SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: MLB, CFL, WHL, NHL & MORE

BLUE JAYS ELIMINATED

TORONTO – The Seattle Mariners came back from a seven-run deficit and beat Toronto 10-9 in a wild Game 2 on Saturday to eliminate the Blue Jays from the post-season.

Cal Raleigh doubled off Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano in the ninth inning and scored the go-ahead run when Adam Frazier lashed a two-out double into the right-field corner.

George Kirby earned the save as Seattle completed a sweep of the best-of-three wild-card series in front of a stunned sellout crowd at Rogers Centre.

Teoscar Hernandez hit two homers to help power the Blue Jays to an 8-1 lead after five innings. But Carlos Santana hit a three-run shot in the Mariners’ four-run sixth and Seattle pulled even with four more runs in the eighth inning.

It was the second time in three years that Toronto has failed to win a game in the wild-card round. The Blue Jays were swept by Tampa Bay in 2020 and missed the post-season last year.

The Mariners and Houston Astros will open the best-of-five American League Division Series on Tuesday. The Blue Jays were left to clean out their lockers after a surprising collapse and another October disappointment.

CFL

WINNIPEG – Rookie receiver Dalton Schoen caught three touchdown passes and running back Brady Oliveira scored twice as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clinched first place in the CFL West Division for the second straight season with a dominating 48-11 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

The two-time defending Grey Cup champions improved their record to 14-2 in front of 27,159 fans at IG Field and earned a bye before hosting the West Final on Nov. 13.

The loss officially eliminated the Elks (4-12) from the playoffs because they can’t pass the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-10).

Winnipeg also got a touchdown from receiver Nic Demski.

Schoen and Demski’s TDs achieved some notable league and franchise marks.

The 25-year-old Schoen, who hails from Overland Park, Kan., moved up in the CFL record book for most touchdowns by a rookie. His 12th, 13th and 14th TDs of the season moved him into third place. Derrell Mitchell is second for his 17 TDs in 1997 with Toronto and B.C.’s David Williams holds the record of 18 set in 1988.

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TORONTO – McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Tommy Nield rallied the Toronto Argonauts to a wild 23-20 home win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday.

Bethel-Thompson hit Nield on a 37-yard scoring strike at 12:10 to put Toronto ahead 23-20. B.C.’s Sean Whyte appeared poised to tie the CFL contest but his 41-yard field goal attempt with 1:30 remaining hit the left upright.

B.C. quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. began the fourth-quarter fireworks with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Keon Hatcher just 50 seconds into the quarter to put B.C. ahead 17-16. It was set up by Jordan Williams’ 38-yard return of a Bethel-Thompson fumble before teammate Mathieu Betts recovered Williams’ fumble at the Toronto 31-yard line.

Whyte then connected from 30 yards out at 10:44 to give the Lions a 20-16 advantage.

Toronto (9-6) moved four points ahead of Montreal (7-7) atop the East Division standings. The Alouettes play the Ottawa Redblacks (3-11) on Monday.

Toronto, which has already clinched a playoff berth, and Montreal end their regular seasons with a home-and-home series.

WHL

Alexander Suzdalev scored twice for the Pats, who got single tallies from Tanner Howe and Connor Bedard. Drew Sim stopped 25 of 28 in a winning effort for the Pats. Bedard added a pair of assists for a three-point night to add to his WHL point-leading total of 15.

Mathew Ward, Brady Birnie, and Josh Filmon replied for the Broncos. Reid Dyck stopped 36 of 40 shots for the Broncos in the loss.

NHL

CALGARY – When Darryl Sutter accepted the head coaching job with the Calgary Flames in March 2021, it came with a promise to straighten out the team for the long run.

The reigning Jack Adams Award winner signed a multi-year contract extension with the team on Saturday just days before the start of the regular season. After missing the playoffs in 2020-2021, Sutter led the Flames to a 50-21-11 season and the Pacific Division title last year before getting bounced in the second round of the post-season.

“When I came here, I promised we would get this straightened back out again,” Sutter said. “It’s not just a straighten-out, one-year thing. It’s the long haul.

“In order to become a legitimate contender, you have to do it over and over and over to get there. The way you do that is you have to build that and you have to establish either an identity or a style of play or a core group of players that are committed to the long-term. All those things are involved in it, and I think in some ways I feel like I have a responsibility to be a steward in that.”

Sutter, who led the team to its last appearance in a Stanley Cup finals back in the 2003-2004 season, is 65-36-11 overall since taking over the job.

“I think we’re fortunate to have him,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Saturday. “I think he’s one of the best coaches in the game here today. I’ve said many times, I think he has and continues to have a Hall of Fame career.

“The structure he puts in place, his ability to drive teams, it was a natural. Darryl and I talked about it this summer, and we’ve been working on it and good to get it concluded. Very deserving.”

Meanwhile Nino Niederreiter scored two goals and the Nashville Predators rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 for a sweep of their two N-H-L regular-season opening games in Prague. Niederreiter completed a rally for the Predators just 12 seconds after he returned to the ice after serving a penalty with 7:47 to go in the second period. The two games in Prague were part of the 2022 NHL Global Series as the league returned to Europe for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

The NHL preseason wrapped up Saturday night with 10 games, including 2 involving Canadian teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs crushed the visiting Detroit Red Wings 5-1, while the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime in a game played at Bouctouche, New Brunswick. The Canadiens went 0-6-and-2 in the pre-season, with 4 of their losses to the Senators, all by one goal.

ETC.

The Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, both 3-1 in the NFL regular season, will square off this morning at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The Giants have emerged as one of the NFL’s September surprises under new head coach Brian Daboll. They are 3-1 for the first time since 2011 and have a chance to move to 4-1, which would be the club’s most wins through five games since 2009.

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Andrea Skinner submitted her resignation as the interim chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors yesterday. The embattled national sports organization confirmed Skinner’s intention to resign both as chair and as a member of the board last night. Her imminent departure from Hockey Canada comes after more corporate sponsors and provincial organizations withdrew their support from the national body. She assumed the role of interim chair in August.

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It’s MLS Decision Day and the surging Vancouver Whitecaps will be aiming to beat the host Minnesota United to secure a Major League Soccer playoff berth in the Western Conference as the league wraps up its regular season with 14 matches. Vancouver trails Minnesota by 2 points and the rival Portland Timbers by 3 points. CF Montreal, which plays today, has clinched a playoff berth.

(Canadian Press/Photo: Arash Madani)