National Sports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday in the highest-level known contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine, with Blinken urging Russia to accept a deal

EDMONTON — Veteran Canadian receiver Mike Jones was among 11 players released Friday by the Edmonton Elks. Jones, 29, had eight catches for 100 yards in seven games this season.

Sylvain Perrier was sitting down to lunch with his wife and daughter when he saw the breaking news that Hockey Canada was embroiled in another group sexual assault investigation, this time involving the 2003 world junior team.

MONTREAL — Putting together a strong regular-season run in Major League Soccer requires consistency and showing up for big games. CF Montréal has the former, with wins in four of its last six contests.

MONTREAL — Jason Di Tullio, an assistant coach and former player with CF Montreal, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 38. His death Thursday night was confirmed by the MLS club.

Toronto FC flew out of Vancouver the same night it lost the Canadian Championship final to the Whitecaps this week. Goalkeeper Alex Bono didn't sleep a wink on the red-eye charter. "No. It was a long way," he said. "It was weird.

LONDON (AP) — In a legal showdown between soccer spouses that mixed celebrity, social media and amateur sleuthing, a judge has ruled whodunnit.

NFL WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder testified before a congressional committee investigating the NFL team’s history of workplace misconduct, speaking for more than 10 hours in a deposition conducted virtually and in private.

HAMILTON — This time, Dane Evans and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats averted another second-half collapse. Steven Dunbar Jr. and Don Jackson scored second-half touchdowns as Hamilton held on for a 24-17 win over the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night.

TORONTO — After spending about three weeks on the injured list, Yusei Kikuchi didn't want to come off the field.