National Sports

REIMS, France — Canada got a wake-up call at the Women's World Cup on Thursday, paying for a slow start and some defensive lapses with a 2-1 loss to the European champion Netherlands in their final preliminary-round game.

Starved for fans despite success on the field, the Tampa Bay Rays have been given the go-ahead by Major League Baseball to look into playing a split season in Montreal. However, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla.

TORONTO — Longtime sports talk radio host Bob McCown will leave his position as host of Prime Time Sports on Friday, Sportsnet said in a release.

AYSEN, Chile — Avianna Thompson led all scorers with 13 points as Canada defeated El Salvador 61-15 Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the 2019 FIBA U16 Women's Americas basketball championship.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have hired former Calgary Flames head coach Jim Playfair as an associate coach. Playfair will join a familiar head coach in Dave Tippett, who was hired by the Oilers this off-season.

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse won the 200 metres and took silver in the 100 Thursday at the Ostrava Golden Spike track and field meet. De Grasse, from Markham, Ont., won the 200 in a season-best time of 19.91 seconds.

LONDON — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is off to the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club tournament after a bizarre finish to his second match on Thursday. The No.

NEWARK, N.J. — The man in custody in the Dominican Republic on suspicion of shooting former baseball star David Ortiz was indicted Thursday on drugs and weapons charges unrelated to the shooting.

A pilot project allowing Canadian university women's hockey teams to offer more scholarship money to athletes has yet to show concrete evidence it stops top talent from going to the NCAA.

REIMS, France — Canada captain Christine Sinclair collected career goal No. 182 Thursday, scoring against the Netherlands in preliminary-round play at the Women's World Cup.