, giving us two innings there and I think everyone did their part in a game like that.
“But you want to try to avoid that, for sure. It’s a fine line between planning for the next day and trying to keep the game that you’re competing in at bay.”
Grant Taylor pitched one scoreless inning for the White Sox (23-53) before giving way to long reliever Tyler Alexander (4-7), who worked four without giving up a run. Dan Altavilla, Wikelman Gonzalez and Tyler Gilbert also came out of the visitors bullpen at Rogers Centre, with Gonzalez allowing a run.
The Blue Jays have had to rely on relievers with veteran pitcher Max Scherzer (thumb) on the injured list since his first start of the season. Eric Lauer (3-1) began to get starts instead of Schneider doing bullpen days, but then Bowden Francis (shoulder) was put on the IL on June 15.
Relievers have started 13 games for Toronto so far this season.
Scherzer had a bullpen session scheduled for Saturday after two promising rehab starts with triple-A Buffalo. It appears that the surefire Hall of Famer will likely start against the Cleveland Guardians at some point next week.
Turnbull said he’s not sure what his role will be when Scherzer comes back.
“We haven’t really had a ton of discussions about that,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay flexible and just do whatever they ask. I just want to do whatever I can to help the team.
“If Scherzer’s ready to come back, that’s awesome. He’s one of the best ever to do it, so he’ll help the team a lot when he gets up here.”
Francis (2-8) had a cortisone injection on Tuesday and will continue to rest.
Jose Berrios (2-3) gets the start on Saturday afternoon as Toronto continues its three-game series against the White Sox. Chicago will counter with Aaron Civale (1-3).
Schneider said that Fisher and Sandlin likely won’t be available in Saturday’s game, but the rest of Toronto’s bullpen should be good to go.
“I think you can be aggressive in games like today when you have Jose and (Sunday starter Chris Bassitt) going before an off day,” said Schneider. “We’re going to rely on those guys to do their part.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Blue Jays slugger George Springer has been cleared to return to game action after suffering a concussion over two weeks ago, Toronto manager John Schneider said Wednesday.
The 35-year-old outfielder/designated hitter hasn’t played since July 28 when he was hit in the helmet by a fastball thrown by Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kade Strowd.
Springer, who was on hand for batting practice before Toronto’s game against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, was expected to play for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Thursday.
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“Play DH tomorrow and then see if he needs a game in the outfield to see how he feels,” Schneider said in his pre-game availability. “But he’ll be doing that tomorrow.”
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Springer has been one of the top offensive performers this season for the Blue Jays (70-50), who had a 4 1/2-game lead on the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings entering play Wednesday.
Over 101 games, Springer has a .291 average, 18 homers, 57 RBIs and an on-base and slugging percentage of .889.
Strowd’s 96-m.p.h. pitch appeared to hit Springer’s shoulder before making contact with his helmet near the ear flap. After laying prone for a moment or two, Springer got up slowly and left the field with some assistance.
He was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list on July 29.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Two delightfully shaggy new faces will be on display at the Toronto Zoo starting on Friday.
The nine-month-old brothers are Scottish Highland cattle, with long, woolly, reddish coats and fringe over their eyes.
The zoo’s manager of wildlife care, Marc Brandson, says the two were born and raised at a local Ontario farm before moving to the zoo about a month ago.
He says they completed a quarantine period and now live just outside the Eurasia Wilds area of the zoo.
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Membership holders can visit the brothers at a pre-screening on Thursday, while other visitors can see them starting Friday.
Brandson says there is “a lot of excitement” around the pair because of how popular the Highland breed already is.
He says the zoo is hoping to have the brothers walk through the public area of the zoo as part of its animal ambassador program, which can give visitors a closer look at certain animals.
“Each and every day, our outreach and discovery staff are working to get them to that level,” he said.
“Having a bonded pair is a really great social situation for Highland cows. These brothers are very calm and they are gaining confidence each and every day that they interact with their caregivers.”
The brothers don’t have names yet, and Brandson says the public should stay tuned on ways to contribute naming ideas.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner says the federal government needs to do more to fight Canada’s devastating forest fires.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Ottawa, the Alberta MP accused Ottawa of “inaction” on wildfires. She also blamed that lack of action for new measures restricting activities in the forests of two provinces — even though those bans were imposed by the provinces themselves.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick last week banned hiking, fishing, camping and the use of vehicles in its forests in response to the heightened wildfire risk.
Rempel Garner said that while she understands the fear Maritimers feel, restricting individuals’ movements is “not right.”
“Whenever there’s a major crisis, what the Liberal government has done by their inaction has conditioned Canadians to expect that the only response they can see out of their federal government is to restrict their movement,” Rempel Garner told reporters.
“We’re calling on the federal government to actually get serious about this issue.”
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Conservative MP Marc Dalton presented a bill last year to stiffen penalties for wildfires caused by arson. It never made it past first reading and died when Parliament was dissolved ahead of this year’s election.
Rempel Garner said that’s one area where the Liberals could have taken action on wildfires. She also called on the federal government to dedicate more resources to wildfire control.
In its 2021 election platform, the Liberals promised to train 1,000 community-based firefighters to fight wildfires and to work with provinces and territories to get them more firefighting planes.
Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that Alberta-based water bomber manufacturer De Havilland was facing a four-year backlog of orders.
“Four full wildfire seasons ago, the Liberals promised more water bombers, more firefighters,” Rempel Garner said. “Where are they?”
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston brushed off the criticisms of the forest entry ban at a press conference later Wednesday.
“I find it remarkable, the interest in travelling in Nova Scotia woods by people who aren’t in Nova Scotia and probably haven’t been here much in their life,” Houston told reporters.
“We’re only concerned with keeping people safe. We’ll do what’s necessary to protect lives, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”
So far this season, the total area of the country burned by wildfires is nearly the size of the entire province of New Brunswick.
— With files from Sarah Ritchie.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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