SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE

EDMONTON – Tyrrell Pigrome’s first taste of CFL action was pretty sweet.

The rookie quarterback recorded a pair of touchdown runs, including a late game-winning 46-yard sprint into the end zone, as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers survived a comeback bid to open up CFL pre-season play with a 25-23 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday afternoon.

Pigrome, a native of Birmingham, Ala., who went to Towson, made a good case for himself in his debut as he tries to earn the third-string QB role in a perceived battle with Josh Jones.

Edmonton dropped to 0-2 in exhibition action.

The Elks scored on their opening drive, getting a 35-yard field goal from Dean Faithfull.

Winnipeg was quick to respond, as veteran quarterback Zach Collaros found Kenny Lawler on a 67-yard touchdown pass.

Edmonton got a single back on a missed 44-yard Faithfull attempt.

The Blue Bombers started the second quarter with a one-yard TD plunge from Pigrome.

Faithfull completed a long drive engineered by backup QB Ford with a 31-yard field goal before the Winnipeg kicker nailed a 34-yarder to put the Bombers up 17-7 at the midway mark.

Ford continued to look good behind centre for Edmonton as he started the third quarter with another strong drive, capped off by a seven-yard rush and big dive into the end zone to bring the Elks to within three.

Edmonton would then draw even at the start of the final frame on a 19-yard Faithfull field goal.

Pigrome displayed some fleet feet of his own four minutes into the fourth, putting his team back in front with a 46-yard touchdown run.

The Bombers got a bonus point on a punt single.

Edmonton came storming back with 1:54 to play as third-string QB Kai Locksley found CJ Sims on a 44-yard passing play, setting up another toss for a TD to Raphael Leonard. However, the two-point convert attempt to tie the contest was incomplete.

A 52-yard field goal attempt by Faithfull with time expired to win it was blocked.

“We have to find ways to not shoot ourselves in the foot earlier in the game and we would probably be in a lot different situation,” said Elks head coach Chris Jones. “But we did scratch and claw and give ourselves a chance to win the game late and unfortunately we came up a little short.”

NOTES

The Elks, who finished last in the CFL West with a record of 4-14 last season, have already wrapped up their pre-season, falling 29-24 on the road to the Calgary Stampeders in their first pre-season game on Monday … The Blue Bombers went 15-3 last season and made it to the Grey Cup for the third straight year before losing out to Toronto … The Edmonton Elks’ CFL record regular-season home losing streak stands at 17 games, extending all the way back to their last win at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 12, 2019 … Left home in Winnipeg were veterans Dalton Schoen and Jake Thomas. Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill, defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, running back Brady Oliveira, and defensive backs Winston Rose and Desmond Lawrence were all out with injuries … Among those absent for the Elks were defensive back Aaron Grymes, defensive back Scott Hutter and defensive tackle J-Min Pelley.

UP NEXT

The Bombers close out their pre-season schedule at home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday in advance of also opening the season at home on June 9 against Hamilton. The Elks are off until June 11, when they play host to Saskatchewan in their season lid-lifter.

HAMILTON – Bo Levi Mitchell tossed an early touchdown to lead his new team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, to a 27-22 pre-season win against the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

This was the first CFL pre-season game for the longtime rival Ticats (1-0) and the defending Grey Cup champion Argos (0-1).

After dropped passes by wide receiver Justin McGriff and running back James Butler on Mitchell’s first two attempts, he hit Richie Sindani for a 32-yard score on the Ticats’ second offensive possession.

This was the 33-year-old Mitchell’s first game with his new team since Hamilton acquired his rights from the Calgary Stampeders in exchange for a 2023 third-round draft pick and a 2024 fifth-round selection last November.

The two-time Grey Cup-winning quarterback signed a three-year contract with Hamilton in January.

Mitchell went 3-for-6 for 63 yards before turning the game over to backup Taylor Powell.

Ethan Ratke kicked a 19-yard field goal to open the second quarter, and wide receiver Lio’Undre Gallimore returned a punt 84 yards to give the home side a 17-0 halftime advantage before an estimated crowd of 17,500 at Tim Hortons Field.

Defensive backs Lawrence Woods III and Stavros Katsantonis made key first-half interceptions for Hamilton.

Ben Holmes started at quarterback for Toronto. But his replacement Cameron Dukes hit RaJae Johnson for a 15-yard strike at 4:28 of the third quarter. A Holmes to Dejon Brissett two-point conversion was successful.

After Bailey Feltmate caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Powell for a 24-8 lead, Bryan Scott, the Argos third quarterback in the game, found B.J. Byrd for a short touchdown pass.

The two combined for another two-point conversion.

Hamilton placekicker Jonathan Garibay hit a 46-yard field goal in the final minute. With Dukes back in at quarterback, the Argos marched down the field for an eight-yard touchdown pass to Byrd as time ran out for the game’s final score.

The Argos are celebrating their 150th anniversary season, and the Ticats will host the 110th Grey Cup championship game on Nov. 19.

(Canadian Press)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Ty Dellandrea scored twice midway through the third period on Saturday night to snap a 2-2 tie and lift the visiting Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, forcing a Game 6 in the N-H-L’s Western Conference final. The Stars, with back-to-back wins in the best-of-seven playoff series, are looking to stave off elimination again on Monday night at American Airlines Center.

MEMORIAL CUP

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The Seattle Thunderbirds, no stranger to winning crucial games at the Sandman Centre this season, won another one big one Saturday by defeating the Peterborough Petes 6-3 in the Memorial Cup opener for both teams.

The Western Hockey League champion Thunderbirds, who won twice in Kamloops earlier this month to beat the Blazers and win the Western Conference final, fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 to the Ontario Hockey League champions, but refused to quit.

The Thunderbirds outshot the Petes 40-26 and went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Petes went 1-for-2 with the man advantage.

POKE CHECKS: The host Kamloops Blazers, beaten 8-3 on Friday by the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts, play the Petes on Sunday (6 p.m., ET) in a battle of 0-1 teams. The T-Birds face the Remparts on Monday (9 p.m., ET) in a clash of 1-0 squads.

WHC

Team Canada will play for gold on Sundayat the men’s world hockey championship in Tampere, Finland. Canada, which scored 3 times in the third period Saturday to defeat Latvia 4-2 in the semifinals, meets Germany, which knocked off the favoured United States 4-3 in overtime in Saturday’s other semifinal. Latvia and the U-S will play for bronze.

MLB

The visiting Toronto Blues will try to win their 3-game weekend series with the Minnesota Twins on Sunday after splitting the first two. Right-hander Jose Berrios will be on the mound for the Jays trying to improve his 4-and-4 record. Right-hander Bailey Ober will pitch for the Twins, who won 9-7 on Saturday after losing 3-1 on Friday. The Jays have lost 10 of their last 13 games.

NBA

Exciting finish in Miami last night as Derrick White scored with 0-point-1 seconds left on the clock and the Boston Celtics edged the Miami Heat 104-103 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals. Jayson Tatum scored 31 points for the Celtics, who became only the fourth NBA team to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series and force a deciding game. Game 7 is tomorrow in Boston.

NLL

The Buffalo Bandits are up 1-0 in the National Lacrosse League final after a 13-12 home victory over the Colorado Mammoth Saturday night at KeyBank Center. The Bandits can close out the Best-of-3 series with a victory on Monday. Colorado won the NLL title a year ago, beating Buffalo.

CEBL

A clutch three pointer by Jelani Watson-Gayle in Target Score Time helped the Winnipeg Sea Bears (1-0) earn a 90-85 win over the Vancouver Bandits (0-1) in front of over 7,000 fans at the Canada Life Centre on Saturday evening. Watson-Gayle, a native of London, UK, racked up 22 points off the bench and played a pivotal role in securing the Sea Bears their first CEBL win in franchise history.

The Calgary Surge led start to finish in a 74-70 win over the Edmonton Stingers in their inaugural game at WinSport Event Centre on Saturday (May 27). Calgary took a 12-point lead into target score time in the first-ever battle of Alberta, but Edmonton crawled back before Stef Smith closed the contest at the charity stripe.