ALEK MANOAH

Cy Young ballots are due shortly after the conclusion of the regular season. That means it was Oct. 6 before I invested several hours sorting through numbers and spreadsheets and trying to make sense of my Cy Young vote. I was a bit surprised that Ohtani, while frequently mentioned as an MVP candidate, wasn’t discussed as much for the Cy Young Award. 2 Cy Young and the No. If the season had ended on Aug. 30, he might have won the Cy Young.

Houston’s Justin Verlander in the American League and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the National League are both unanimous selections for the Cy Young Award.

LAS VEGAS -- The finalists are out for the biggest awards in baseball and few of the names should be surprising. Justin Verlander is one of three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award, which would be the third of his career and his second since being traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Houston Astros in 2017. AL Cy Young: RHP Dylan Cease, White Sox; RHP Alek Manoah, Blue Jays; and RHP Justin Verlander, Astros. NL Cy Young: RHP Sandy Alcantara, Marlins; LHP Max Fried, Braves; and LHP Julio Urías, Dodgers. Managers of the Year will be released on Nov. 15, Cy Young Awards on Nov. 16 and MVP awards on Nov. 17.

Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez are the finalists for American League MVP in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

The Seattle Mariners brought in Luis Castillo to be an anchor in October, and he lived up to that billing in Seattle's first postseason game since 2001.

Alek Manoah will make the biggest start of his major league career when he toes the rubber Friday for Game 1 of the AL wild-card series. But he's not worried.

There’s a whole lot riding on Alek Manoah’s first career playoff start, but the Toronto Blue Jays All-Star right-hander isn’t the least bit fazed about facing the Seattle Mariners in Friday’s wild-card opener.

Randy Arozarena hit his 20th homer and drove in six runs as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Toronto 10-6, tying the Blue Jays at the top of the AL wild-card standings.

Wander Franco had three RBIs, Jonathan Aranda homered and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 in the opener of a big four-game series between playoff contenders.

Andrew Benintendi hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees got a win they desperately needed, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 to avoid a four-game sweep.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole twice banged on the dugout roof, shouting in frustration and getting booed as scuffling New York lost for the 15th time in 19 games, beaten by the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2.

Ramón Urías hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays also went deep to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ron Guidry, Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez highlight the Yankees alumni set to appear at Old-Timers’ Day in the Bronx prior to a matchup with the Kansas City Royals.

The hosts will start Alek Manoah as the Blue Jays continue to push toward an American League postseason berth. Tigers vs. Blue Jays odds at BetMGM SportsbookThe Tigers are massive underdogs in this contest, with money line odds of +300 at BetMGM Sportsbook, while the Blue Jays are enormous -365 favorites on the money line. Tigers vs. Blue Jays prediction - Friday, July 29th, 2022These teams are trending in opposite directions. On the other side, the Blue Jays seemed to have figured out their offensive woes after the All-Star break and have come out flying. Today’s Tigers vs. Blue Jays best bet: Blue Jays -1.5 (-180) at BetMGM and DraftKings SportsbookThis game is a mismatch on both sides of the ball.

Matt Chapman hit two home runs, Yusei Kikuchi came off the injured list to pitch five solid innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 for their 10th victory in 12 games.

Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton homered back-to-back in the fourth inning to rally the American League over the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game.

Los Angeles Angels sensation Shohei Ohtani repeated as a two-way All-Star when he was picked for the AL pitching staff, two days after he was elected to start at designated hitter.

Los Angeles will be well represented in the July 19 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.

Washington star Juan Soto is being checked out after exiting a game early because of an injured left calf.

Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon needs surgery on his right wrist and once again will have a season cut short by an injury.

The AL Central-leading Twins start a home series against the AL East-leading Yankees with their rotation in a dire situation.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered off Shohei Ohtani for the first time, and George Springer hit a leadoff home run in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

A late-spring snowstorm in Denver postponed Friday’s opener between the Mets and Rockies and could threaten a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday.

Astros manager Dusty Baker tries for his 2,000th win as a major league manager when Houston hosts Seattle.

Gleyber Torres homered early, then hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees won their 10th straight game, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2.

Cleveland rookie Steven Kwan hit.

Bobby Dalbec hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning and the Boston Red Sox avoided a season-opening sweep against their longtime rival with a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees.

Rookie of the Year winners Randy Arozarena and Yordan Álvarez and All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette were among 16 players whose contracts were renewed by their teams rather than reach negotiated agreements.

The Toronto Blue Jays have reached an agreement with right-hander Kevin Gausman on a five-year, $110 million contract, pending a physical, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press late Sunday.

Mets 41-year-old left-hander Rich Hill is set to face Cardinals 40-year-old righty Adam Wainwright in a showdown of veterans who still got it.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 41st home run and the streaking Toronto Blue Jays knocked the slumping Yankees out of the AL’s top wild-card spot, beating New York 6-3.

Rookie Frank Schwindel is hitting.

Jed Lowrie hit a three-run homer in the first inning for the first of Oakland’s eight two-out runs against Matt Manning in the Athletics’ 8-6 victory over the Tigers on Thursday.

The Tigers (62-68) and Blue Jays (67-61) have split the first two games of the series. Guerrero was placed at second base to start the 10th inning and got a good read on Corey Dickerson’s bloop that fell just in front of Baddoo in left field. The Tigers had a chance in the bottom of the 10th, but the Blue Jays nabbed baserunner Zack Short at third base on Harold Castro’s infield bouncer. Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning when he crushed a homer to left against Tigers lefty Tyler Alexander. BOX SCOREUp next: The Tigers and Blue Jays wrap up a three-game series and their season series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd (3-6, 3.44 ERA) will start for the first time in two months against Jays newly acquired right-hander Jose Berrios (8-7, 3.70).

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 38th home run this season, but the Toronto Blue Jays hit it out of the park four times, including two from George Springer and a grand slam by Teoscar Hernandez, to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-2.

In-state interleague matchups take center stage in several locales Friday as the Chicago White Sox play the Cubs in a Wrigley Field matinee, the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Angels, and the Kansas City Royals visit the St. Louis Cardinals.

Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs were put on the injured list.

Jake Arrieta pitches against the World Series champion Dodgers on Friday, one night after Zach Davies and three Cubs relievers combined for the majors' seventh no-hitter this year to match the most in a season since 1900.

The Chicago White Sox, Houston, Milwaukee and San Francisco all move to full capacity Friday for the first time since 2019, raising the total to 24 teams at 100%.

Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani is the first confirmed competitor for the All-Star Home Run Derby at Denver’s Coors Field on July 12, and others could be announced soon.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the bashing Toronto Blue Jays try to keep up their power surge at Fenway Park.

The St. Louis Cardinals will need to re-do their rotation now that ace Jack Flaherty will be sidelined for a while with what manager Mike Shildt termed a “significant” oblique injury.

Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic is one of several young players off to hot starts in the minors who figure to be contributing in the majors soon.