Toronto Blue Jays

Country star Jessie James Decker is calling out United Airlines for its alleged treatment of her pregnant sister ... who, according to Jessie, was forced to get on her hands and knees to pick up some popcorn.

Even before Jessie sounded off, the incident went viral because her sister Sydney is married to Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass -- and he was first to rip into United, claiming flight attendants made his wife get on the floor to pick up the kernels their daughter dropped.

With the online backlash in full swing, Jessie's adding to it by revealing on IG that Sydney's "five months pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children."

Jessie continued ... "The flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag, and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop" -- adding they called the scattered food a safety hazard.

She says Sydney was left in tears after her clean-up duty ... and now there's a push on Twitter for United to apologize.

Many chalked it up to laziness on the attendant's part, but there are some people backing United -- one user tweeted, "Commercial airlines are not your children’s playground. Pick it up and take responsibility for your kids."

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Adam Wainwright proved he has both a golden arm AND golden pipes on Thursday ... the Cardinals star pitcher sang the National Anthem for his team's Opening Day ceremonies -- and crushed it!!

St. Louis tapped the injured right-hander for the awesome honor just before the Redbirds took on the Blue Jays at Busch Stadium ... and check out video of his performance -- he proved he can saaaang!!!

The 41-year-old seemed very comfortable on the mic ... hitting every note as the crowd in the stands went wild.

It was a cool moment for the pitcher, who announced last year that this will be his last season wearing a Cardinals uniform.

Also, if you think this was a fluke ... don't -- Wainwright showed at his Big League charity event earlier this year he truly has vocals!

A brand new season of Major League Baseball is here ... and players are kicking off the new season in style -- rockin' some wild fits for Opening Day!!

Down in Miami, Marlins centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. held nothing back for his team's Thursday matinee against the Mets ... sporting some loud, orange camo pants. His teammate, Luis Arraez, went with a more muted look, wearing a simple, button-down shirt.

In the opposing locker room, New York star Pete Alonso brought out a pair of flashy pants of his own -- while making sure his belt buckle -- and his mustache!! -- were the stars of his 'fit.

Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah, meanwhile, broke out a classic Sandlot jersey for Toronto's opener ... one that featured all of the guys from the iconic movie, including Hamilton "The Babe" Porter. Manoah was also dripped out in some dark shades and a maple leaf chain.

In the Bronx, San Francisco Giants closer Camilo Doval made The Big Apple look like The Wild West ... arriving with a huge cowboy hat on his head. Giants pitcher Logan Webb chose to pay homage to Dennis Rodman with his attire.

Other players opted for a more laid-back approach to the season opener -- with Tigers stars Javier Báez and Eduardo Rodriguez wearing some casual shirts and jeans.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be cruising into the MLB season in some serious style this year ... TMZ Sports has learned the Blue Jays superstar just got his Mercedes-Benz tricked out!!!

The Toronto first baseman took his GLE63 -- an expensive ride that he copped about a year ago -- to Alex Vega at The Auto Firm in South Florida to get the work done ... and it came out awesome.

Vega blacked out the vehicle -- wrapping it, before darkening its chrome emblems. He also upgraded its wheels too ... throwing on a set of Avorza Forged Wheels.

In total, we're told the work Vladdy got typically runs around $50K!!

Of course, these were not the first improvements Guerrero Jr. has made on the whip -- about six months ago, Vega also threw in some Blue Jays-colored interior in it as well.

If you're wondering, while he's still just 24 years old, Vladdy can definitely afford the upgrades ... he agreed to a $14.5 million pact with Toronto to avoid arbitration this offseason.

You can't mess with Alek Manoah's fastball on the field, and you apparently can't mess with it off of it either ... 'cause the Blue Jays ace absolutely eviscerated an MLB Network analyst this week after the guy body-shamed him on live TV.

Anthony Recker, a former MLB catcher who's been breaking down players and games for the league's network for the past year, made the comments on "MLB Tonight" on Wednesday ... seemingly taking a shot at Manoah's 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame.

"Show me you're willing to put a little more time in the gym," Recker said.

Manoah caught wind of the remarks a few hours later -- and he was clearly pissed over them.

"Hey @Anthony_Recker my job isn’t to please you," the 26-year-old said on his Twitter page. "You are an outsider you don’t know me or my work ethic. What I do in the gym has clearly worked check the numbers, sucks you can’t say the same for yourself."

Recker immediately tried to backpedal on the comments, telling Manoah his remarks were taken out of context.

Manoah, though, wasn't buying it ... adding, "Youre just like everyone else. Love to talk and then wanna say sorry when you get called out. If you wanna see how an All Star, 1st team All-MLB, and CY young finalist trains. Come meet me [at the gym]."

The right-handed flamethrower then shared a bunch of videos of him getting after it in the weight room.

Former Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman later entered into the conversation -- slamming Recker for his comments as well.

It ain't Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire ... no, according to Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah, the "worst cheater" in the history of the MLB is Yankees star Gerrit Cole.

The 24-year-old Toronto righty dropped the spicy accusation while on Serge Ibaka's "How Hungry Are You?" show ... in order to avoid drinking a cricket-filled, tea-like concoction.

"He cheated," Manoah told the NBA star without much hesitation at all. "He used a lot of, like, sticky stuff to make his pitches better. And he kinda got called out on it."

Back in 2021, the MLB famously began a crackdown on the use of foreign substances on baseballs -- and many around the league believed it really affected Cole, who some thought had relied on it all heavily.

In fact, Cole's now-teammate, Josh Donaldson, specifically called out the right-hander when he was a Minnesota Twins, saying he could see Cole's spin rates dramatically drop following the league's ruling.

Clearly, Manoah thinks there's some serious truth behind the allegations ... though he didn't evaluate further during the show.

As for Cole's take on it all, he never specifically denied using sticky stuff to make his baseballs move more ... infamously telling media members in 2021, "I don’t quite know how to answer that, to be honest."

37,008 showed up to watch Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run Wednesday night -- but one of the fans in attendance couldn't have been sicker to see history ... 'cause he dropped the historic baseball, costing himself a small fortune!!

Judge hit the blast in the seventh inning of the Yankees' blowout win over the Blue Jays in Toronto -- officially tying the American League watermark set by Roger Maris back in 1961 -- and one fan was in a perfect position to nab the ball as it crossed over the left field wall.

He had his glove ready ... and when he reached over some railing in front of him to catch it -- the legendary cowhide touched his mitt's webbing!!!

Unfortunately for the guy, it caromed off his hand and landed safely in the Jays' bullpen ... something that clearly crushed the man.

Video from the game's broadcast in Canada showed the guy was absolutely devastated over the fumble -- throwing his mitt and hat in disgust afterward.

Of course, the guy had every right to be sad ... the ball would have been worth a HUGE payday for the Jays fan.

David Kohler of SCP Auctions told TMZ Sports earlier this month it could sell for as much as $250,000 on the auction block!!

As for what ultimately ended up happening to the ball -- Toronto bullpen coach Matt Buschmann initially grabbed it. He gave it to Jays closer Jordan Romano ... who then passed it off to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who returned it to Judge.

Judge held onto it for a while -- but in a super sweet moment, he turned it over to his mother.

Baseball is continuing to make spectators outrageously horny -- 'cause ANOTHER couple has been busted for engaging in an alleged sex act inside a stadium ... this time, at a Toronto Blue Jays game.

As we previously reported, one fan was allegedly caught giving what appeared to be oral sex to a fan at an Oakland A's game last week ... which resulted in a police investigation.

The action seemingly made its way up North at the Rogers Centre for the Jays' matchup against the Chicago Cubs on Monday ... when two fans decided to say "screw the game -- let's (allegedly) screw instead!!"

Censored vid posted by Blog TO shows a woman straddling a man in the top row of the 500s level ... and the outlet claims everything is on display in the unedited version.

Another clip shows the couple being escorted away from the area ... and they were most likely escorted out of the stadium.

We reached out to law enforcement earlier Tuesday ... and were told there was no information about it. We've reached back out now that the video of the alleged act has made its way to social media.

Baseball is known as 'America's National Pastime' ... but in Canada it looks more like a rerun of the Jerry Springer show.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, showing 2 women getting into a free-for-all with others in the nosebleed section of Rogers Centre in Toronto last night.

As the L.A. Angels were routing the Blue Jays 12-0, the women started going at it after they got into some sort of nasty argument. Over what? We don't know.

But our sources tell us one of the women, who was sitting in her seat watching the game, had her hair pulled by the other woman from behind.

That's when everybody went all Springer -- and fists started to fly!! One guy planted his fist in the face of the woman who had her hair pulled. Onlookers were astonished, yelling, "Oh s---t" and "Wow!!"

Other people jumped in and yanked the women off each other ... the hair-puller then screamed as she dashed down a flight of stairs.

We're told her rival went after her and the two got into it again inside a tunnel at the stadium.

We're not sure what happened after that ... but we've called police ... so far no word back. Fingers crossed that no one got hurt too badly.

Gotta love those Canadians, though. They really know how to fight.

Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah just pitched in front of a sold-out stadium full of fans and celebs at the All-Star Game -- but there's one guy he really wishes would have come to watch him throw ... Drake!!!

Manoah made it clear to TMZ Sports just before he took the bump at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday that he really wants the "God's Plan" rapper to catch one of his games.

"Come watch me pitch!" Manoah said in a message to Drake.

The 24-year-old even offered some incentive to the entertainer if he does make the trek to one of his outings soon ... telling us, "We'll give him a uniform!"

Of course, Drake is a big Blue Jays fan -- he's worn the home team's jersey at his concerts in the past ... and even famously put a pic of Joe Carter on his "Back to Back" hit's cover art.

But, it's obvious he's far more into Toronto's basketball team than its baseball team ... and it seems Manoah is trying to work his magic to get that to change.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. just did his best Bo Jackson impression ... completely -- and easily -- destroying his bat over his leg following a tough strikeout.

The Toronto superstar turned his personalized lumber into kindling in the fifth inning of the Blue Jays' game against the Yankees ... when he struck out on a Jameson Taillon cutter.

Guerrero Jr. was so mad at himself for waving at a pitch that ended up outside of the zone -- he slammed his bat to the ground ... and then snapped it over his right quad.

Video shows the thing didn't stand a chance against the wrath of the 6'2, 235-pound first baseman ... it splintered all over the batter's box.

If you're wondering, there's no MLB rule against snapping a bat in frustration ... so Vladdy won't face any penalty over the temper tantrum.

As for the game ... the Jays are currently down 5-2 -- but Vlad's gotten another bat and is scheduled to come up again shortly.

Here's a video that'll hit ya right in the feels ... a Blue Jays fan gifted an Aaron Judge home run ball to a little Yankees supporter -- and the gesture was so appreciated, the kid actually cried tears of joy!!

The moment happened in the sixth inning of New York's game against Toronto at Rogers Centre ... when Judge blasted a moon shot into the upper deck in left field.

A Toronto fan initially caught the souvenir ... but he turned and handed it to a little Yankees fan sitting near him -- and what happened next was truly amazing.

The kid -- who was wearing an Aaron Judge shirt -- burst into tears and gave the guy a huge hug!!!

In the clip of their interaction, which was thankfully caught by broadcast cameras, you can see after the two embraced, the boy was completely overwhelmed with joy.

And, as icing on the cake for the little Judge fan ... the Yanks ended up trouncing the Jays, 9-1.

Talk about a great Tuesday at the ballpark.

Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Borucki has just been banned 3 games ... after MLB officials say he purposely drilled Rays' outfielder Kevin Kiermaier in a game Wednesday night.

Borucki plunked the Tampa Bay star in the 8th inning of Toronto's tilt with the Rays ... and EVERYONE in the building knew it had gone down because of Kiermaier's card-stealing antics earlier in the week.

If you missed it, as Kiermaier was sliding into home plate during the two teams' game on Monday ... a game plan card fell out of Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk's wristband.

Kiermaier saw the piece of paper, picked it up, and reportedly refused to give it back to the Blue Jays -- which REALLY ticked off the org.

So much so, Borucki ended up firing a 93 MPH fastball into the guy's back on Wednesday as a clear retaliation shot ... and then he was promptly ejected.

The MLB obviously felt the tossing wasn't enough punishment though ... 'cause it tacked on an additional 3-game ban Thursday evening.

The MLB also hit Borucki's manager, Charlie Montoyo, with a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine as well.

Toronto will now be without one of its best pitchers for FIVE games ... MLB has just hit Alek Manoah with the ban after they say he "intentionally" drilled an opponent with a heater.

Manoah -- after giving up back-to-back home runs in Saturday's Blue Jays vs. Orioles game -- threw a 93 MPH fastball that beaned Maikel Franco right in the shoulder area.

Given that he had just let up two straight bombs ... Baltimore felt Manoah hit Franco on purpose -- and an all-out brawl nearly ensued.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed before any punches were thrown ... but Manoah was ejected nonetheless -- and the MLB clearly felt Tuesday, that it wasn't enough punishment for the 23-year-old righty.

MLB officials announced Manoah "has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing at Maikel Franco."

They added Manoah's manager, Charlie Montoyo, was also receiving a one-game ban for his role in the incident.

Manoah will appeal, however, which means his suspension will not go into effect until that process is completed.

"Please, just talk to us. Please, just work with us."

Gerrit Cole is BEGGING MLB officials to ease their latest stance on pitchers and foreign substances ... telling reporters Wednesday night he's VERY concerned a league crackdown on it all could lead to serious injuries.

The Yankees star kept it real in his meeting with the media after New York's huge win over Toronto ... saying the lack of sticky substances on his hand really hurt him during the game.

In fact, Cole said he struggled so much with gripping the baseball all night long ... he became not only concerned about his arm, but also batters in the box.

"I would just hate to see players get hurt," the 30-year-old said. "I would hate to see balls start flying at people's heads. I had a really tough time gripping the baseball tonight, especially early when it was windy."

Cole is now imploring MLB officials to back down from their threat to impose fines, ejections and even suspensions on pitchers who are caught putting foreign substances on their hands and baseballs.

"It's so hard to grip the ball," Cole said after the Yanks' 3-2 victory. "For Pete's sake, it's part of the reason why almost every player on the field has had something, regardless if they're a pitcher or not, to help them control the ball."

Of course, the comments echo Tyler Glasnow's concerns from earlier this week ... when the Tampa Bay Rays ace said he believed the league's crackdown ultimately caused a serious injury to his elbow.

For his part, despite grip issues and a dry hand, Cole still dominated a strong Blue Jays lineup ... throwing 8 innings and giving up just 4 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 4.

"I would encourage the commissioner's office to continue to talk with us, please, because we're the ones that throw the ball," Cole said.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO WILL MAKE YOU SQUIRM!!!

A Philadelphia Phillies pitcher was hit square in the groin by a 105 mph line drive Thursday ... and the ball caught so flush with the guy's man junk -- he needed a cart to leave the field.

Relief pitcher Jose Alvarez was facing Blue Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel in the bottom of the 5th -- when LG launched a comebacker that found its way straight into Alvarez's crotch.

Alvarez was able to shake off the pain for long enough to get the out at first ... but immediately after, the dude crumpled to the grass, wincing and grabbing his ding dong area.

Jose was down on the field for several minutes ... before, eventually, trainers loaded him onto a cart to take him into the locker room.

Unclear the extent of Jose's injuries ... but dude did give a wave on his way off the diamond -- a decent sign everything might be all right after all.

But, man. Yikes.