WEDNESDAY SPORTS PAGE: JAYS BLOW A BIG ONE

The Toronto Blue Jays took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday, but the LA Dodgers rallied to score four runs off reliever Erik Swanson to tie it 7-7, and then scored in the 10th on a Jamie Outman walk-off double to win 8-7. Freddy Freeman and JD Martinez hit solo homers for the Dodgers, while Bo Bichette had a home run for the Jays. Toronto beat L-A 6-3 in 11 innings on Monday.

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Canada has picked up its first win at the Women’s World Cup. Adriana Leon’s 53rd-minute goal helped Canada pull out a 2-1 victory over Ireland. The Irish took a 1-0 lead just four minutes in thanks to Katie McCabe. But an own goal just before halftime allowed Canada to tie things up. The Canadians were coming off a scoreless draw against Nigeria in their opener.

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Lionel Messi has scored three goals in his first 63 minutes for Inter Miami. Messi scored twice in the first 22 minutes against Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup on Tuesday night. It was his first start for Miami, which won the match 4-0. Robert Taylor also scored twice for the winners, who lead Group J of the Leagues Cup with a 2-and-oh record.

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Rocky Wirtz, who won three Stanley Cup titles as owner of the Chicago Blackhawks and presided over the team during one of the N-H-L’s biggest scandals, has died. He was 70. The Blackhawks called Wirtz’s death a “sudden passing.” Wirtz took over the team in 2007 and the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. But his tenure as owner was tarnished when an outside law firm found that the organization badly mishandled allegations by a player who said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach.

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One of the NHL’s top defensive forwards is calling it a career. Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement Tuesday after 19 seasons and a Stanley Cup title in 2011. Bergeron won the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward six times, and was also an offensive threat with 427 career goals and 613 assists.

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Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has agreed to terms on a five-year supermax contract that will pay him up to 304-million-dollars. It’s the richest deal in NBA history. It surpasses the 264-million-dollar deal signed by Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic last summer. The two-time all-star averaged career highs of 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season.

(Canadian Press)