TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays signed veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen to a one-year contract on Thursday to help shore up a bullpen that has been used heavily in recent weeks.
Lorenzen was released by the Colorado Rockies earlier this month. His arrival in Toronto came a day after the Blue Jays used seven relievers in a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
“Availability for length and availability to do a lot of different things,” Toronto manager John Schneider said before the Blue Jays faced the Kansas City Royals.
Lorenzen, who started 25 of his 26 appearances with the Rockies this year, was pressed into action in a 13-2 loss to the Royals. He worked two innings of relief and allowed an earned run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Lorenzen, a 12-year MLB veteran, was 3-11 with a 7.08 earned-run average this season with Colorado.
The 34-year-old Lorenzen spent his first seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 2023. He has also played for the Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers.
“You pick up a guy that’s done it before and that can basically throw every day,” Schneider said.
Bullpen games have become a frequent occurrence for the Blue Jays this season due to injuries. Shane Bieber would have started on Wednesday, but he was placed on the 15-day injured list due to muscle inflammation in his right shoulder.
Other Toronto starters on the IL include Trey Yesavage (knee), Jose Berrios (elbow), Patrick Corbin (shoulder), Bowden Francis (elbow), Cody Ponce (knee) and Jameson Taillon (forearm).
Several Blue Jays relievers are in the top 15 on the major-league list for appearances this season.
Entering play Thursday, Mason Fluharty led all players with 71 appearances. Braydon Fisher (64) was fifth, Tyler Rogers (63) was tied for sixth and closer Louis Varland (61) was tied for 12th.
Schneider said Lorenzen could also be used as a starter over the final month of the season, if needed.
“He’s done it obviously this year and in the past,” he said. “So he can do that or can do multiple things out of the ‘pen. He could do one inning out of the ’pen.”
Lorenzen arrived with a 57-66 record and 4.40 ERA over 421 career appearances, including 144 starts.
“It’s tough to pitch (at altitude) in Colorado, we know that,” Schneider said. “He’s excited to be here. He loves the place.”
Also Thursday, the Blue Jays optioned right-hander Chad Dallas to Triple-A Buffalo and transferred outfielder Jonatan Clase to the 60-day injured list.
Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
PARIS (AP) — Police arrested at least 1,800 people across France after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during nationwide demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands who denounced rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
Authorities said masked groups on Saturday set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities.
In Limoges, a city in central France, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse. Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate told LCI television that the fire was deliberately set and nearly destroyed the building. The fire was under control Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency meeting with top government officials on Sunday afternoon, before addressing the nation at 8 p.m., according to his office.
“The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, pointing to the looting of hundreds of businesses in many cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.
About 550,000 people took part in protests across France, according to authorities, while organizers counted about 800,000. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, Nuñez said.
One person died of a heart attack, Paris police said in a statement, without providing details. Paris prosecutors' office said it was investigating.
Around Paris' Place de la République on Sunday morning, dislodged cobblestones, shattered storefronts and broken glass marked the aftermath of the events. Looting and damage were reported around the square and in some other tourist and shopping areas in the city center.
Paris police said Sunday that 855 people were arrested in the French capital region alone. The Paris prosecutors' office said that 557 of them were kept in police custody.
“I am actually stunned by the level of destruction and violence that was expressed,” Marie Peyreigne, a 57-year-old government employee said, wondering what led to the mayhem.
Inspecting the damage, many Parisians took photos of the partially dismantled base of the central monument at Place de la République — a statue of Marianne, a symbol of France.
Jean Foissy, 74, said he wanted to join the protest but found “a wall of riot police and fires everywhere,” and went back home.
“I was very scared,” he said. “I’ve been a Parisian since I was born, so when I got here, it almost made me want to cry because I find it so bad, it hurts me.”
Margaux Eude, 26, said she supports the protest movement but “didn’t think it would escalate like this.”
“It’s the troublemakers who came, and it breaks my heart because it delegitimizes the movement,” she said.
Political leaders across the spectrum sought to parlay the fallout of Saturday’s riots into political capital, looking ahead to next spring’s presidential election.
Far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen lashed out at far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who joined the Paris march. “Looting, ransacking, destroying and attacking law enforcement: Rioters have again spoiled the Oct. 17 demonstrations for the protection of purchasing power,” Le Pen wrote on X.
Her running mate, Jordan Bardella, said on X that “if the silent majority of French decide it, we will reestablish order for the long term.”
Mélenchon, for his part, traded barbs with the prime minister, accusing Lecornu of “playing with fire” and alleging that “by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers’ unions.”
Mélenchon insisted that “my message is clear: those who share our fight have no business in looting or destruction.”
U.S. President Donald Trump posted “France is burning!” on his Truth Social platform, apparently linking the unrest to “the immigration of people from an entirely different world.”
“Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!” he wrote.
French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting and have repeatedly attributed some of the violence to “radical far-left groups” and other people who joined to loot.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced the creation of an emergency unit to support businesses assess the damage.
“The scale of the damage is considerable and unprecedented,” Grégoire wrote in an open letter. “Paris is a city of freedoms, debate and demonstrations. It must remain so. But it must also be a city where everyone can work and run a business safely.”
Police said groups of hundreds of people formed unauthorized marches across central Paris on Saturday. “By late afternoon, a new phase began with the arrival of large numbers of people whose sole aim was to steal and loot, taking advantage of the unrest,” police said.
The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, the three largest cities, requested a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days “given the extent of the damage and the seriousness of the situation.”
In the southern port city of Marseille, some protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall and a group of people wearing hoods and masks damaged a police station. In Lyon, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.
A woman takes a snapshot of a looted store the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A protester holds a board with a photo of French president Emmanuel Macron in front of a burning tourism office during a demonstration against rising living costs and in solidarity with students' grievances in Lyon, France, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
A looted store the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
People look at charred cars the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
People look at a charred car on Place de la Republique the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
