Mariners

TORONTO — George Springer put Toronto ahead with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1993 by beating the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.

It was the first go-ahead homer in Game 7 history when a team trailed by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later.

The Blue Jays will host Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers in Game 1 on Friday night when the World Series comes to Canada for the third time. The defending champion Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS.

The Blue Jays were playing in a Game 7 for the first time since losing at home to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS.

Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez each hit a solo home run for the Mariners in the team’s first Game 7 but Seattle failed to reach its first World Series, leaving the heartbroken Mariners as the only major league team without a pennant.

Addison Barger walked to begin the seventh and Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a single. Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo was removed after Andrés Giménez advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, and Springer greeted Eduard Bazardo with his fourth homer of this postseason, a 381-foot drive to left field that got the sellout crowd of 44,770 roaring.

Toronto went 54-27 at home in the regular season and 4-2 at home in the AL playoffs.

Making his first bullpen appearance since Game 5 of the 2021 Division Series, Kevin Gausman pitched one inning of scoreless relief, working around three walks, to earn the win for Toronto.

Fellow starter Chris Bassitt pitched a perfect eighth and Jeff Hoffman finished for his second save this postseason.

Rodríguez opened the game with a double and scored on a one-out single by Josh Naylor. Daulton Varsho tied it with an RBI single off George Kirby in the bottom half before Rodríguez restored the lead for Seattle with a leadoff homer in the third.

Raleigh, who led the majors with 60 homers in the regular season, made it 3-1 with a leadoff homer against Louis Varland in the fifth.

Raleigh has 10 home runs in 15 career games at Rogers Centre, three of them in the postseason. He also homered at Toronto in Game 1 of a 2022 wild-card series and Game 1 of this year’s ALCS.

Naylor was called out to end the first after umpires ruled he interfered with Ernie Clement’s relay to first base on a double play by jumping into the throw and deflecting it.

Kirby yielded one run and four hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber permitted two runs and seven hits in 3⅔ innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived at the stadium wearing a Maple Leafs hockey jersey with Auston Matthews’ name and number. The star forward is 0-6 in Game 7s with Toronto during his 10 seasons in the NHL.

Former MLB player Jesús Montero, who was once referred to by New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman as “the best player I’ve traded,” died Sunday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this month. He was 35.

The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League reported Montero’s passing on social media, referring to the power-hitting catcher, designated hitter and first baseman as someone with “a powerful bat, an unforgettable presence, a heart that loved this game.”

“Thank you for every at-bat, every home run, every day you proudly defended our colors,” the league wrote in Spanish on Instagram. “Rest in peace, Jesús. Your legacy lives on in every fan who ever celebrated with you.”

In addition to six seasons with the Venezuelan league, Montero played five major league seasons, one with the Yankees and four with the Seattle Mariners. Both teams, as well as MLB, mourned Montero with posts on X.

Born in Guacara, Venezuela, Montero was 16 when he was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2006. He worked his way through the minor leagues, twice appearing in the All-Star Futures game, and made his MLB debut late in the 2011 season. In 61 at-bats over 18 games that September, Montero had a batting average of .328 and OPS of .996 with four home runs and 12 RBIs.

That offseason, Montero was traded to Seattle as part of a blockbuster package deal that sent pitcher Michael Pineda to New York.

“He may very well be the best player I’ve traded,” Cashman told reporters at the time. “He’s that good. He’s a middle-of-the-lineup type bat.”

Montero played 208 games for the Mariners, hitting 24 home runs with 92 RBIs. His time with the organization was marred by struggles with his weight and a 50-game performance-enhancing drug ban in 2013, as he was among several players disciplined by MLB for their relationship to Biogenesis of America.

In 2016, Montero played in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system and received another 50-game suspension following the season after testing positive for banned stimulant dimethylbutylamine. He played part of the 2017 season in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, then spent several more years playing baseball in Mexico and Venezuela before retiring in 2021.

Montero reportedly crashed his motorcycle into a truck Oct. 4 and had been hospitalized in critical condition since then. Authorities said he was unable to recover from multiple injuries.

Taneth Gimenez — Montero’s ex-wife and mother of their two children, Loren and Jesús — has posted several tributes to her former husband on her Instagram Story since his passing.

“May the Lord receive you in your glory,” she wrote in Spanish on one post. “Thank you for giving me the greatest gift I have, my children.”

She added in another, also in Spanish: “I keep the good times tattooed on my soul.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SEATTLE — It was one last batter. One last strikeout. One last ovation for a future Hall of Famer.

And it ended, fittingly, on a helplessly empty swing.

In the top of the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon, in the final regular-season outing of his illustrious 18-year career, Clayton Kershaw snapped off a trademark slider that ducked below the zone. Eugenio Suárez waved at it for a strikeout like so many countless others before him.

With that, Kershaw had his seventh strikeout of the day and the 3,052nd of his career. He had completed 5 ⅓ scoreless innings, lowering his career ERA to 2.53 — the best among any starting pitcher with 1,000 career innings in the live ball era (since 1920).

In the dugout, manager Dave Roberts motioned to fellow veteran Freddie Freeman, sending the first baseman out to the mound to remove Kershaw from his last career start.

When he got there, the two exchanged an embrace, Kershaw hugged the rest of his infield teammates, and then he acknowledged a cheering T-Mobile Park crowd as he walked back to the dugout.

He donned his cap, waved his arm and disappeared down the stairs — for perhaps the very last time.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw embraces his teammates as he gets lifted from Sunday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.

(John Froschauer / Associated Press)

If Kershaw is to take the mound again before retirement this winter, the Dodgers will have to advance through the first round of the playoffs.

Ahead of his scoreless 5 ⅓ inning start in the Dodgers’ 6-1 win against the Seattle Mariners in Sunday’s regular-season finale, Roberts said Kershaw would not be on the team’s roster for next week’s best-of-three wild card series against the Cincinnati Reds.

The decision isn’t shocking. Kershaw was not going to feature in the starting rotation for the series. And though he could have been an option in the bullpen, the Dodgers already have an abundance of left-handed relievers.

Thus, the Dodgers (who finished the season 93-69) will have to reach at least the National League Division Series for Kershaw to pitch in a major league game again. Roberts noted that, if the team does advance, Kershaw could be an option in any capacity.

“You just don’t know how things are gonna play out,” Roberts said. “I can see him starting a game. I can see him coming in for a short burst. I can see him in long relief. I can see him in a lot of ways. I don’t think anyone can predict how that’s gonna play out. We gotta get through the wild card series, and see who’s standing after that.”

If this is the end of the line for Kershaw, he is going out on his own terms.

After being limited by injuries for much of the past three seasons — including missing all of last year’s World Series run with toe and knee injuries that ultimately required offseason surgery — the 37-year-old decided to return to the Dodgers this season for one last crack at a championship chase.

He wound up turning in one of his most impactful performances.

Though Kershaw’s 11-2 record and 3.36 ERA are no career highs, his ability to consistently produce over 23 outings this season (including a ninth-inning appearance as a reliever last week) proved to be invaluable for the Dodgers. He was a steady veteran presence early in the year, when the team was battling a wave of rotation injuries. He was a losing-skid stopper on multiple occasions over the second half, when the team nearly squandered a division lead that once was nine games.

“I don’t think we’d have won the division,” Roberts said, when asked where the team would have been without Kershaw this season.

“He delivered 10 times over for us.”

Roberts acknowledged that Kershaw exceeded all of his expectations for the aging pitcher this season. He relished watching the all-time Dodgers icon write one last memorable chapter to his legendary, record-setting MLB career.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and catcher Ben Rortvedt, center left, walk to the dugout after working the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners.

(John Froschauer / Associated Press)

“He doesn’t want handouts, he doesn’t want freebies, he doesn’t want to be a token,” Roberts said. “He was a big part of what we accomplished this year.”

And, if the Dodgers can get through this week’s wild-card series, he still might be at some point in the playoffs as well.

Ohtani sets career, club HR mark

A year after breaking the Dodgers’ single-season home run record with a career-high 54 long balls last season, Shohei Ohtani reset the high mark once again Sunday.

After two-run home runs from Hyeseong Kim and Freeman early in the game, Ohtani extended the Dodgers’ lead with a solo blast to center field in the seventh. It was his 55th homer of the year, leaving him one shy of Kyle Schwarber for most in the NL.

SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle’s season record for most home runs by a switch hitter with his 54th, and the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to nine by routing the Angels 11-2 Sunday to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time since June.

With the loss, the Angels will finish the year without a winning record for the 10th consecutive season.

George Kirby matched his career high with 14 strikeouts as the Mariners completed a four-game sweep and won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.

Jorge Polanco had three doubles and has doubles in seven straight games, tying the Mariners’ record.

Seattle (82-68) moved one game ahead of Houston (81-69) at the top of the division, winning nine in a row for the first time since a 14-game streak from July 2-17, 2022, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Mariners had not been alone in first place since before play on June 3.

Kirby (9-7) gave up two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking none and leaving after 101 pitches. He also struck out 14 Angels on June 8.

Batting left-handed in the first inning, Raleigh had a first-pitch homer to left-center off Kyle Hendricks for a 2-0 lead. Mantle hit his 54 homers for the 1961 New York Yankees. Raleigh’s homer was his record-setting 43rd homer this season as a catcher, one more than Atlanta’s Javy López in 2003.

Hendricks (7-10) gave up nine runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada left in the middle of the fifth inning because of a sore left ankle.

Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza hit solo homers for the Angels. Denzer Guzmán got his first two big league hits.

SEATTLE — Bryan Woo struck out a career-high 13, J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead homer in the fourth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 5-3 on Saturday night to stay tied with Houston atop the American League West with their eighth straight win.

Matt Brash worked the ninth inning for his fourth save, yielding a solo home run to Taylor Ward.

Woo (14-7) pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits while walking one. He has pitched five innings or more in 31 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the AL.

Woo surrendered Jo Adell’s 36th homer and an RBI single by Bryce Teodosio in the second inning, then retired the next 13 batters he faced. The Angels struck out 16 times total.

Seattle scored early against Angels starter Mitch Farris (1-1), who lasted only four innings, yielding five runs on five hits, walking four and striking out seven. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run double in the first, and Crawford hit his 10th homer of the year in the fourth.

Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery was away for a funeral so Ryan Goins was the acting manager for Saturday’s game.

Seattle holds the second AL wild-card spot in a tie with the Boston Red Sox.

Key moment: Josh Naylor worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Chase Silseth in the fifth, concluding with a two-run single to extend Seattle’s lead 5-2.

Key stat: Polanco’s two-run double in the first inning was his eighth straight game with an extra base hit. It’s the longest streak by a Mariner this season.

Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-9, 4.58) faces Seattle RHP George Kirby (8-7, 4.56) Sunday in the series finale.

SEATTLE — Mitch Garver hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 2-1 on Friday night for their seventh straight win.

Garver turned on an elevated fastball from reliever Connor Brogdon (3-2) and hit it into the left-field bleachers for his ninth home run of the season. Seattle remained in a tie with the Houston Astros atop the AL West for a second straight night.

The Mariners (80-68) went in front in the fourth inning on a two-out, two-strike RBI double by Jorge Polanco. The switch-hitter kept his hands inside on a fastball from Yusei Kikuchi, cranking it to left to drive in Cal Raleigh, who doubled earlier in the inning.

The Angels (69-79) were held scoreless until the top of the seventh inning, when Logan Davidson tied it with an RBI double off reliever Carlos Vargas (5-5).

After Garver’s homer in the bottom of the seventh, the Mariners’ bullpen made sure it stood, with Andrés Muñoz getting the last three outs for his 35th save of the season.

Key moment: In the sixth inning, right fielder Victor Robles robbed Angels cleanup hitter Taylor Ward of a double that would have likely scored two runs. Instead, the Angels were held scoreless until the seventh inning.

Key stat: Polanco has recorded a double in five consecutive games, tied for the longest active streak in the majors this season. It’s also the longest streak for a Mariners player since Raúl Ibañez from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 in 2004.

Up next: Angels LHP Mitch Farris (1-0, 2.45 ERA) starts Saturday against Mariners RHP Bryan Woo (13-7, 3.02).

SEATTLE — Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.

It was the second straight walk-off victory in extra innings for the Mariners, who extended their win streak to six games. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night to complete a series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Seattle became the first team to play consecutive games that lasted at least 12 innings since Major League Baseball introduced the automatic runner for extra innings in 2020.

Mike Trout launched his 399th career home run for the Angels, tying it 4-4 in the fifth inning after they fell behind 4-0 in the second.

J.P. Crawford had three RBIs for the Mariners, including a tying single in the 11th.

Cal Raleigh became the first player to hit 40 homers this season with a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 7-2 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Raleigh hammered a 97-mph fastball from José Fermin 416 feet into the right-field bleachers for his second homer in eight games since winning the Home Run Derby.

Julio Rodríguez hit his fourth solo homer in three games at Angel Stadium, and Randy Arozarena also connected for the Mariners (56-49).

George Kirby struck out nine over six difficult innings of five-hit ball to earn his fourth win in five starts despite not matching his 14-strikeout performance at Angel Stadium last month. Kirby fanned Luis Rengifo on a slider with the bases loaded to end the sixth.

Taylor Ward hit his 24th homer for the Angels (50-55), who have lost five of six.

Angels star Mike Trout walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Tyler Anderson yielded six hits and two runs while pitching inefficiently into the fifth. The veteran left-hander and Angels trade candidate has a 5.66 ERA in his last four starts.

Rodríguez connected in the third, adding his 18th homer of the season to his solo shot Thursday and two more in the Mariners’ loss Friday.

Arozarena led off the fourth with his 20th homer, reaching the milestone for the fifth consecutive season.

Yoán Moncada, another Angels trade candidate, left in pain after Kirby’s fastball hit him in the hand. X-rays were negative.

Raleigh is the seventh catcher in major league history to hit 40 homers in a season. It’s been done nine times overall — twice by Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza.

Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco homered, Logan Evans gave up one run in five innings, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 4-2 on Thursday night.

Rodríguez, who stole third base in the first inning, has 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. The 24-year-old is the first player in MLB history with at least 15 homers and 20-plus stolen bases in each of their first four seasons.

Evans (4-3), a 24-year-old rookie, allowed three hits and walked three with three strikeouts. Andrés Muñoz pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.

Rodríguez hit a solo shot off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) and Arozarena added a two-run homer to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Mike Trout doubled and then scored when Nolan Schanuel followed with a single in the first for the Angels. Zach Neto added an RBI single in the seventh.

The Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from Arizona earlier Thursday, ahead of the trade deadline on July 31.

Key moment: Trout drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two out in the ninth before Muñoz got Schanuel to line out to end the game.

Key stat: Trout has 437 total bases and 146 runs scored in his career against Seattle, both of which are records. Rafael Palmeiro and Rickey Henderson hold the previous marks of 435 total bases and 145 runs, respectively.

Up next: Seattle’s Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against José Soriano (7-7, 3.73) in the second of a four-game series.

George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018, and he matched Miami’s Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season.

Donovan Solano drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena had an early RBI double among his three hits as the Mariners avoided a series sweep with their fourth win in 14 games.

Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games.

Andrés Muñoz earned his 18th save, returning from a week off and rebounding from back-to-back blown save opportunities in which he allowed his first earned runs of the entire season.

Muñoz walked Jorge Soler leading off the ninth, but struck out Mike Trout to end it.

Tyler Anderson (2-3) yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of his ninth consecutive winless appearance.

Arozarena hit a 345-foot single in the fifth when he failed to hustle out of the box, but he stole second and scored on Jorge Polanco’s two-out single. Solano added another RBI single to chase Anderson.

Key moment: Trout was the Angels’ first baserunner with a two-out single, and Ward immediately followed with his 18th homer. Kirby regrouped and struck out Chris Taylor with a perfect slider on the corner.

Key stat: Trout tied Rafael Palmeiro’s major league record of 435 total bases against Seattle before scoring his 145th run against the Mariners to tie Rickey Henderson for that career record.

Up next: Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the Big A mound Monday night against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19) pitches for the Mariners at Arizona.

Jo Adell homered twice, Chris Taylor also went deep and the Angels rallied from four runs down and beat the Seattle Mariners 8-6 on Saturday night.

Cal Raleigh homered twice — giving him a major league-leading 26 — and drove in four runs for the Mariners, who have lost five straight and 12 of their last 17 games.

Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who gave up Raleigh’s solo homer in the ninth, finished up for his 14th save.

Angels teammates Zach Neto, left, and Jo Adell celebrate after an 8-6 win over the Mariners on Saturday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Taylor replaced injured right fielder Jorge Soler (groin tightness) to start the second and led off with a homer off Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (4-4). Two outs later, Adell hit a 431-foot solo shot to left-center to trim Seattle’s lead to 4-2.

The Angels took advantage of two Mariners errors to score twice in the third to tie the score 4-4, and Adell’s 445-foot homer to center put them ahead 5-4 in the fourth.

Doubles by Nolan Schanuel and Taylor Ward pushed the lead to 6-4 in the fifth, and Zach Neto’s RBI single made it 7-5 in the sixth. Adell added an RBI single in the seventh for a three-run lead as the Angels scored in six consecutive innings for the first time since 2011.

Adell is 13 for 32 (.406) with five homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in his last 10 games, raising his season average from .184 to .224.

Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez, who singled in his first two at-bats, was knocked out of the game in the third after Randy Arozarena’s hard grounder hit him above the right ankle while Rodríguez was trying to steal third base.

Cole Young doubled and scored in the second and hit an RBI single in the sixth for the Mariners.

Connor Brogdon (1-0) replaced Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz with runners on first and third and one out in the fourth. He struck out J.P. Crawford, walked Jorge Polanco and got Leody Taveras to fly out with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-4 tie.

Stephenson out indefinitely

A pair of MRI tests revealed no structural damage to Robert Stephenson’s surgically repaired right elbow, but the Angels reliever was diagnosed with a stretched biceps nerve that will sideline him indefinitely.

“The good news is there’s no major injury or anything. It’s just a matter of how long it’s going to take,” Stephenson said Saturday night before a game against the Seattle Mariners. “It could be something that disappears overnight. It could be something that takes a couple weeks or longer. They’re kind of tricky.”

The 32-year-old Stephenson was expected to be one of the team’s top relievers after signing a three-year, $33-million deal in January 2024, but he missed all of last season after undergoing an ulnar collateral ligament repair with an internal brace in May 2024.

When Angels closer Kenley Jansen induced a groundout from J.P. Crawford to end Friday night’s contest, he made sure to keep the ball.

In the Angels’ clubhouse after a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners, Jansen handed the ball to Kyle Hendricks. It was Hendricks’ to keep after he earned his 100th career victory.

Hendricks didn’t pitch his best game. The right-hander gave up eight hits and four earned runs along with two strikeouts and two walks over six innings. Still, his milestone capped one of the Angels’ better wins — an all-around team effort spearheaded by veteran players.

“I hate it being about me, so I appreciated keeping [the postgame celebration] short,” said Hendricks, who won 97 of his 100 games with the Chicago Cubs. [Manager Ron Washington] just said a couple words, and the guys pointed out Kenley keeping the last ball for me, handing it over. Just really cool and hugs all around.”

Clyde Wright, ninth on the Angels’ all-time wins list and Hendricks’ pitching coach during his teenage years in South Orange County, was at Angel Stadium on Friday. Wright, who ended his career with 100 wins, congratulated Hendricks in the clubhouse.

“I told him, I only took 23 years after our first lesson — 12-year-old, first lesson — and now, finally tied him,” Hendricks said.

Hendricks said he has built a solid bond with battery mate Travis d’Arnaud in recent starts.

“Really catching a groove, really learned me, and it’s just making things so much easier for me,” Hendricks said of d’Arnaud. “So I can’t thank him enough.”

Being part of Hendricks’ 100th win was “very special” for d’Arnaud, who also caught Charlie Morton’s 100th win with Atlanta in 2021.

“I’m very thankful and grateful that I was a part of it, and not only to be a part of it behind the plate, but also to help contribute at the plate,” d’Arnaud said.

Offensively, it was one of the newest Angels who helped lead them to victory.

Chris Taylor hadn’t done much at the plate since the Angels signed him nearly two weeks ago. Friday night at Angel Stadium, the former Dodgers utilityman put together his best game for the Angels so far — going two for three with a tying RBI double in his first multi-hit performance of the season (his first in the regular season since Sept. 28).

“That’s obviously the best game I’ve had in a minute,” Taylor said. “Just to hit the ball hard and drive in a run — do some things to help a team win, felt good.”

Angels second baseman Chris Taylor throws to first base after forcing out a Mariners runner at second in the first inning Friday.

(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)

Taylor also scored the decisive run in the fifth inning on a single from Nolan Schanuel. Even Taylor’s one out was loud. In the bottom of the sixth, Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez robbed Taylor of a two-run home run to dead center field.

In his first plate appearance in the third, Taylor scored on a single from Zach Neto to tie the score 1-1. After the Mariners retook the lead in the fourth, d’Arnaud tied the game again with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

The Angels put together one of their better performances at the plate. They combined for seven hits and struck out just seven times. With their third win in four games, the Angels (29-33) are three games back of second-place Seattle (32-30) and 5½ games behind AL West-leading Houston (35-28).

Ryan Zeferjahn and Reid Detmers pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively, and Jansen tossed a scoreless ninth for his 13th save. Detmers hasn’t given up a run — across eight appearances — since May 17.

For Washington, Hendricks getting his 100th win was the cherry on top of a win over a division rival.

“I talk about two things, presence and performance,” Washington said. “[Hendricks’] presence is always around. And when he’s performing, you see him giving everything he has. Well deserved.”

So the white smoke emerged from Whitehall as the Prime Minister didn’t quite say “Habemas a Deal”. at the end of the much hyped UK-EU reset talks. The good news is that there is some amelioration of the 2020 Brexit Treaty negotiated by Boris Johnson. The bad news is that it won’t satisfy many on either side of the Brexit divide.

In 1992 the Swiss voted against the Maastricht Treaty enshrining Margaret Thatcher’s campaign to create a single market Europe with its four freedoms of movement of capital, goods, services and labour. Pope Saint John Paul II Mrs Thactcer’s Treat  “will hasten the process of European integration. A common political structure, the product of the free will of European citizens, far from endangering the identity of the peoples in the community, will be able to guarantee more equitably the rights, in particular the cultural rights, of all its regions. These united European peoples will not accept the domination of one nation or culture over the others, but they will uphold the equal right of all to enrich others with their difference.”

                  Quickly Europe’s richest nation in the Alps realised they had shot a crossbow arrow into their foot. Negotiations started and continue to this day to improve Switzerland’s access to the four freedoms without actually joining the EU.

                  The Alpine nation is governed by referendums and there have been 20 so far on aspects of the EU-Swiss relationship. 17 agreed to proposals put forward by negotiators in Berne and Brussels and 3 said no. In 2010 as David Cameron and Nick Clegg announced their referendum which both leaders thought would put the Europe question to bed the Swiss voted against allowing Europeans to work in sectors like care homes, agricultures, mountain tourism, or construction which Swiss like Brits chez nous didn’t want to work in.

                  Swiss employers recoiled in horror and launched a campaign to reverse the decision. Despite the fulminations of the anti-EU Swiss People’s Party a second referendum was held and Switzerland now benefits from access to the European labour market pool while the UK imported more than a million workers from Africa and Asia to do the work native Brits shunned.

                  Britain is now embarking on the laborious slog of the mountain climb of gradual  step by step improvements in the 2020 deal Boris Johnson signed.

                  This has led the ageing tenors of anti-European ideology emerging like Japanese soldiers from the jungle 20 years after the second world war ended still believing their inevitable triumph is just around the corner.

                  From Boris Johnson, through Jacob Rees Mogg, Priti Patel, David Frost, Andrew Neil or assorted peers and retired Oxbridge dons  the chorus of “Surrender!”, “Betrayal!”, or “Sell-out!” continues but is weaker and weaker.

                  As Rod Liddle who helped turn Today when he edited it into a platform for Nigel Farage and anti-European keenies now notes the old heartlands of Brexit know it has delivered none of its promises and just want to move on.

                  Some Labour ministers use Theresa May’s slogan she “would make Brexit work.” That is an oxymoron. When the very conservative governor of the Bank of England says here will be no growth if we continue to set our faces against trade with Europe that is an ex-cathedra statement saying Adieu to Brexit. 

                  The Prime minister has none of the flair, nor drive of a Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher but after the excitements of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, voters opted for caution, prudence, and stability.

                  `It will be a long haul but the 30 year long Brexit era of British politics is over. One day Polish workers will be welcome back in Britain and attendance at Sunday mass will go up.

Denis MacShane is the former Labour Minister for Europe. His book “Brexiternity. The uncertain future of Britain” is published by Bloomsbury.