Gun charge keeps A’s catcher at home

The Oakland A’s were set to travel north of the border on Wednesday night without one of their star players.

Catcher Bruce Maxwell was due to be placed on the restricted list before Oakland’s series in Toronto, as he would not be allowed into Canada because of a pending weapons charge. The A’s and Blue Jays open a fourgame series on Thursday.

Maxwell is finalizing a plea deal in relation to an October incident in which police allege he pointed a gun at the head of a food-delivery person at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He subsequently agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.