Vernon Adams Jr. will look to follow up his stellar seven-touchdown performance when he leads the Calgary Stampeders into Montreal on Saturday to face the Alouettes.

Adams threw for 405 yards and six touchdowns to go along with a rushing score as the Stampeders rolled to a 58-36 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on July 2. The six TD passes tied a franchise record, shared with Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Peter Liske and Calgary’s current head coach/general manager Dave Dickenson.

“One of the better games I’ve probably ever seen,” Dickenson said of Adams.

“… Vernon made a lot of those plays on his own, and a couple of those passes were when he’s getting dragged down. And that (touchdown) run was excellent, too. So what he’s doing is playing winning football.”

Not surprisingly, Adams was recognized with the top spot on the CFL’s list of Week 5 Players of the Week. And he likely will need to light up the scoreboard once more against a Davis Alexander-led Alouettes team that is averaging 33.3 points per game — trailing only Calgary (41.0) and Toronto (37.5).

Jalen Philpot and Dejon Brissett each had two touchdown receptions last week for the Stampeders (2-2), who answered a pair of narrow losses with two consecutive victories.

Speaking of Philpot, his twin brother, Tyson, plays for the Alouettes (3-1) and leads the CFL in catches (36), receiving yards (587) and 30-yard catches (five) to go along with three touchdowns.

“He’s half man, half phenomenon,” fellow wide receiver Alex Hollins said of Tyson Philpot. “There is no track he can’t run. There is no ball he can’t catch. If you throw it at him, he’ll catch it. He is simply an elite player.”

Alexander isn’t too shabby in his own right. He hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 274 pass attempts, which represents the second-longest streak in league history (Darian Durant, 323).

The Alouettes, who are fresh off a bye last week, will travel to Calgary next week to complete a home-and-home series with the Stampeders.

–Field Level Media

Oakland Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz is out of the lineup Friday night due to a right thumb capsule strain.

According to MLB.com, Kurtz might need a stint on the 10-day injured list. That transaction would cause Kurtz to miss next Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

Kurtz is the American League starter at first base after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (back) of the Toronto Blue Jays pulled out of the affair.

Kurtz exited Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers after 1 1/2 innings but the club said the departure was due to illness. However, he also appeared to hurt the hand while trying to field a throw in the bottom of the first.

Kurtz, 23, is batting .266 with 20 homers in 92 games. His 66 RBIs entering Friday were second-most in the AL.

The Athletics also placed infielder/outfielder Zack Gelof (knee) on the 10-day injured list and recalled first baseman/outfielder Joey Meneses from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Gelof, 26, was injured while playing left field and had to exit Thursday’s game. He made a sliding catch in foul territory after a long run and his knee was cut after banging into the metal railing in front of the stands.

Gelof had just returned from a right hand contusion on July 4. He is batting .273 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs in 67 games.

Meneses, 34, batted .143 (2-for-14) with two RBIs in seven games with the A’s earlier this season.

–Field Level Media

The knockout stage of the World Cup has not been easy for defending champion Argentina.

They needed extra time in the round of 32 to earn a 3-2 victory against Cape Verde before requiring a late rally from a two-goal deficit against Egypt to claim a 3-2 win in the round of 16.

Goals may be harder to come by for Argentina against defensive-minded Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo.

“It wasn’t easy to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a World Cup knockout match – especially given how games are going these days, where no one gives you anything for free,” Argentina star Lionel Messi said. “But thank God, we did it once again.”

Messi, who earlier missed a penalty kick, scored the tying goal in the 83rd minute Tuesday in Atlanta before Enzo Fernandez netted the winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Cristian Romero sparked the comeback with a goal in the 79th minute off a Messi assist.

The 39-year-old Messi has a record 21 World Cup tallies for his career. He owns eight goals in this World Cup, tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe for the most in the tourney. Mbappe, though, has played one more match, with his team already through to the semifinals.

“Especially for those players on the bench, the players who watch Lionel Messi play and can’t believe what they’re watching – he should be a role model for them,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He tries again and again, and I get goosebumps.”

Swiss captain Granit Xhaka and defender Ricardo Rodriguez are the only members left from the 2014 squad that lost 1-0 in extra time to Messi and Argentina in the round of 16 at Brazil.

“I don’t know that we can stop him over 90 minutes. It’s going to be difficult,” said Xhaka, referring to Messi. “But we have to be smart, compact, close the gaps and not give him too many spaces. We just try to play our game.”

Argentina is riding an 11-match unbeaten streak in the World Cup. They’ve scored multiple times in each of those games, tied for the longest streak in tournament history.

“It’s obviously a very tough challenge,” said Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji. “But I think we’re ready. I think we can play against any opponent and make it hard for them. We know it’s going to be difficult but we’re going to give our best.”

Switzerland, in the quarterfinals for the first time since they hosted the tournament in 1954, have scored nine goals over their five matches while conceding just three.

They’re coming off a scoreless draw vs. Colombia that they won 4-3 in penalty kicks.

“We know Argentina has many fine qualities. Few talk about the Swiss qualities,” Xhaka said. “(Saturday) we will talk on the pitch, and we will show what we can do, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

Switzerland will be without productive midfielder Johan Manzambi, who racked up three goals and two assists in their first four matches of the event, for the second straight match because of a knee injury.

“We tried everything we could to get him back in peak form,” Swiss coach Murat Yakin said. “Momentum was on his side, and there was so much joy when he plays, and he has his teammates by his side. Everything worked out so well for him until now.”

The winner of Saturday’s match will play either Norway or England on Wednesday in Atlanta with a berth in the World Cup final on July 19 at East Rutherford, N.J., on the line.

–Field Level Media