Toronto’s Playoff Hopes Take Hit After Back-to-Back Lopsided Defeats

By Noam Streiffer

Heading into the last four games of the season, the Leafs are looking to make up ground in the standings to avoid a matchup with the first-place Welland Jackfish in the first round of the playoffs.

They were unable to get anything going against the Hamilton Cardinals, losing 11–3 on the heels of a 20–3 loss to the Barrie Baycats, leaving the team with a lot of questions in this crucial time of the season.

Toronto planned for the pitching matchup to feature a committee of Adam Jafine, Ayami Sato, and Josh Berenbaum, all of whom struggled.

Jafine managed just four innings in the starting role, allowing four runs in the process. He handed things over to Sato in the 5th, but Sato couldn’t get out of the inning, allowing four runs on four hits while recording just two outs.

Josh Berenbaum took over and managed 3.1 innings of work. He allowed three runs but also struck out six in a late-inning mop-up role.

Greg Carrington came in for the 9th and was the only Leafs pitcher to not allow a run, striking out two to limit the damage.

In total, the Hamilton Cardinals managed 11 runs on 15 hits, along with two errors from the Leafs’ defense. Top offensive performers included Jommer Hernandez, Brandon Nicoll, and Tanner Rempel, who all homered.

Taking a look at the Leafs’ offense, they managed three runs on four hits. Spenser Ross, Mike Cecchetto, and Jhon Javier all had RBIs for the Leafs in the loss, but middle-of-the-order bats Marcus Knecht and Dennis Dei Baning were kept quiet.

Dei Baning had to exit the game with a hand injury in the 7th on an attempted home run robbery but seems to be okay, and will likely be good to go Sunday afternoon against Chatham-Kent.

Up Next: First pitch for Toronto at Chatham-Kent is set for 2:05 pm at Fergie Jenkins Field on Sunday..