10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017
CONTACT US
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorianSports
Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Athletes of the Week
(FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 29-JUNE 3)
LANDREE
MIETHE
Warrenton
JASON
MILLER
Knappa
he Warriors’ senior closed out her prep career at a 3A all-star series in
T
Corvallis last weekend. Miethe was a combined 5-for-8 at the plate in
the two games. In a 12-11 victory in Game 1, she was 2-for-4 with two runs
he Knappa infi elder had plenty of “Senior Moments” in his fi nal week
T
with the Loggers. In a 5-3 semifi nal win over Regis May 30, Miller led off
the bottom of the fi rst inning with his fi rst career home run. He went hitless
scored. Trailing by two in the last inning, Miethe had a double to bring in the
eventual winning run, then scored from second in the next at-bat. She was
3-for-4 in Game 2. Despite a 6-4 loss, Miethe had an inside-the-park home run
in her fi nal at-bat. She will play softball next year at Lower Columbia College.
in the 2A/1A state championship game three days later, but drove in a run on
a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh, and scored the winning
run on a single by teammate Reuben Cruz, as Knappa rallied from a 9-3 defi -
cit with seven runs in its fi nal at-bat. The 10-9 win over Reedsport was Miller’s
second state title with the Loggers in his four years.
Shortstop
Segura
gets $70M
deal from
Mariners
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Zunino hits 2nd
HR in 9th to rally
Mariners past
Twins , 6-5
Associated Press
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Jean Segura and
the Mariners agreed Wednesday
to a $70 million, fi ve-year con-
tract covering 2018-22, a deal
that brings stability to a shortstop
position in fl ux for more than a
decade in Seattle.
Segura is making $6.2 million
this year and would have been eli-
gible for free agency following the
2018 season. The contract calls
for a $3 million signing bonus, a
$9 million salary next season and
$14.25 million in each of the fol-
lowing four years. Seattle has a
$17 million option for 2023 with
a $1 million buyout. Segura gets a
full-no trade provision.
Traded three times in fi ve
years, Segura said the long-term
stability was important — bol-
stered by the no-trade clause.
“As a player, you choose
where you feel comfortable,
where you feel like it’s home for
you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter
how much money you’re going
to take, it’s all about how you’re
going to feel.”
General manager Jerry Dipoto,
who traded Segura from the
Angels to Milwaukee in a 2012
deal for pitcher Zack Greinke,
said he understood the impor-
tance of the no-trade request.
“I feel like in this case, because
of the amount of times that Jean
has moved, I didn’t think it was
an unreasonable ask because of
how many times he’s been asked
to move,” Dipoto said.
“And, the fact that he wants to
be here and he wants to play for
the Mariners, we’re buying a six-
year stretch of Jean’s career that
will span, including this year, his
age 27 through potentially his age
33 season. It’s a good buy for the
Mariners,” he added.
Segura was the centerpiece of
one of Seattle’s biggest offsea-
son moves when he was acquired
from Arizona as part of a fi ve-
player trade. After leading the
National League in hits last sea-
son, Segura has not disappointed
in his move to the American
League.
SCOREBOARD
LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Junior State Baseball — Warrenton
at Neah-Kah-Nie, 5:30 p.m.
Ronald Martinez/Pool Photo
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) dunks on Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0)
during the second half of Game 3 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Warriors set to make their
claim as NBA’s best ever
By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — One victory left
for the Golden State Warriors to claim
another title.
Not the one as NBA champions.
The one as the best team ever.
Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and
the rest of the Warriors will be able to
make that boast if they win Friday to
complete the most impressive postsea-
son run in major sports history.
They moved to the brink of that
with a 118-113 victory over the Cleve-
land Cavaliers on Wednesday in Game
3 of the NBA Finals. The Warriors are
15-0 and can fi nish off the NBA’s fi rst
perfect postseason with a victory here
in Game 4.
Combine that with last year’s
73-win season, and a second title in
three years — which could have eas-
ily been three consecutive champion-
ships — and foundation of the case has
been made.
The Cavaliers are no match for
these Warriors, not even with arguably
the best player on the planet in LeB-
ron James. Golden State’s only com-
petition is with Shaquille O’Neal and
Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the
Bulls, and other great teams from the
past.
None won as dominantly as this
team, which has four versatile All-
Stars — including two former league
MVPs — in their prime. These aptly
named Warriors spent the last two
months building big leads, then
Wednesday wiped out a late defi cit.
Some people may argue their great-
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry, left, and Kevin Durant talk
in the final moments against the
Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of
basketball’s NBA Finals in Cleve-
land on Wednesday.
UP NEXT: GAME 4
• Golden State Warriors (3-0)
at Cleveland Cavaliers (0-3)
• Friday, 6 p.m. TV: ABC
ness, but James won’t.
“It’s probably the most, most fi re-
power I’ve played in my career,”
James said. “I played against some
great teams, but I don’t think no team
has had this type of fi repower. So even
when you’re playing well, you got to
play like A-plus plus, because they’re
going to make runs and they’re going
to make shots and they got guys that’s
going to make plays.”
The NBA’s best postseason run
is the 15-1 mark of the 2001 Lakers,
while the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers
went 12-1. Jordan’s fi rst title team in
1991 is one of three squads that went
15-2.
The Warriors thought they were
carving out their place in history when
they set a record with 73 wins last
season. But history turned to infamy
when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Cav-
aliers, the biggest collapse in NBA
Finals history.
They spoke openly of their desire
to beat Jordan’s 72-win team in 1996,
but this time have downplayed the
importance of 16-0.
“We obviously know how hard it is
to win a championship, what all goes
into it and how important each game
is. And now that you can look ahead
to Friday, all our focus is on that,”
Curry said. “And just we obviously
— we want 16 wins; it doesn’t matter
how we get there. But now that we’re
in this situation, why not take care of
business and fi nish the job?”
They were winning by 16.9 points
per game through the previous 14,
which would easily be another NBA
record. And when they fi nally got a
close one, they showed why their ros-
ter is the envy of just about every other
team, with the long-range shooting of
Durant, Curry and Klay Thompson,
and the defensive wizardry of Dray-
mond Green and 2015 NBA Finals
MVP Andre Iguodala.
That roster would give these War-
riors a chance against any great team
from the past — and gives most of their
opponents no chance against them.
SEATTLE — Mike Zunino’s
retooled swing following a demo-
tion to the minors paid its biggest
dividend yet for the surging Seat-
tle Mariners.
Zunino hit his second homer
of the game with two outs in the
ninth inning, a two-run shot that
gave the Mariners a 6-5 comeback
victory over the Minnesota Twins
on Wednesday night.
Kyle Seager and Carlos Ruiz
also homered for the Mariners,
who overcame a three-run defi cit
and won for the ninth time in 10
games.
“Really excited for Mike
Zunino. Everybody knows the
ability he has, but to try to see
him get the performance,” Seat-
tle manager Scott Servais said.
“He’s worked his tail off. He’s
bought into kind of the new swing
mechanics and he should, because
he’s getting great results right
now.”
Chef Flay buys
interest in second
Belmont horse
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Celebrity chef
Bobby Flay hopes he’s cooked up
another winner in the Belmont
Stakes.
Flay purchased 25 per-
cent interest in J Boys Echo on
Wednesday before the draw that
assigned post positions for Satur-
day’s $1.5 million race. The other
75 percent belongs to Albaugh
Family Stable.
Last year, Flay bought an
interest in Creator just before
the colt won the Belmont by a
nose.
J Boys Echo fi nished 15th in
the Kentucky Derby under jockey
Luis Saez. The chestnut colt found
trouble leaving the starting gate
and got bounced around in the
pack of 20 horses. He skipped the
Preakness.
He has two wins in seven
career starts and earnings of
$349,600. He was purchased for
$485,000.
J Boys Echo is trained by Dale
Romans and will be ridden by
Robby Albarado, who couldn’t
ride in the Derby because of
injury.