Ladner’s Big Maple got an early jump on his Canada Day celebration with another dominating performance back in his home country on Friday night.
James Paxton tossed nearly eight innings of shutout ball in the Boston Red Sox’s 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.
The 34-year-old southpaw needed a terrific catch from centre fielder Jarren Duran to rob Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of extra bases to close out the first then went into cruise control. He allowed just three hits and two walks the rest of the way while striking out seven, with his fastball routinely being clocked at 96-to-97 mph.
He departed with two outs in the eighth after throwing 107 pitches
Paxton completed an outstanding June that saw him go 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA. He struck out 34 in 31 innings pitched.
It was back in 2018 when he became just the second-ever Canadian pitcher in Major League Baseball to throw a no-hitter and it was against the Blue Jays in Toronto on 99 pitches.
Paxton made his long awaited Red Sox debut back in early May after signing a two-year, $10 million (US) deal with the club in December 2021.
The 2022 season was spent rehabbing from Tommy John surgery after he injured his throwing arm just four outs into his first start with the Seattle Mariners. He had returned to the Emerald City on a one-year contract after an injury shortened 2020 season with the New York Yankees.
The hard-throwing lefty made his MLB debut back in 2013 as a late season call-up by the Mariners, going 3-0 in September, including a 6-2 win over Tampa Bay in his first-ever start.
Paxton came through Ladner Minor Baseball and the B.C. Premier Baseball’s North Delta Blue Jays program before earning a scholarship to the University of Kentucky.
