National Sports

TORONTO — A five-run first inning helped Toronto's so-called bullpen day go according to plan on Wednesday night. Quality appearances by four Blue Jays pitchers helped too.

NASHVILLE — The Vancouver Canucks selected Tom Willander with the No. 11 pick in the 2023 NHL draft Wednesday. Willander, a six-foot-one, 180-pound defenceman, had 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) in 39 games for Rogle BK's under-20 team in Sweden.

NASHVILLE — The Winnipeg Jets selected Colby Barlow with the No. 18 pick in the 2023 NHL draft Wednesday.

NASHVILLE — The Calgary Flames selected Samuel Honzek with the No. 16 pick in the 2023 NHL draft Wednesday. Honzek, a six-foot-three, 195-pound forward, had 56 points (23, 33) in 43 games with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants last season.

TORONTO — At the baseball season's midway point, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves hovering near the playoff cutline after a rather underwhelming first half.

BAD HOMBURG, Germany — Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was eliminated from the Bad Homburg Open tennis tournament Wednesday with a 7-5, 6-2 second-round loss to Russia's Anna Blinkova.

LONDON — Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., moved one step closer to qualifying for the first Grand Slam main draw of her career with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 second-round win over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday.

Myles Creighton is poised to take the next step of his career. The product of Digby, N.S., is headed into the Bupa Tour Championship on Thursday atop the Totalplay Cup rankings, the points list for the Latinoamerica Tour.

As the defending Grey Cup champion the Toronto Argonauts' start to the 2023 season isn't surprising. But how they've done it certainly is. Toronto (2-0) hosts the B.C. Lions (3-0) at BMO Field on Monday night.

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forwards David Kampf and Pontus Holmberg to multi-year extensions. Kampf signed a four-year, US$9.6-million deal, while Holmberg signed for $1.6 million over two seasons.