The Lead

Alonso Solves Submarine Rogers For Go-Ahead Blast

Pete Alonso homered twice, including a two-run shot in the eighth inning that lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Alonso is just the second right-handed hitter to homer off him over the last two seasons, a split that exists precisely because his low-slot delivery is supposed to neuter right-handed power.

That is the part worth sitting with. Toronto went to Rogers in that spot because the matchup, on paper, favors the pitcher against almost every hitter in the league. Alonso joining that short list says the league is starting to solve a delivery that was, until recently, treated as close to unhittable for righties.

Trey Yesavage returned to the mound for the Blue Jays after knee inflammation sent him to the injured list in early August. He pitched only two innings, allowing a home run to Alonso in the first.

The Blue Jays also made five roster moves in the last 24 hours, including designating Joe Mantiply for assignment and outrighting Michael Lorenzen, signs of a pitching staff still being sorted with less than two weeks left in the season.

The Rest of the Slate

NFL

Matthew Stafford threw four touchdowns and posted a 131.3 passer rating, a stark reversal from his 61.2 mark in Week 1, as the Rams beat the Giants 28-6. Davante Adams caught two touchdowns for 195 yards, his 29th career multi-touchdown game, tying him for fourth most in NFL history.

Raptors

The Raptors signed second-round pick Jaden Bradley to a multi-year contract and converted guard Malachi Smith to a two-way deal. Neither move changes the roster's ceiling, but both add depth pieces the front office can option up or down as training camp roster spots get sorted.

Tennis

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski won her fourth WTA doubles title of the season, teaming with Luisa Stefani to beat Anna Rogers and Allura Zamarripa 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 at the SP Open. It is the first time in her career she has reached four titles in a single season, a marker of sustained form rather than a one-week hot streak.

The Number

2:19

Match time for Leylah Fernandez's second-round win at the Singapore Open A 6-2, 6-3 scoreline suggests a comfortable night, but two hours and nineteen minutes against a qualifier tells a different story about how much the Japanese opponent tested her. Watch how Fernandez manages that workload through the rest of the draw, since grinding wins like this one tend to show up in energy levels by the quarterfinal stage.

What's On Today

            6:35 PM ET · Blue Jays at Orioles
8:00 PM ET · Toronto Tempo at Chicago Sky
          

Top Dog — Betting Angle

The pick: Orioles team total over tonight's rematch with Toronto. Baltimore already got the better of Toronto's bullpen with this same matchup, and that kind of vulnerability against right-handed power is the sort of thing that shows up again before it gets fixed.

“A pitch that is supposed to be unhittable only needs one hitter who did not get the memo”