The Blue Jays welcomed an NBA champion to the Rogers Centre on Thursday night, then gave Kawhi Leonard a standing ovation as they tried to persuade him to stay in Toronto. Across the continent, next to the (former) home of the other NBA finalist, the Athletics staged a dramatic walk-off victory over the Rays. The Dodgers won a series against the hated Giants, something to be celebrated no matter how much distance there is between the teams in the standings. And speaking of cross-continent storylines, the Rays want to move to Montreal but stay in the Tampa Bay area?
Kawhi Leonard appears to be a pretty big baseball fan, actually. He was taking photos of Mike Trout and chatting up the Blue Jays bat boy.
Board Man Loves Baseball. pic.twitter.com/OS1LijaXsj
— MLB (@MLB) June 21, 2019
The Athletics gave up three runs in the top of the ninth, then scored four in the bottom of the ninth … including this three-run walk-off homer from Matt Chapman.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, had a huge lead against their heated rival and had to hold on by their fingernails 9-8. But a win is a win, and a win over the Giants always will be celebrated in L.A.
Victory formation! pic.twitter.com/8REBJMiTB7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 21, 2019
The Montreal Rays? You knew that was going to spark a thousand social-media jokes.
The Tampa Bay Rays are exploring a partial relocation to Montreal in which one half of each season would be played in Tampa Bay with the other in Montreal. If this happens, what should they call the team?
Our post: https://t.co/9fBXFytrCP pic.twitter.com/GjvNZnjn9t
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) June 20, 2019
If they do this and don’t change their name to the Snowbirds, they should just fold https://t.co/lpWE5615rN
— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) June 20, 2019
Bryce Harper didn’t have a great weekend in D.C., but there are a couple of counterpoints to this: (1) $425 million, and (2) the Phillies are still in shouting distance of first place.
Nightmare return to DC for Bryce Harper:
•got swept
•lost of 13 of last 19 games
•3 for last 22
•crucial mistake in outfield
•crucial mistake on the bases
•leads MLB in strikeouts
•on pace for most Ks in PHI history
•out of all-star spot in latest voting
•Year 1 of 13 pic.twitter.com/k6GQUOf6rl— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) June 21, 2019
