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Jays feel sting of defeat as title slips from grasp

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Jays feel sting of defeat as title slips from grasp


TORONTO — Third baseman Ernie Clement‘s eyes welled up as he spoke to reporters on one end of the clubhouse while tears flowed down the left side of pitcher Max Scherzer‘s face on the other side of the room. Meanwhile, closer Jeff Hoffman‘s voice wavered and cracked as he accepted blame for the Toronto Blue Jays‘ devastating, extra-innings defeat in Saturday’s Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The postgame emotions of the team were raw and unfiltered.

“It sucks,” Hoffman said after the 5-4 loss. “Supposed to end differently. Was just one pitch. I cost everybody here a World Series ring. It feels pretty s—ty.”

Hoffman was two outs from earning the save, which would have sent a whole country into celebration. Instead, Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas took him deep on a 3-2 slider, tying the score. Two innings later, Dodgers catcher Will Smith did the same to starter-turned-reliever Shane Bieber, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night and the final margin of victory.

“Hung a slider to a great guy who hits sliders well,” Bieber said. “He was looking for it. I didn’t execute. This one stings. It’s going to sting for a while. This game is not for the faint of heart.”

Scherzer said Saturday’s loss was all the more heartbreaking because of the camaraderie within the team.

“I’m 41 years old and I never thought I could love baseball this much,” Scherzer said while wiping away tears. “My love for the game was so strong because of their love for the game.

“That loss is so tough because you’re so close to everybody. This team had that closeness, had that camaraderie. We had that passion not only for the game but for each other.”

Scherzer, 41, pitched 4⅓ innings in Game 7, giving up just one run on four hits before leaving to a standing ovation. He vowed that he hadn’t thrown his last pitch in the big leagues but said he wasn’t in the right state of mind to expand on his future plans.

Scherzer departed the game with a 3-1 lead, thanks to a Bo Bichette three-run homer in the third. Like Scherzer, Bichette is a free agent but afterward maintained his desire to stay in Toronto.

“I want to be here, but I just lost a Game 7,” Bichette said, waving off any further questions about his future. “I hit that homer, but the game wasn’t over at that point.”

The Jays kept their lead all the way until the ninth, when Hoffman gave it up to Rojas. The crowd fell silent, hoping the bottom of the inning would produce a winning play. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s blast to center field gave them a moment of hope, but even the Jays star knew it wasn’t going out.

“People that know me know I stand at home plate and watch them go out,” Guerrero said through the team interpreter. “I knew it wasn’t going anywhere.”

After it was all over, Guerrero went to each locker to deliver a message to his teammates.

“Told them how proud of the job that they did,” he said. “I can’t be any prouder of my teammates and all the things we accomplished this year.”

It was the same message manager John Schneider delivered in what he described as his first team meeting all season. It came after their toughest defeat.

“I said thank you,” Schneider said. “I said thank you probably about 10 times. And that was the main message.”

Perhaps most emotional was Clement. He set a record for most hits in a single postseason with 30, though one more — in the ninth inning with the bases loaded — would have won the series. Instead, he was robbed at the wall by Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages.

Clement said he spent an hour after the game crying and hugging his teammates.

“We gave it everything we had,” Clement said. “When you fall short but you can say you left it all out there, there’s something to be proud of there.

“I would go to war with Jeff Hoffman every day of the week. I want him on the mound. I want Bieber on the mound. Ninety-nine times out of 100 those guys get the job done. Obviously, it just wasn’t our night.”

But it was their season, at least until the very end. After finishing in last place in 2024, the Blue Jays won the AL East and reached Game 7 of the World Series. Although it wasn’t their desired finish, Blue Jays players said the journey was meaningful.

“Everyone in here is pretty devastated,” pitcher Kevin Gausman said. “We’re a really good team. It took them playing perfect and having a great last couple innings to beat us and that’s what happened.”

Said Bieber: “This group is unlike any other I’ve ever been a part of. That’s a sentiment we all kind of feel personally.”



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Tiger Woods arrested at crash scene on suspicion of DUI, sheriff says

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Tiger Woods arrested at crash scene on suspicion of DUI, sheriff says


Tiger Woods showed signs of impairment and was arrested Friday at the scene of a car crash in which he struck another vehicle and rolled his Land Rover, authorities said.

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods and the person in the other vehicle were not injured. Woods was able to crawl out of the passenger side of his Land Rover.

The crash occurred just after 2 p.m. not far from where Woods lives on Jupiter Island. Budensiek said Woods attempted to pass a pressure cleaner truck while driving on a two-land road. He swerved to avoid a collision as he was passing the truck, but clipped the back end of the truck’s trailer. Woods’ vehicle then rolled onto its driver’s side.

Budensiek said investigators at the scene found Woods to be showing signs of impairment. He did a breathalyzer test, which came out negative, but he refused to take a urine test. Authorities charged him with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, Budensiek said. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Woods’ manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking information.

Woods, 50, had spent the past several months recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and another back surgery in October. The 15-time major champion competed for the first time in more than a year during Tuesday’s TGL finals, where his Jupiter Links GC team lost to the Los Angeles Golf Club.

He had been weighing whether to return to the PGA Tour at the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, the first major of the season, which begins April 9.

Woods last competed on the PGA Tour in July 2024 when he missed the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. He last played four rounds in a PGA Tour event at the 2024 Masters.

In February 2021, Woods suffered significant leg injuries in a one-car crash outside of Los Angeles, in which his SUV rolled several times and left him trapped in the car. He later had surgery to deal with “open fractures” to his lower right leg, had a rod placed in a tibia and had screws and pins inserted in his foot and ankle during emergency surgery. Woods was hospitalized for three weeks following the surgery.

At the 2021 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Woods said, “I’m lucky to be alive and also have a limb.” He said it was 50-50 as to whether part of his right leg could have been amputated.

He had at least one more surgery related to injuries from the crash in April 2023.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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FIFA clears Fulham’s Diop, Ajax’s Bounida to play for Morocco

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FIFA clears Fulham’s Diop, Ajax’s Bounida to play for Morocco


Morocco got FIFA permission to select Fulham defender Issa Diop and Ajax midfielder Rayane Bounida among seven players recruited this month by the 2022 World Cup semifinalist ahead of the next edition in North America, and 16 in total since last March.

The 29-year-old Diop was a France youth and under-21 international and Bounida is among six players aged 20 or under changing eligibility this month to represent Morocco after playing youth games for Belgium or the Netherlands.

All have direct family ties to Morocco that allow them within FIFA rules to change national eligibility, typically when players have not played a senior competitive game for the first country they represented.

Diop and Bounida are in new coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad for World Cup warmup games against Ecuador on Friday in Madrid, and Paraguay on Tuesday in Lens, France.

At the 2026 World Cup Morocco is in a group with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti playing games, respectively, near New York, Boston and in Atlanta.

Morocco gets direct entry to the 2030 tournament as a co-host with Spain and Portugal, plus single games to be played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The Morocco federation, under the leadership of Fouzi Lekjaa, an increasingly influential figure in soccer politics, has actively recruited players from a diaspora in Europe.

The squad which made World Cup history in Qatar as the first semifinalist from Africa included stars such as Hakim Ziyech and Sofyan Amrabat who had been Netherlands youth internationals.

The eligibility changes FIFA approved in March include Bounida and Genk midfielder Saif Eddien Lazar who had represented Belgium.

Players switching to Morocco from the Netherlands were Benjamin Khaderi and Sami Bouhoudane, both aged 18 from PSV Eindhoven, 20-year-old Utrecht defender Oualid Agougil and 18-year-old Ayoud Ouarghi from Feyenoord.

FIFA also approved nine more players changing eligibility from March to December last year, from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.



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Tiger Woods involved in rollover crash in Florida less than 2 weeks before Masters: reports

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Tiger Woods involved in rollover crash in Florida less than 2 weeks before Masters: reports


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Tiger Woods was involved in a car crash in Florida on Friday, according to multiple reports. 

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office told ESPN that the crash happened on Jupiter Island on Friday afternoon. Woods’ condition was not immediately known. 

Woods competed in the TGL championship earlier this week with his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, and her daughter, Kai, in the stands. It was his return to competitive golf after rupturing his Achilles last year, just ahead of the Masters.

Tiger Woods of Jupiter Links Golf Club looks on before the match against the Los Angeles Golf Club at SoFi Center on March 23, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  (Adam Glanzman/TGL/TGL Golf via Getty Images)

The 15-time major winner, five of which have come at Augusta, was noncommittal about playing at this year’s Masters. President Donald Trump said on “The Five” on Thursday that he would be at Augusta but not play.

Woods has had trouble behind the wheel in the past. In 2021, he got into a wreck that resulted in serious leg injuries that kept him off the golf course for months.

This is a breaking story. Check back for more updates.

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