October 4, 2019

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some news and notes about Canadians in this year’s major league post-season:

- When left-hander James Paxton (Ladner, BC) takes the mound for the New York Yankees in the first game of their American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins tonight, it will mark the first time that a Canadian pitcher has started a playoff contest since Rich Harden (Victoria, BC) got the assignment in Game 3 of the National League Division Series for the Chicago Cubs in 2008. This information is courtesy of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Harden allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings to a Los Angeles Dodgers squad that included Montreal native Russell Martin. Martin went 2-for-4 with two doubles off Harden to help lead his club to a 3-1 win.

- Freddie Freeman, whose parents were born in Canada, went 2-for-4 - including a ninth-inning home run for the Atlanta Braves in their 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of their National League Division Series. Yesterday’s homer marked the second of Freeman’s post-season career and he is now 14-for-50 (.350 batting average) in 10 post-season contests.

- As of this morning, the Houston Astros had yet to announce their American League Division Series roster, but their manager AJ Hinch affirmed to reporters on Thursday that he expects shortstop Carlos Correa, who sat out the last week of the regular season with back tightness, to play on Friday. This will likely impact Longueuil, Que., native Abraham Toro’s chances of being on the roster. Toro, who batted .218 with two home runs in 25 games for the Astros this season, served as a valuable versatile infielder down the stretch. UPDATE: Toro is not on the Astros’ ALDS roster. The Astros unveiled their roster this morning.

- Fifty years ago today, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ron Taylor (Toronto, Ont.) recorded a save for the New York Mets in their 9-5 win over the Atlanta Braves in the first National League Championship Series game ever played. Prior to 1969, the American League and National League teams with the best regular season records faced off in the World Series. Taylor hurled two shutout innings in the game to save it for Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. Fellow Cooperstowner Phil Niekro took the loss for the Braves, while Hank Aaron also homered for the Braves.

- Also, three years ago, Edwin Encarnacion belted a walk-off, three-run home run in the 11th inning to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Wild Card game. Here’s the video for Blue Jays fans that want to relive it.