SIDELINES

❚ Canada has named its three starting pitchers for the first round of the World Baseball Classic. Chris Leroux, Shawn Hill and Scott Mathieson will take the mound next week against Italy, Mexico and the United States. Leroux, a 28-year-old Montreal native, is coming off an injury-shortened season as a reliever with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hill, from Mississauga, Ont., was part of Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the Pan American Games in October 2011. Hill made his MLB debut with Montreal in 2004. Vancouver’s Mathieson, a former Philadelphia Phillies reliever, helped Japan’s Yomiuri Giants win the Nippon Professional Baseball championship last season.

❚ A pair of bungled anthem renditions had Jeff Fuller looking for the quickest way off the infield at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin, Fla., on Wednesday. When he made it off the field, the disconsolate singer found Blue Jays manager John Gibbons waiting with a handshake. “Poor guy, (he had) nowhere to hide” Gibbons said later. “I admire him for sticking (it) out there and doing it.” After a pause during his botched first attempt, Fuller tried to restart “O Canada” but the crowd continued singing without him. The U.S. anthem also had its problems.

❚ Alex Smith is headed to Kansas City, the first major acquisition by the Chiefs since Andy Reid took over as coach. A person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Chiefs have agreed to deal for the 2005 top overall draft pick who lost his starting quarterback job in San Francisco to Colin Kaepernick last season. Another person familiar with the deal said the 49ers will get a second-round draft pick in April, No. 34 overall, and a conditional pick in the 2014 draft.

❚ The NFL says it will look into whether questions asked of Colorado tight end Nick Kasa at the combine violated any laws or league policies banning employers from inquiring about a possible employee’s sexual orientation. Kasa told ESPN Radio in Denver that during interviews with team officials at the combine in Indianapolis: “(Teams) ask you, like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ ‘Are you married?’ ‘Do you like girls?’ ” He did not identify who asked him such questions.

❚ Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin’s perfect season is almost complete after the Russians won the short dance Wednesday at the junior world figure skating championships at Milan, Italy. With 64.65 points, they’re more than three points ahead of France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guilleaume Cizeron (61.56).

❚ FIFA banned 74 more officials and players from world football Wednesday for helping fix matches, this time in Italy and

South Korea. Sanctions were extended globally on 70 people, including 11 life bans, after a series of cases prosecuted by Italian football authorities. FIFA said the charges involved “match-fixing, illegal betting or corrupt organization (association to commit illicit acts).” FIFA said the four new South Korean cases follow worldwide sanctions imposed on 10 people last year and a further 41 last month.

❚ The Vancouver Canucks have lost centre Ryan Kesler with a fractured right foot and head coach Alain Vigneault expects the gritty two-way forward will be “out for a while.” According to Vigneault, two X-rays on the foot had come up negative but that a CT scan Wednesday morning revealed the fracture. Kesler has already missed 12 games this season after recovering from shoulder and wrist surgeries last spring.

❚ The Edmonton Oilers have placed goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin on injury reserve. It’s still uncertain what injury Khabibulin suffered. He was in net during Edmonton’s 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago on Monday.