#lineup-change

#lineup-change

Auston Matthews has been locked with winger Matthew Knies to start the season but for a jolt of offense, Berube decided to have William Nylander on Matthews's right and gutsy winger Bobby McMann on his left. This new-look first line received some praise from the bench boss. "They looked really good," Berube said of Matthews and Nylander playing together Friday night. "They were quick. They supported each other really well and were strong on pucks. There was a lot of offensive-zone time. A lot of good things from that line."

He's been 'good' and 'solid' the entire summer and now, I'm not after 'good' and I'm not after 'solid.' I'm after great and passionate. Once he reaches that 'Mamba mentality' that we're trying to put forth in every player and as a team, I think you're going to see one of the best players in the country.

He did have one of Toronto's two hits in the first game of the ALCS. Santander was part of the Blue Jays' lone scoring opportunity after he ripped a single into right field with one out in the second inning. Victor Robles misplayed the ball, and Santander ended up on second base. An Andres Gimenez pop-out followed by a George Springer groundout would end the threat, and Toronto wouldn't get a runner beyond first base the rest of the game.

Please understand that this decision does not come lightly, hence our initial and painful silence while we gathered our thoughts and carefully considered our response to the disengaged, eerily abandoned state we suddenly found ourselves in. Our collective decision to move forward without him is not something we thought we would ever be forced to say, but to ensure a continued legacy for what we hold dear to our hearts, we simply have to move past this.

With one deft change to the starting lineup, Warriors coach Steve Kerr demonstrated the biggest difference between this season's roster and this year's iteration. Out went the returning 6-foot-4, 205-pound Brandin Podziemski, and in went the 6-9, 260lb newcomer Al Horford. The new lineup saw Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler moved to guard and wing respectively, and Draymond Green shifted to his more natural power forward position and away from guarding 7-0 giant Donovan Clingan.

As I mentioned earlier, Ronald Acuña Jr. is back in the three-spot after spending the past few days hitting anywhere from sixth to even seventh in the order. Acuña picked up an RBI single during their win on Monday and then he added two more hits last night so it's clear that Brian Snitker has decided that the worst of this dire slump that Acuña has been in lately has subsided and we'll start to see him producing regularly at the plate again.