{allcanada} Blue Jays lose Cease, Guerrero Jr., fail to complete sweep with defeat to Pirates

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TORONTO — Rookie Esmerlyn Valdez’s first major-league career hit, a two-run home run in the sixth inning, and solo shots from Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday at the Rogers Centre.

The loss to the Pirates (27-26) snapped a season-high four-game win streak for the Blue Jays (25-28). More concerning, however, was that starting pitcher Dylan Cease (3-3) and all-star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both exited the game with injuries in the fifth inning.

Cease was lifted from the game with two outs in the fifth with mild left hamstring discomfort, the Blue Jays said. The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Guerrero exited the game in the bottom of the inning after he was struck by a pitch on the inside of his right elbow. The Blue Jays called the injury a right elbow contusion after X-rays came back negative for a fracture.

Pirates starter Mitch Keller (5-2) yielded one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts across a 101-pitch outing.

Former Blue Jay Horwitz hit the first pitch of the game over the right-field wall for his fifth home run of the year. Cruz led off the second inning with his own solo homer to make it 2-0.

Ernie Clement’s RBI single in the fourth inning scored the Blue Jays’ only run.

Pirates relievers Yohan Ramirez, Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto combined for three scoreless innings.

Takeaways

Blue Jays: For the third time this season, the Blue Jays failed to secure a sweep after winning the first two games of a series. The club’s only sweep came in the season-opening series against the Athletics.

Pirates: The win helped Pittsburgh earn an even 3-3 record on their six-game road trip through St. Louis and Toronto. It also improved their record to 7-5 against American League opponents this season.

Key moment

With two on and one out in the first inning, Keller induced an inning-ending double-play ball from Yohendrick Piñango.

Key stat

Kazuma Okamoto’s second-inning double, which snapped his 0-for-18 skid at the plate, was the first extra-base hit Keller has allowed to a right-handed batter this season.

Up next

The Blue Jays host the Miami Marlins for a three-game series, beginning Monday. Right-hander Trey Yesavage (2-1) will take the mound for Toronto, while right-hander Janson Junk (2-5) starts for Miami.

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{allcanada} Helmet worn by Canadian F1 great Gilles Villeneuve sells for record US$1.25M

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MONTREAL — Gilles Villeneuve’s helmet from his final Formula One race in 1982 has sold for a record US$1.25 million ($1.727 million), according to a motorsports memorabilia collector.

Darren Jack, president and CEO of Hall of Fame Collection based in Burlington, Ont., said his company brokered the sale for the world-record price, exceeding the previous mark of £720,000 (then US$966,449) set by Ayrton Senna’s helmet from the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, sold last year.

Villeneuve’s helmet had been in a private collection for close to 30 years.

Jack said the late Canadian racing legend wore the helmet for Ferrari at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, where he finished second after Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi famously overtook him on the final lap despite team orders to slow down.

Villeneuve, the namesake of Montreal’s F1 circuit for the Canadian Grand Prix, died two weeks later at age 32 following a crash in qualifying for the Belgian GP. He was wearing a different helmet at the time.

“The GPA helmet itself is an extremely rare helmet model in the collecting world. Also this is one of only five, maybe, that exist ever of Gilles Villeneuve race helmets,” Jack said from the paddock next to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The helmet is predominantly red with black stripes on each side, while the back features a stylized red “V” — a design replicated by current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc at the 2023 Canadian GP.

Melanie Villeneuve, Gilles’ daughter, said the sale showcases “how well my father's legend still lives on.”

“It makes you think that maybe his story has something super valuable for our general culture — so where did he come from, why was he able to achieve what he achieved with so little means,” she said. “It's such passion, so there's a human story to it that is very valuable.”

Known for his fearless driving style, Villeneuve won six Grand Prix races for Ferrari, claiming his first victory in Montreal in 1978.

Growing up in Berthierville, Que., he was the son of a piano tuner and a seamstress, first gaining attention as a snowmobile racer. His son, Jacques Villeneuve, won the 1997 F1 championship.

Gilles Villeneuve was named a historic figure of Quebec by Premier Christine Fréchette on Friday. A biopic based on his life is set to be released in cinemas in November.

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{allcanada} Canada surges past Slovakia late at hockey worlds

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Macklin Celebrini capped a four-goal third period just 9:21 into the final frame as Canada surged past Slovakia 5-1 on Sunday in Group A play at the ice hockey world championship.

Celebrini also had an assist, one of four Canadians to have a goal and assist. Ryan O'Reilly, John Tavares and Gabriel Vilardi, who all also scored in the third, were the others.

Dylan Cozens opened the scoring in the first period as the Canadians remain undefeated through six games.

Kristian Pospisil had the only goal for Slovakia in the second period.

Canada will next play Czechia in the final game of the preliminary round on Tuesday before the quarterfinals begin on Thursday.

The medal games will be played next Sunday.

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{allcanada} Canada's Gabriel Diallo forced to retire at French Open with injury

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Canadian Gabriel Diallo was forced to retire at the French Open with an injury in the second set of his opening-round match against Australia’s James Duckworth.

Duckworth, the world No. 82, took the first set 6-3 in 43 minutes at Roland Garros and was leading 4-1 in the second when the 49th-ranked Diallo was forced to withdraw.

Diallo, from Montreal, entered the tournament battling lower back issues and reportedly suffered a cut to his finger on a glass bottle days before the match.

The 24-year-old Canadian stayed on serve with the 34-year-old Duckworth early in the opening set. However, Duckworth secured the critical break to go up 4-2 after forcing a backhand error from Diallo.

After serving out the set, Duckworth carried his momentum as Diallo's physical struggles continued, allowing the Australian to race to a 4-1 double-break lead before the Canadian had to retire.

Denis Shapovalov will take on Jaime Faria while Félix Auger-Aliassime goes up against Daniel Altmaier on Tuesday. On the women's side, Victoria Mboko will go up against Nikola Bartunkova on Tuesday, while Leylah Fernandez is scheduled to face Alycia Parks on Monday.

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