Castaldo Homers Twice, But Leafs Come Up Short Against Royals

By Noam Streiffer

The Maple Leafs lost a heartbreaker on Friday night against the Guelph Royals in an 11-9 slugfest. This loss marks the Leafs’ 10th straight defeat at Christie Pits as they fall to 13-19 on the season.

Adam Jafine got the start for the Leafs and struggled through three innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits en route to the loss.

On the other side of the ball, it was Edgar Garcia. The former major leaguer had arguably his worst outing of the season but still kept Guelph in position to win. He allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings of work.

Guelph struck first, racking up six runs against Jafine in the first three innings of the game—capitalizing on hard contact and aggressive baserunning to build a comfortable early lead.

Toronto answered back with a run in the fourth before tacking on four more in the fifth, including a Jordan Castaldo three-run blast to bring them within one.

Guelph responded quickly with a three-run top of the sixth, giving them some breathing room heading into the final third of the game.

Toronto scored again in the bottom of the eighth to pull within two, but Guelph erased that with a two-run top of the ninth to restore the four-run cushion.

The Leafs tacked on two more in the bottom of the ninth on another Jordan Castaldo home run, but it wasn’t enough. Royals' closer Owen Newman shut down the final three batters to secure the win for Guelph, who improved to 14-18 on the season.

Up next: The Leafs head to Welland to take on the first-place Jackfish. Toronto looks to improve to 3-0 on the road in Welland. First pitch is set for 6:05 PM.