FRIDAY SPORTS PAGE: BLUE BOMBS BC 50-14

CFL

Brady Oliveira and Dalton Schoen each had two touchdowns, Kenny Lawler and Nic Demski added their own and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers delivered some payback to the B-C Lions with a 50-14 victory Thursday at IG Field, kicking off Week 9 in the CFL. The last time the Lions were in Winnipeg in June, they left with a 30-6 win. B-C’s top-ranked defence had only allowed five touchdowns through its first seven before Thursday’s game.

Meanwhile the CFL-best Toronto Argonauts take their perfect 6-and-0 record into Calgary tonight to take on the Stampeders. The Argos are coming off a 31-13 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Touchdown Atlantic game last week. Meanwhile, the 2-and-5 Stamps have been sliding, losing three of their last four.

NFL

The New York Jets kicked off the Aaron Rodgers Era with a 21-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns in the Hall of Fame game. It was a battle of backups as both teams rested their starters in the NFL’s inaugural game of 2023. Browns rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson rallied Cleveland, which trailed 16-7 at halftime.

MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays look to find some success against an American League East foe when they visit the Boston Red Sox tonight. Toronto lost three of four to the Baltimore Orioles, including a 6-1 loss yesterday. The Blue Jays are 8-and-23 against all A-L East opponents this year. Alek Manoah is scheduled to start on the mound for Toronto as Boston counters with James Paxton.

Shohei Ohtani left the mound after four scoreless innings due to cramping in his pitching hand and fingers, but then hit his major league-leading 40th homer in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Rookie Cade Marlowe hit his first career grand slam in the ninth inning for the Mariners, who rallied from a two-run deficit against all-star closer Carlos Estevez.

Anthony Volpe hit a tiebreaking R-B-I single in the sixth inning, helping the New York Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros. Giancarlo Stanton and Billy McKinney hit back-to-back homers in the first inning for the Yankees, who beat the Astros at home for the first time since June 26th, 2022.

Michael A. Taylor and Ryan Jeffers each hit a two-run homer, and the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3. The Twins took two of three from the Cardinals and increased their division lead to two-and-a-half games over Cleveland. Sonny Gray got the win in his first start with the Twins, giving up two runs and five hits in seven innings.

NHL

Former player agent Jeff Jackson, whose client list included superstar Connor McDavid, is the new CEO of hockey operations for the Edmonton Oilers, the team announced yesterday. The Oilers said Jackson will oversee all aspects of the organization’s NHL, AHL and WHL teams. Jackson had been the executive vice-president of Wasserman Hockey, a prominent global agency well-known for representing numerous NHL stars, including the Oilers captain.

NBA

Vancouver and Montreal will be hosting NBA pre-season games in the ninth NBA Canada Series, the league announced yesterday. The Toronto Raptors will take on the Sacramento Kings at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on October 8th. Meanwhile, all-star guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander of Hamilton and Montreal native Lu Dort lead the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Detroit Pistons at Bell Centre in Montreal on October 12th.

(CP)