Marlins strike early, crush Blue Jays 15-5

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Joel Eriksson Ek scored two goals and added three assists as the Minnesota Wild grounded the Winnipeg Jets 8-5 in NHL pre-season action on Friday.

Kirikk Kaprizov had two power-play goals for the Wild, who scored seven goals in the second period to break open a tight game.

Ben Jones, Mats Zuccarello, Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov also scored for the Wild who got a 36-save performance from netminder Marc-Andre Fleury. Thirteen players had at least one point for the Wild in the lopsided win.

Cole Perfetti, Mason Appleton, Nikita Chibrikov, Brayden Yager and Morgan Barron scored for the Jets, who had two power-play goals.

The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and the Wild took an 8-2 lead into the final frame.

Connor Hellebuyck allowed eight goals in two periods of play, stopping 21 of 29 shots. Thomas Milic stopped all six shots he faced in the final period.

UP NEXT

Jets: Host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

Wild: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WINNIPEG – Zach Collaros threw a career-high six touchdown passes to ignite the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a 55-27 victory over the Edmonton Elks that extended their win streak to seven games and clinched a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season.

Winnipeg’s first four series of the game resulted in TD catches by Nic Demski, Keric Wheatfall and Brady Oliveira, plus a field goal by Sergio Castillo.

The explosion of points had the team’s third straight sellout crowd of 32,243 at Princess Auto Stadium cheering wildly as the CFL West Division-leading Blue Bombers improved to 9-6.

The Elks dropped to 5-10 and have a flicker of a chance to still make the CFL playoffs.

Collaros completed 21 of 26 pass attempts for a season-high 432 yards with the six touchdowns and no interceptions. His career best for passing in a game is 439 yards.

Edmonton quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who got the start ahead of Tre Ford, had a tough night against Winnipeg’s stifling defence. He was 19-of-34 passing for 223 yards with three TDs and no picks.

Winnipeg led 17-0 after the first quarter, 34-6 at halftime and 41-20 heading into the fourth.

Demski had a pair of TD receptions for 40 and 11 yards, while Kenny Lawler added two majors with catches of six and seven yards.

Lawler finished with a game high of 130 yards off eight catches and Demski had four receptions for 117 yards.

Wheatfall took a pass and turned it into a 61-yard major and Oliveira grabbed a short toss and deked and dashed 33 yards into the end zone.

Winnipeg defensive end TyJuan Garbutt scooped up a fumbled Edmonton pass attempt and ran 62 yards for a TD.

Castillo connected on field goals from 39 and 33 yards and made seven converts.

Edmonton kicker Boris Bede booted an 18-yard field goal at 10:10 of the second quarter to get the visitors on the board. He added a 24-yarder as time expired on the first half and made three converts.

Eugene Lewis, Tevin Jones and Dillon Mitchell each had TD catches for the Elks.

Edmonton’s fortunes turned early.

On Winnipeg’s first series of the game, Lawler fumbled a catch the Elks recovered but a review deemed Lawler had been down by contact.

Three plays later, Collaros fired the ball to Demski in the end zone at 3:04 and Castillo hit the convert to begin spinning the numbers on the scoreboard.

Edmonton’s first four possessions ended with three punts and a turnover on downs.

Collaros used the turnover for a TD pass to Wheatfall and 17-0 lead at 12:49 of the first quarter.

At that point in the game, Bethel-Thompson had completed one of three passes for nine yards. Collaros was 6-of-7 for 143 yards.

Oliveira made his run to the end zone at 1:09 of the second quarter, followed by Garbutt’s fumble-recovery TD at 6:45 to make it 31-0.

Three field goals ended the first half.

Lewis, Lawler and Jones provided three touchdowns for the third-quarter scoring that cut Winnipeg’s lead to 41-20.

Demski added his second TD of the game 23 seconds into the fourth, followed by Lawler’s stretching grab in the end zone at 7:06 to boost the lead 55-20.

Mitchell recorded his 37-yard TD catch as time expired.

UP NEXT

Elks: Host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Blue Bombers: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

DETROIT (AP) — Riley Greene hit an RBI double and the Detroit Tigers scored two runs on wild pitches in a 4-1 win over the record-breaking Chicago White Sox on Friday night, clinching a spot in the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

“Belief is a big thing,” Greene said. “We never stopped believing, and that’s what did it for us.”

Detroit completed a late-season surge to grab an American League wild card, and the White Sox earned an unwanted place in baseball history by setting a modern major league mark with 121 losses this season.

“They were still playing for something,” Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said.

The Tigers will play at Baltimore or AL Central champion Houston next week in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. They have been on a tear, winning six straight and 10 of 11 during a stunning run into the playoffs.

The White Sox broke the post-1900 record of 120 losses set by the New York Mets in 1962 during their first season. The overall record was set in 1899 by the Cleveland Spiders with a 20-134 record.

“I think the frustration began long before the number got here,” Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “This was one of those things: You aren’t happy, but I don’t know if that would feel any different at 115 or 110.”

Taking advantage of playing a historically bad team, Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning on Jake Rogers’ run when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch even though the ball didn’t hit the dirt just below catcher Korey Lee’s glove. Matt Vierling followed with a sacrifice fly.

White Sox rookie Zach DeLoach hit his first homer in the sixth to pull his lowly team within a run.

Greene restored Detroit’s two-run lead with a double in the seventh and Chicago helped the home team’s cause again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw his club’s third wild pitch of the night.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch relied on his bullpen for the entire game, as he often has late in the season, and it worked again.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy because I get to watch a team grow up right in front of my eyes and now I get to watch this team play in October,” Hinch said.

Brenan Hanifee kept the White Sox scoreless for the first two innings, and Brant Hurter (6-1) allowed a run over four innings.

Will Vest and Tyler Holton combined to hold Chicago scoreless for 2 2/3 innings. Jason Foley got one out for his 28th save to the delight of fired-up fans, who stood and cheered for much of the night.

Shuster (2-5) allowed two runs in two innings. Ellard gave up as many runs (two) as he got outs.

After the final out, the White Sox quietly went to their clubhouse while the Tigers swarmed the field, hugging each other and posing for photos.

“It is tough watching them celebrate,” Chicago starting pitcher Garrett Crochet said after throwing four scoreless innings. “That was us just a couple years ago.”

UP NEXT

Detroit had not announced a pitching plan for Saturday’s game. RHP Sean Burke (1-0, 1.93 ERA) is scheduled to start for Chicago.

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AP MLB:

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