TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease left Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning because of a sore left hamstring.
First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left in the bottom half after being hit on the right elbow by a pitch from Mitch Keller. Lenyn Sosa came in to run for Guerrero and took over at first base.
The Blue Jays said an X-ray of Guerrero's elbow did not reveal a fracture.
Manager John Schneider said Guerrero reported feeling numbness in his arm and hand after being hit, but said the slugger could return Monday against Miami.
“It's sore, obviously, but I think it was probably best possible news," Schneider said. "We'll see how he is tomorrow.”
Schneider and head athletic trainer Jose Ministral came to the mound in the top half of the inning after Cease shook his leg several times between pitches. Cease stayed in to retire Spencer Horwitz but was replaced by left-hander Mason Fluharty.
After Toronto's 4-1 loss, Schneider said Cease was going for an MRI.
“He said he wants to make his next start,” Schneider said. “Just see how he is the next couple of days, and just hoping for good news. He's obviously very, very valuable to us, so we'll make the decision in the next couple of days."
Cease allowed two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight. It’s just the second time in 11 starts this season that Cease has failed to finish five innings.
Cease has made at least 30 starts in each of the past five seasons, one of just four big league pitchers to do so. The others are also Blue Jays starters: José Berríos, Patrick Corbin and Kevin Gausman.
Cease joined the reigning AL champions last December, signing a $210 million, seven-year contract.
Horwitz homered on Cease’s first pitch of the game Sunday, and Oneil Cruz made it 2-0 with a leadoff homer in the second.
The Blue Jays currently have 13 players on the injured list, including starting pitchers Shane Bieber (elbow), Berríos (elbow), Bowden Francis (elbow), Cody Ponce (right knee) and Max Scherzer (forearm).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Toronto on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Frank Gunn /The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Toronto on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Frank Gunn /The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease reacts after giving up the second solo home run of the game during the second inning of an baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Toronto on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Rod Brind'Amour didn't see a need to juggle his lineup or massively adjust the scheme after an ugly first period cost the Carolina Hurricanes any chance to win their Eastern Conference Final opener.
No, the issue was as simple as getting to their game, with the precision and edge they had shown in sweeping through the first two playoff rounds.
Following that approach got the Eastern Conference's top seed back into their series against the Montreal Canadiens as play moves to Canada for Monday's Game 3. And it offers the roadmap entering what is now a best-of-five series for a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
“We just tried to keep it real after Game 1: We needed a better effort,” defenseman K'Andre Miller said Sunday.
“We know how we can play Hurricane hockey and we know we're at our best when we can get to our game. So I think it was just a matter of looking (at) the man in the mirror and bringing your best effort for Game 2.”
The Canadiens won Game 1 by jumping on a team coming off an 11-day break — the longest wait to start a series in more than a century — scoring four goals in the opening 11 1/2 minutes. Montreal repeatedly got loose for clean breakouts and breakaways against Frederik Andersen in that one.
The lone positive from that game was the Hurricanes played more of their preferred style in the second period. Otherwise, Brind’Amour said they needed to toss it and move on, even saying the team wouldn’t go through an on-ice practice.
“It’s not what we need,” he said Friday.
Carolina responded Saturday night by looking closer to its previous playoff form with its aggressive forecheck, controlling the puck in the offensive zone and winning battles along the boards to minimize the chances going the other way. The Hurricanes held the Canadiens to 12 shots on goal while surrendering far fewer unchecked sprints through the neutral zone that led to such Game 1 trouble.
“I think all the way through it was more Carolina Hurricane hockey in Game 2 and we'll try to keep building on that,” captain Jordan Staal said.
Then there is the pressure to break through to the Stanley Cup Final in Carolina's third Eastern final in four years and fourth in the current eight-year postseason run under Brind'Amour. Carolina was swept in this round against Boston in 2019 and Florida in 2023, then fell in five games in last year’s rematch with the Panthers.
The Hurricanes were 1-13 under Brind’Amour in the Eastern Conference Final before winning Game 2 on Nikolaj Ehlers’ overtime goal. And the franchise's struggles in this round go back even to Brind'Amour's playing days in a 2009 sweep against Pittsburgh, with Carolina losing 10 straight home conference-final games since beating Buffalo in Game 7 on the way to hoisting the Cup in 2006 with Brind'Amour as captain.
This is the first time the Hurricanes haven't found themselves in an 0-2 hole in this round since that year, too.
Brind'Amour dismissed talk of past struggles by noting “there's too much to worry about right now” with corralling the young and fearless Canadiens.
“Right now it's so day-to-day focused, shift-focused eventually, that you can't think like that,” Staal said.
The good news for the Canadiens was they continued to show an ultra-opportunistic approach to attacking any opening, down to forcing OT and being a goal away from a 2-0 series lead despite being outplayed most of Saturday.
Josh Anderson's first goal at the 11:11 mark of the opening period came on the Canadiens' first shot on goal, set up by Taylor Hall's failed clear attempt that was kept in at the blue line by Kaiden Guhle. Anderson's second came on a third-period rebound of his own shot in a multi-player scramble in front of the crease after Carolina couldn't get that puck cleared, either.
It's a familiar story for Montreal, notably going back to how they won Game 7 on the road of the first-round series against Tampa Bay despite getting just nine shots on goal. Or how they regrouped from blowing a 2-0 lead in Game 7 at Buffalo to win that second-round series in overtime.
“It can take one play in a game to change the whole mood and the energy,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said Sunday. "We've got a lot of opportunistic guys, and we trust the style. ... So if you can get through those moments, there's usually something good on the other side of that.
“We've done that all playoffs, and I don't really see that changing. I think we can win any type of game."
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour speaks at a new conference following Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal gets an explanation from referee Kelly Sutherland for a call against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson, left, clears the puck from the goal area with Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) and Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) nearby during the second period in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
