Lazar’s hat trick sparks Oil Kings
PR I NCE A LBERT, SASK — Curtis Lazar scored a hattrick and an assist in his second game back in the Western Hockey Leagueas the Edmonton Oil Kings romped to an easy 9-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday.
Lazar missed the Oil Kings’ first four games while attending the Ottawa Senators’ training camp this fall. He was an NHL first-round draft pick, 17th overall, this year.
Lazar scored his first two goals 30 seconds apart in the first period and added his third midway through the final period.
Twenty-year-old veteran Riley Kieser scored his first two goals of the season while defenceman Cody Corbett netted his fifth goal, Henrik Samuelsson scored his fourth and Mads Eller and Edgars Kulda each got their first.
The Oil Kings, 3-3, who conclude their three-game road trip at 7:05 p.m. Saturday against the Saskatoon Blades, outshot the Raiders 51-18. Tristan Jarry lost his bid for a shutout on a power-play goal early in the third.
Pirates 7 Cardinals 1
ST. LOUIS — Gerrit Cole, a hard-throwing rookie, gave up two hits in six dominant innings and also had an RBI in his post-season debut as the Pittsburgh Pirates evened their National League division series with the St. Louis Cardinals 1-1 on Friday.
Cole 22, relied upon a fastball that peaked at 99 m.p.h. on the stadium radar gun, retired 11 straight batters at one point as the Pirates got their first playoff win since 1992.
Pedro Alvarez homered for the second straight day for Pittsburgh.
Red Sox 12 Rays 2
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox scored five runs in the fourth inning, taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s bad luck and bad defence to beat the Rays in the first game of the American League division series.
Every Boston starter got a hit and scored a run. The Red Sox tweeted that it was the first time a team had done that in the post-season since 1936, when Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and the Yankees did it in the World Series.
Needing a 163rd game to earn a wild-card berth, the Rays took three win-or-go home matchups in three different cities to reach this series. Now they need a win in Game 2 on Saturday to tie the series before the teams shift to St. Petersburg, Fla., for Games 3 and 4.
Braves 4 Dodgers 3
ATLANTA — Mike Minor pitched six strong innings, Jason Heyward had a tworun single and the Atlanta Braves flashed some nifty plays in the field to hold off the Los Angeles Dodgers and even their NL division series at 1-1.
In a post-season already marked by defensive miscues, including shaky plays by the Braves in Game 1, Atlanta’s defence came through by turning three double plays — none more crucial than the one Luis Avilan started in the seventh to escape the inning with a 2-1 lead intact.
Ticats 33 Argos 19
TORONTO — Henry Burris threw two touchdown passes as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat Toronto and snapped the Argonauts’ four-game win streak. Burris’s 15-yard TD strike to Bakari Grant at 8:08 of the fourth quarter staked Hamilton to a 30-19 lead after Toronto rallied from a 22-3 halftime deficit.
Burris then marched Hamilton 49 yards on 11 plays, setting up Brett Lauther’s 29-yard field goal at 14:44 to cement the win.
The Argos made their first appearance at Rogers Centre since a 20-9 setback Sept. 3 to the Montreal Alouettes.
Hamilton (7-7) pulled to within four points of frontrunning Toronto in the East Division standings.
Eddies demote Saiko
FC Edmonton may not be mathematically eliminated from the North American Soccer League playoffs, but with the Eddies sitting 10 points behind the first-place New York Cosmos and only five games remaining, every contest is a must-win.
Edmonton will be seeking its second win of the Fall Season without the help of Shaun Saiko, the team’s alltime leading goal scorer, against the Carolina Railhawks at 2 p.m. Sunday at Clarke Field.
Saiko, an Edmonton product who has scored 18 regularseason goals and 14 assists during his three-year NASL career, was moved to the reserve team on Friday.
“I discussed it with Shaun and we weren’t going to renew his contract at the end of the season,” said head coach Colin Miller. “We thought it was better to move him out of the first-team environment.”
Broadway Empire in Breeders’ Cup
The stakes keep getting bigger. Broadway Empire, who won the $200,000 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park in August and went on to win last weekend’s $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, is now being pointed to the $1-million Breeders Cup Mile on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita, Calif.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said trainer Robertino Diodoro. “It’s really something for an Alberta-owned, Alberta-trained horse that raced in Alberta to be running in the Breeders Cup. My understanding is that this is the first time this has ever happened.”
Alberta-based jockey Rico Walcott will ride the horse.
Purchased for just $25,000, Broadway Empire has won four of his six career starts and $375,000.
Diodoro said Broadway Empire will stay in Arizona, where he is currently based, and will ship to California on Oct. 15.