A Grip on Sports: The Dodger steamroller gets rolled in Toronto, raising the bar for college football today in the upsets realm
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Will today be another of those college football Saturdays filled with surprises? It may have to be to steal the spotlight back from the result of the World Series opener last night in Toronto. Though anyone who has been watching closely lately knew the formula the Jays needed to follow to be successful.
•••••••
• Not sure about the football upsets today. Not that they won’t happen. They always do. It’s deciding which games fit that’s the hard part. And the best part. Good thing it isn’t like the NBA and there was a way to find out who might be sitting out.
Anyhow, Toronto’s 11-4 win at home Friday seemed written in the stars. As in the Dodgers have a multitude of them but none in their bullpen.
It’s been an issue all season. An issue the starters papered over in the first two rounds of the postseason, pitching well into games and making the lack of pen depth immaterial.
But, as always these days, pitch counts reign supreme and the Jays are masterful at fouling pitches off and getting starters out of the game. (As a snide aside, or the other manager, cough, cough, Dan Wilson, just doesn’t on his own.) They did it again last night to Blake Snell, making the star lefthander through more than 20 pitches in the first inning and getting him out of the game in the sixth. From there, the rout was on.
The Dodgers are the poster boys for why the game needs a salary cap. Their depth is such they could lose the equivalent of the Mariners’ starting staff in the regular season and still survive to win the National League West – while allowing the pitchers to get healthy. And yet, bullpens, no matter how much is spent, always seem fickle.
The Blue Jays knew it. But it is always their plan to be pesky at the plate. Until they can deliver the big blow. It showed in the Game Seven win against Seattle, which got them here. It showed in the sixth inning last night.
The Dodgers-are-unbeatable narrative might be dead. But all the defending champs needed from this weekend north of the border is one win. They still have a shot tonight. If Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches as he did against the Brewers in the N.L. Championship Series, when he served as his own bullpen with a complete game, then that goal is in play.
Then again, the Jays aren’t the Brewers. Or anyone else.
•••
WSU: Do you remember the last time Washington State played a football game in Gesa Stadium? Me neither. Turns out it was more than a month ago. Today the Cougars host Toledo out of the Mid-American Conference. Greg Woods will be there and he has a preview. … He also has the keys to the game as well as his pick. He believes WSU will win. … There is also recruiting news and Greg tells us two more junior college standouts from Iowa will be headed to Pullman next season. … We have more basketball coverage to pass along, including this story on Eleonora Villa and her role with the Cougars from Greg Lee. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has a lot for you this morning in the Mercury News. Most of it is covered in his weekly mailbag. The rest? In the weekly West Coast football recruiting column he passes along. … John Canzano had his picks yesterday. The margin of the Cal loss made him 0-1 heading into today. … The first impression Arizona coach Brent Brennan presented last season is still lingering over the program, even though the Wildcats are better.
• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 games this week, listed chronologically. We include Friday results as well as all of today’s games.
– Virginia Tech 42, California 34 (2OT): The Bears could have clinched a bowl berth but instead made too many mistakes to win on the road.
– Boise State 24, Nevada 3: The Broncos’ defense stepped up in Reno and BSU dominated the second half.
– UCLA at No. 2 Indiana (9 a.m., Fox): What will the Bruins have to do today to post the massive upset?
– Utah State at New Mexico (noon, Mountain West Network): The Aggies visit to coach Bronco Mendenhall’s recent stomping grounds is important to the Lobos.
– No. 23 Illinois at Washington (12:30 p.m., Big Ten): Most Big Ten teams would prefer a slower-paced, grind-it-out game. Not the Huskies.
– San Diego State at Fresno State (12:30, FS1): If the Aztecs win in this rivalry game, they will be bowl eligible. … The Bulldogs would just like to play with the fervor they showed when Jeff Tedford was their coach.
– Wisconsin at No. 6 Oregon (4, FS1): Even as the Ducks prepare to welcome in the huge underdog Badgers, they once again prove the adage recruiting never stops.
– Stanford at No. 9 Miami (4, ESPN): This is more than a tough challenge for the Cardinal. It might be their toughest since the Jim Harbaugh-led upset of USC.
– Colorado State at Wyoming (4:30, CBS Sports): The Golden Boot trophy might be the shiniest college football rivalry trophy anywhere. Who will win this season is yet to be determined. … Sonny Lubick is rooting for the Rams.
– Houston at No. 24 Arizona State (5, ESPN2): With their most-talented offensive player injured, do the Sun Devils still have enough to get past the Cougars?
– Colorado at Utah (7:15, ESPN): The biggest questions tonight revolve around the quarterback position. Will the Buffs’ be efficient? Will the Utes usual starter even play after his injury in the BYU loss? … At least Colorado has some momentum.
• In basketball news, one of the sad changes with realignment? San Diego State will never play a conference game in New Mexico’s Pit again. … Chauncey Billups’ arrest hits deep for his alma mater Colorado. … Oregon handled Utah easily in an exhibition game, despite not having its point guard. … The Oregon women held a closed scrimmage.
Gonzaga: The NCAA’s bid to have Tyon Grant-Foster’s eligibility lawsuit heard in federal court was denied Friday. His request for injunction relief, and the ability to start the season with the Zags as the lawsuit continues, will be heard Monday. Theo Lawson will be there and has this story today.
EWU: When on the road, there is a lot to be aware of, including trick plays. Dan Thompson includes them in his three things to watch as the Eagles travel to Weber State. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, fourth-ranked Montana traveled to Sacramento State last night for a game on ESPN2. The Griz won, 49-35. … Cal Poly hosts No. 5 Montana State today, hoping to put a capper on what’s been the Mustangs best season in a while. … Utah Valley is hosting Southern Utah in a homecoming game today. Also on the line: Winner heads to the Big Sky next season. No, not really. Both will. … Northern Arizona, after its bye week, is Idaho State’s homecoming opponent. … In basketball news, Northern Colorado had zero players on the conference’s preseason teams.
Idaho: Not only do the Vandals get to host winless Portland State in their quest to end a losing streak, they also welcome back usual starting quarterback Joshua Woods from injury. Peter Harriman has more in this story.
Preps: Fall Friday night are all dominated by football. Last night was no exception, what with Mead, playing a backup quarterback, handing Gonzaga Prep its toughest test of the season. Dave Nichols was at G-Prep and has this coverage of the 31-23 slugfest. … Dave also has a roundup of the other games in the area to pass along. … And there is more from Dave. The State slowpitch tournaments are going on in Yakima. At the 3A/2A level, Mt. Spokane and University will meet for the title today for the fifth consecutive tournament. In the 4A ranks, Ferris was eliminated in two games.
Mariners: Turns out the Sporting News believes Cal Raleigh was the best player in baseball this season. Not just the American League. … There were at least five things we learned from the M’s season.
Seahawks: There are five big questions the Hawks have to answer coming out of their bye week.
Storm: There are reports Seattle has hired its new head coach. It is Sonia Raman, an assistant with New York recently and before that with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
•••
• One more reminder. There will not be a column tomorrow. See you Monday. Until later …