National Sports

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.

TORONTO — The CFL issued a maximum fine against Hamilton defensive back Chris Edwards on Wednesday for his actions following the Tiger-Cats' 38-12 loss to the Montreal Alouettes last week.

TORONTO — Penny Oleksiak still hopes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The seven-time Olympic medallist withdrew from the world swimming championships on June 1 due to injury.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Devils secured another piece from last year's team, re-signing forward Timo Meier to an eight-year, $70.4 million contract through the 2030-31 NHL season.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — University of Connecticut officials welcomed a new celebrity on Wednesday, and they say he's a very good boy. Jonathan XV is a 2-month old Siberian husky who will take over as the official UConn Husky mascot this fall.