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VANCOUVER — Jerome Messam rushed for Calgary’s only touchdown and Rene Parades was perfect on five field goals as the Stampeders defeated the B.C. Lions 21-17 on Friday night.

Bo Levi Mitchell was 15-of-31 passing for 237 yards and one interception, marking the first time in 18 games the Calgary quarterback failed to throw for a touchdown.

Jonathon Jennings threw a TD to Chris Rainey and ran in another for the Lions, going 26-for-38 for 240 yards to go along with two interceptions. Ty Long kicked a field goal for B.C., but also missed a crucial convert.

With the victory, Calgary (6-1-1) regained second place in the CFL’s ultra-competitive West Division, a point back of the Edmonton Eskimos and a point up on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

B.C. (5-4) remains fourth, four points ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have two games in hand.

Calgary is now a perfect 15-0 in the game following a regular-season bye, a streak that began in 2004.

After the Stampeders grabbed an 18-14 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Lions got to within one with under nine minutes to go when Long connected on a 28-yard field goal.

Calgary got the ball back and rode Messam for two carries, but the hulking running back had to be helped off the field after the second touch and didn’t return with what appeared to be an injury to his left leg. The Stamps were eventually forced to punt.

The Lions were also forced to punt on their next possession to set the Stampeders up at their own 48 for Parades’ fifth field goal of the night from 27 yards to make it 21-17 with 2:37 left.

Rainey returned the ensuing kickoff to the B.C. 43, and the Lions got a reprieve after a Maurice Morgan fumble was overturned after video review.

The Lions elected to punt with two minutes left and got the ball back at the Calgary 46 with 1:12 remaining after a nice return by Rainey and got down to the 30 before the drive stalled on third and five when Jennings’ completion wound up an inch short.

Leading 9-8 after a sloppy first half, Parades hit his fourth field goal of the night from 46 yards out five minutes into the third quarter to stretch the Stampeders’ lead to four.

The Lions came right back on their next possession, with Jennings finding Rainey in space and letting the speedster do the rest as he snaked his way to the end zone. Long missed the extra point to keep the score at 14-12.

Mitchell orchestrated a six-play, 95-yard drive that ended in Messam’s one-yard plunge on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Stampeders’ two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete to make it 18-14.

The Lions were looking to make amends on a short week following Sunday’s ugly 41-8 loss in Regina to the Riders where head coach and general manager Wally Buono questioned their readiness in his pre-game team talk — candid comments that were caught by a television camera in the locker-room.

The well-rested Stampeders, meanwhile, hadn’t played in 15 days, but entered B.C. Place Stadium having outscored opponents 128-35 in their three previous outings.

Calgary led 9-0 after the first quarter on three Parades field goals, but the damage could have been a lot more after Marken Michel dropped what looked like a sure touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage.

B.C., meanwhile, struggled mightily on offence through most of the first half minus injured leading receivers Bryan Burnham and Nick Moore.

The Lions’ offence had almost nothing going on — four punts, one blocked punt and an interception on their first six drives — until they got the ball with less than five minutes to go in the second quarter, Jennings leading a methodical 11-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in his own one-yard plunge.

Just 14-of-30 for 195 yards and four interceptions against the Riders last week, Jennings then found Chris Williams on the two-point conversion attempt to make it 9-8 with 1:11 left on the clock.

Loucheiz Purifoy, who dropped what could have been a pick-six in the first quarter for the Lions, intercepted Mitchell when Calgary got the ball back.

But Jennings returned the favour with his second pick of the night two plays later, and the teams headed to their locker-rooms with the Stampeders up by one.

Notes: Burnham and Moore have combined for 60 catches and 1,002 yards so far in 2017. … Calgary linebacker Alex Singleton had an interception in the first quarter. … B.C. inducted former players Carl Kidd and Brent Johnson into the club’s Wall of Fame at halftime. … The Lions visit the Ottawa Redblacks next Saturday, while the Stampeders host the Toronto Argonauts. … Calgary and B.C. play again on Sept. 16 at McMahon Stadium. … Attendance was 20,622.

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The New York Mets have made a deal that will see them send veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Heading the Mets way will be cash considerations or a player to named later.

Dodgers have acquired Curtis Granderson and cash considerations from Mets in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2017

More to come…

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HAMILTON — Ottawa kicker Brett Maher kicked six field goals as the Redblacks defeated the winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-18 on Friday night.

Ottawa improves to 2-6-1 with its first road win of the season. Hamilton falls to 0-8 heading into a bye week.

Maher hit five-straight field goals in the first half, from 10, 15, 42, 52, and 48 yards out. He added a 30-yarder to start the second. However, he had one convert blocked and missed another, both against the wind.

Hamilton kicker Sergio Castillo hit his lone field-goal attempt from 43 yards.

Greg Ellingson, Avery Ellis, and Jake Harty scored touchdowns for Ottawa. Luke Tasker and Brandon Banks scored for Hamilton.

Redblacks QB Trevor Harris completed 36 of 48 pass attempts for 394 yards and two touchdown passes.

Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros completed nine of 17 pass attempts for 102 yards, one TD and a costly fumble returned by Ellis for a score to start the fourth. He was then replaced by Jeremiah Masoli. This was Collaros’s 12th-straight loss as a starter, dating back to last season. The CFL record is 13, held by Lynn Amedee (Edmonton, 1963-4). Masoli completed seven of 12 for 68 yards.

Ottawa took a 15-10 halftime lead on the strength of Maher’s foot.

His 30-yarder midway through the third extended the lead to 18-10.

The Ticats got the crowd on their feet next possession when backup QB Masoli came in at second-and-one looked to have hit a streaking Banks with a 57-yard TD pass, but the receiver bobbled the ball and it came back.

The Redblacks finally found the end zone to end the third, putting together an 82-yard drive as Harris hit Ellingson with a 35-yard TD pass and the 25-10 lead.

Collaros fumbled the ball on Hamilton’s next possession, and it was recovered by Avery Ellis and run back 29 yards for the TD as the 23,524 at Tim Hortons Field went silent. Ticat defensive back Courtney Stephen blocked Maher’s convert attempt and ran it back for two points to cut the lead to 31-12.

Masoli replaced Collaros for Hamilton and led a 48-yard scoring drive ending with a one-yard TD run by Banks midway through the fourth. The two-point convert failed and to make it 31-18.

Ottawa sealed the win with a 61-yard drive that ate up 3:38 and ended with a three-yard TD pass to Harty with 2:38 left in the game. With the missed convert it was 37-18.

In the first quarter, the Redblacks had first-and-goal at the four-yard line on its first possession of the game, but a 15-yard roughing penalty pushed it back and they had to settle for a 10-yard field goal to take the 3-0 lead. Hamilton responded with a two-play touchdown drive that began with a 45-yard kickoff return by Banks and ended with a 44-yard catch-and-run by Tasker to give the Ticats a 7-3 lead.

After a 78-yard drive on their next possession, Ottawa had to settle for another field goal, a 15-yarder for 7-6.

The Tiger-Cats moved to 10-6 with Castillo’s 43-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the quarter.

Maher’s 42-yarder made it 10-9 early in the second and his 52-yarder with 2:16 left in the half gave the Redblacks the first lead of the game, 12-10. Ottawa got the ball back with 19 seconds on the clock and with time expired, Maher hit his fifth-straight of the night from 48 yards for the 15-10 lead.

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