Recap | Game of the Year Between Toronto and Hamilton | Canadian Baseball League

Game Notes

First Pitch: 8/5/2026, 7:35:00 PM

Final Out: 8/5/2026, 11:37:25 PM

Time of Game: 4h 2m

2B: JJ Dutton, Reyny Reyes, Tyler Duncan, Yordan Manduley, Jommer Hernandez

HR: Evan Magill, Matt Brandt, Brandon Nicoll 2, Jommer Hernandez

SB: Darlin German, Brando Leroux

CS: Brandon Nicoll

GIDP: Darlin German

HBP: Evan Magill, Yordan Manduley

LOB: Hamilton Cardinals 11, Toronto Maple Leafs 7

Stadium: Dominico Field

Umpires: HP: James Liles • 1B: Scott Costello

Transcript

Thomas West 0:00

Oh, welcome to Dominique O'Field. Thomas West here tonight it's the Toronto Maple Leafs in Hamilton Cardinals. A battle of a team that is looking for a miracle run to try and get themselves into playoff positioning against a team that is in a very interesting spot right now in the Canadian Baseball League standings. We'll get into that momentarily, but wins are at a premium to say the least for both of these teams, but for different reasons this season. So you're looking at Jordan Mandalay right now, the 40-year-old Cuban player for the Toronto Maple Leafs that's uh traveled around the world really to play his professional baseball career and has found himself here in Toronto after being a Kitchener Panther, and he has been a guy who's been absolutely on a roll as of late. Four home runs on the season. One of them came last game against the Chatham Kent Barnstormers. And uh Jordan Mandalay is on pace to set some career highs this season. He's hitting 374. But uh the plate coverage that he's had this season has been something that has just been unbelievable. That I've been really impressed with. So I put this together. So this was last game that we saw him play against the Chatham Kent Barnstormers. In the fifth inning, the the ball that's up high there, you can see he hit a home run on that pitch. I'm not kidding. We'll show you in just a moment. And then later on in the game, you can see him reaching out for that ball way outside the strike zone, but that ended up being a double that he slashed down the line. That's just some of the plate coverage that we've seen from Jordan Mandalay this season. So something uh maybe of note for the Hamilton Cardinals as they may or may not pitch him outside this game. Uh as promised. Take a look at those two swings that we just showed you images of. Mandalay slashes one down the line, and this one's gonna fall and get past Gideon all the way to the wall. Yassiel Tweig will move into third, and Mandalay slides into second base with a double. Tweig took it as a count. Two and one here. And Mandalay serves this one into the outfield. This ball is carrying, and it is off the top of the wall. Mandalay is digging for two. There could be a play. Here's the throw, not in time. Contact rate this season, which is a crazy number. Makes contact with this baseball and hits it high in the air, and it is deep and gone. Jordon Mandalay, a solo home run. It's six to three. One-two to Mandalay. Reaches out and dishes one down the line, and this could be extra bases. Jordan Mandalay digging for two. This one rolls into the corner, and that's just Jordan Mandalay in a nutshell. Homers and hits a double on a pitch that was way up. So, just a sample there, what we've seen from Jordan Mandalay this season. Just ridiculous stuff. The plate coverage is unbelievable, and the contact rate is something that I've been really intrigued at. Last I checked, this was before last game against the Chatham Kent Barnstormers. He was third in the Canadian Baseball League in contact rate. And that's no surprise seeing some of the clips that you just saw there. By the way, those were all in the last four games. He's got four extra base hits his last four games. Had two in this game against the Chatham Kent Barnstormers, and this was a win that the Maple Leafs really needed. They were coming off a game that they had lost. They were anticipating having to play this Chatham-Kent Barnstormer the very next day on an afternoon on a Sunday. That ended up not being the case. But this was a game that was just a really well-played ball game by the Toronto Maple Leafs after about the second inning. They went down early on. Well, Henness Alvarado got himself in a little bit of trouble. And then in came Uto Nakata for his Toronto Maple Leafs debut. And as you can see there, he was just dominant. There's been no pitcher, starting pitcher, reliever, anybody all season who's thrown more than 10 strikeouts in a game, and Yuto Nakata did it in five and a third innings of relief. Didn't walk any, and he struck out 11. So he was unbelievable for the Toronto Maple Leafs in that game. The Hamilton Cardinals, they're coming off a pretty gutsy win of their own last time out as well. This was a game against the Guelph Royals. They ended up winning the game 7-6. And they kind of had to hold on. There was a three-run inning late by the Guelph Royals. Owen Boone came out and pitched pretty good, ended up giving those, well, really good, five hits, three earned runs. He struck out 11 of his own, but that's no surprise for Owen Boone. They got just enough pitching to hold him off. And Adamez, who came off of the injured list, just uh would have been about a week ago, I guess, just after the transaction deadline, uh, he was able to come in and close things down for them. Uh Tyler Duncan as well had a phenomenal game. Homer's uh and Brandon Nickel. You'll remember he always has big games here at Christie Pitts, hitting 395 at the Pitts. Uh, he's coming off a game where he was one for five with an RBI as well. So this Maple Leafs team, they really need wins. Uh the Hamilton Cardinals really need wins as well. So, you know, we were just talking a little bit earlier on about this Hamilton team and how they're in a situation where wins are at a premium. No, it's not that they need to clinch the playoffs by any means, but they've now found themselves in a tie with the Barry Baycats for third in the Canadian Baseball League standings. Barry has the tiebreaker right now, but being in that third place spot in the CBL means that you do not have to play that play-in game to get into the playoffs, uh, and that would be something that Hamilton really would relish that opportunity to do. So we'll see what happens today. The Maple Leafs, the team that Hamilton's looking at and thinking that they have a pretty good chance to win with the way that they have been playing this season as we take a look at the starting lineup for the Hamilton Cardinals here tonight. Leading things off is Brandon Nickel. He was in the number two spot last game. Carlos Dominguez is the right fielder batting second. Darlin Herman is at second base, batting third. Then Tyler Duncan, who's always dangerous in the Canadian Baseball League, followed by Evan McGill, the catcher, then Jommer Hernandez, who is back in a Hamilton Cardinal uniform. He was a guy that they picked up before the transaction deadline. Then the bottom three in the lineup is the third baseman, Rennie Reyes. Then the DH, Jeremy Vieux, who had a good game last time he was here at Christie Pitts, and Champ Garner, who was another one of the acquisitions. The former London Major is the number nine in here today, playing left field for the Hamilton Cardinals, looking for a win against a team that's won two games in a row in the Shawna Maple Leafs, trying to make it three. Here's the lineup that the Maple Leafs are running out tonight. Leading things off is Brando LaRue has been fantastic. Then Yassi L. Puig, who had a booming home run last game against the Chatham Kent Barnstormer, who's a thing of beauty. I mean, it was a pitch down and away, uh, and he just took it out of the ballpark. Just can't throw a fastball in the zone to Yassiel Puig. And you know, I'd be surprised. The Hamilton Cardinals are a team that has a lot of analytics. I'd be surprised if they give him anything to hit today. The aforementioned Jordan Mandalay, who's red hot, followed by JJ Dutton, Krix Tavares, who's the first baseman, Dennis DeBanning is back in the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He's the DH today, followed by Spencer Ross at third base, Matt Brandt, who's the catcher, and Ben Ciderenios, who's in left field today for the Toronto Maple Leafs. We will break now for the national anthems and be right back on the other side. Last time out. And this one is smashed high in the air, deep to left field, and that one is way out of here. Brandon Nickel continues his tear here at Christie Pitts and gives the Hamilton Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Ahead of the pitcher. And this one's hit on the ground to Ferguson that's gonna get through into the outfield. Through the legs of Hernandez at first base. Here's the third to the plate, the Banding will slide in head first safely, and the Maple Leaves take the lead. Brandle LaRue and then Yassiel Puig. Cideranius is gonna flare this ball towards the upfield. That one's gonna fall from the base in it. Big Cideranios with an RBI single, and it's 3-1 leaves. Anything. Here's the 1-0 pitch, and Mandalay will hit this ball on the ground into the upfield from the base in it. He goes the other way again. Here's the throw to the plate, and it is up line, and the bounces in the backstop. Everyone advances. Jordan Mandalay with an RBI single, and the Maple Leaves take a 5-1 lead. Spoiler. Here's the 2-1 pitch, and this one is skied in the air. Deep to left field, and Nickel has done it again. Boy, this one may have gone further than the first. Clearing the cheap the trees in left field. Brandon Nickel, a two-run home run, and it's five to three. The one-two. And this one smashed on a line, and this is gonna one-hop the wall into the outfield. Yassiel Puig picks it up. A cannon into second base, a throw on the money, and it's not in time. That'll score another run, and it's five to four. And here is a ball hit into the outfield. This is high and deep and way out of here. Evan McGill drills a home run to center field, and just like that, the Hamilton Cardinals take the lead. In this last A B. And now Matt Brandt hammers this ball deep to center field, and it is gone. And the Leafs tie things up. Oh, it did ban a couple games since we saw Matt Brandt bomb. But the Maple Leafs catcher has come up clutch with his third home run of the season. Tie game. And it's outside ball four. Just outside. That'll push in a run, and the Hamilton Cardinals take the lead. Here's the 0-1. And this one's lined into the outfield for a base hit. Yassi Alpuig has it on a hop. Here's the throw to the plate, and it's cut off. One run comes in to score. RBI single Tyler Duncan, and it's 8-6. Limit the damage. And this one's hit on the ground into the outfield for a base hit. That'll score one run. Here's the throw to the plate. It's cut off. Station to station, they go again, and it's 9-6. The first battery faced. And now this one hit on the ground, and it's past the diving Spencer Ross into the outfield. This time they're gonna send the runner home. It's cut off by Ross. Two runs come in to score. 11-6 Cardinals. To her affiliated with Major League teams. He was in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Bounces the ball on the ground. Throw it a first in time to get the out, but a run will come in to score. Renny Reyes cashes one in. Here's the one-one. Mandalay lines this ball into the outfield. This is deep, and it is off the wall. Three, two runs are gonna come in to score. And the maple leaves, you're done Mandalay! An army high double Mandalay just continues to smash the ball the other way for the Maple Leaves. The one-two to Dun. JJ takes it the dirt. This one's gonna go to the backstop. Here comes Pointy, you can hit him with a scroll. It's a free-run game with the pinks. Duncan will chop one back to the mound. Gillespie has it thrown a horse! Comes in the score! Jimmy Jumping the second place. Jammer Hernandez leaves the yard. And it's 14-12. Wow, the twists and turns of this ball game tonight. The 2-2. Puig hits a chopper up the middle, basement. Brandon LaRue is gonna come in to score, and the Maypolys are within one. Yassiel Puig found a way to keep it going. The pitch from Adamas swings and misses strike three. A bar burner between the Toronto May Police and the Hamilton Cardinals goes the way of Hamilton. The final score 14 13. Both teams battled and battled and battled to the bitter end. Four hours and 37 minutes later, the Cardinals are victorious.