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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF Fishermen, Pirates split twinbill The Daily Astorian The Neah-Kah-Nie and Asto- ria Ford Junior Baseball teams split a doubleheader Wednesday after- noon at Aiken Field, with the Fish- ermen scoring a 6-3 win in Game 1 and the Pirates posting a 6-1 vic- tory in the nightcap. Astoria pitchers Tristin Wallace, Will Reed and Dylan Rush com- bined in Game 1, with Wallace get- ting the start and striking out five. Sophomore-to-be Brooks Fromwiller had two hits and scored three runs to lead the Fishermen, while Ebin Hillard and Wallace added two hits apiece. Astoria Ford pulled away with three runs in the sixth inning. Neah-Kah-Nie pitcher Bryce Bridge tossed a two-hitter in Game 2, as he faced a lineup of mostly eighth-graders/incoming freshmen for the Fishermen. The Pirates also played a solid defensive game to pick up the win. Rush started for Astoria Ford, and threw four scoreless innings, with seven strikeouts. USA track and field moves Olympic trials from Eugene Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — USA track and field says the Olympic Trials for the 2020 Tokyo Games will be held in the Los Angeles area. Track’s governing body said Wednesday its board of directors voted 11-2 to bring the event to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. The stadium is going through a $62 million upgrade that’s scheduled to be completed in 2019 and will expand seating to more than 21,000. Mt. SAC beat out Sacramento, California, and Eugene, Oregon, which hosted the last three Olym- pic Trials at Hayward Field. The 2020 Olympic Trials are scheduled for June 19-28. USATF has been diversify- ing its locations for champion- ship meets to foster relationships with cities. Max Siegel, the CEO of USATF, says the “level of inter- est in the 2020 Olympic Trials is a reflection of that effort.” Cubs cut Montero after critical comments Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Chi- cago Cubs cut ties with Miguel Montero on Wednesday after the veteran catcher blamed pitcher Jake Arrieta for allowing seven stolen bases in Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Nationals. Montero, who turns 34 on July 9, was designated for assignment, and the World Series champions recalled catcher Victor Caratini from Triple-A Iowa. Montero is batting .286 with four homers and eight RBIs in 44 games. President of baseball opera- tions Theo Epstein, general man- ager Jed Hoyer and manager Joe Maddon spoke Tuesday after hear- ing of Montero’s comments. The 6-1 loss dropped Chicago to 39-38 on the season. “Right now through 77 games, we haven’t gotten it going yet. We haven’t come together as a team,” Hoyer said. “We’re fighting to come together and I think those comments were a detriment to what we’re trying to accomplish right now at this point in the season.” SCOREBOARD SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Junior Baseball — Warrenton at Sea- side (2), 4 p.m. SATURDAY Baseball — Warrenton Alumni Day at Huddleston Field, Noon Junior Baseball — Scappoose at As- toria Ford, 1 p.m. The Daily Astorian/File Photo Former Warrenton baseball players gather for their annual team picture following last year’s Alumni Game. Former Warriors take the field The Daily Astorian More than 40 former Warriors are expected Saturday for the fifth annual Warrenton Base- ball Alumni Game. The game and other activities begin at noon at Huddleston Field. Only former Warrenton players are eligi- ble to play in the game, with suggested dona- tions of $10-$20 per player accepted after the game to help the Warrenton Summer Baseball program. In addition to the alumni game, the after- noon will include raffles and a Home Run Derby for Warrior alumni ($10 for seven balls), sponsored by Warrenton Fultano’s/ Bubba’s Sports Bar. The top two sluggers make the finals, and tie-breakers will be set- tled by the longest home run. Astoria Ford’s Dane Gouge will be the local celebrity home run derby contestant. The public, friends and families of the pro- gram are welcome to attend. All proceeds go to Warrenton Summer Baseball. Phillies rally with 2 runs in 9th to stun M’s Rockets get All-Star Paul from Clippers By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Presented an oppor- tunity to rebound after a tough week- end, the Seattle Mariners instead stumbled at home against the worst team in baseball. Tommy Joseph hit his 13th homer of the season leading off the ninth inning off Seattle closer Edwin Diaz, Andrew Knapp followed with a two- out RBI single and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Mariners on Wednesday. Facing the lowly Phillies was sup- posed to be an opportunity for Seat- tle to stabilize after dropping two of three against Houston. Instead, the Mariners have lost four straight headed out on a brief three-game road trip against the Angels before return- ing home for seven games before the All-Star break. “Baseball is a great game but many days it can be cruel,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. The collapse on Wednesday was on the shoulders of Diaz, Seat- tle’s young closer who was brilliant last year as a rookie but has stum- bled at times in 2017. Seattle held a 4-3 lead headed to the ninth and had not allowed a hit to the Phillies since the third inning. Joseph changed that quickly hitting a 98 mph fastball on a 3-2 pitch from Diaz (2-3) out to left field, tying the game at 4-all. Diaz struck out the next two bat- ters, but walked Cameron Perkins and a balk moved Perkins into scor- ing position. Knapp delivered, lining a 1-2 pitch into right field to give the Phillies the lead. It was the second straight game Diaz was less than his best in the ninth inning. Diaz allowed four runs — none earned — in a non-save situ- ation on Tuesday. Servais was critical Associated Press AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, center, laughs in the dugout as he talks with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, right, af- ter Hernandez finished the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday in Seattle. UP NEXT: MARINERS • Seattle Mariners (39-41) at Los Angeles Angels (42-40) • Friday, 7:07 p.m. TV: FSW, RTNW of Diaz’s focus but wanted his closer back in on Wednesday. Servais got his wish, but Diaz couldn’t deliver, blowing his third save of the season. Servais said he’s likely to stick with Diaz as his closer going forward. “I missed a couple of pitches and I paid the price,” Diaz said. “It was nothing mechanical. Just missed location.” Philadelphia won a road series for the first time since late April. Ricardo Pinto (1-0) pitched three innings of relief to get the win and Hector Neris worked the ninth for his seventh save. Along with the rally in the ninth, the Phillies got the second career home run from Ty Kelly and an RBI groundout from Odubel Herrera in the third inning off Felix Hernandez. “Pinto was the key to that game. He gave us three strong innings, kept the game close and really pitched well for a young kid,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. Seattle appeared fine after Robin- son Cano’s 14th home run of the sea- son snapped a 3-all tie. Seattle also got solo homers from Kyle Seager and Danny Valencia, and an RBI sin- gle by Nelson Cruz all coming off Philadelphia starter Mark Leiter Jr. But the Mariners were unable to add on to the lead. Knapp said his approach changed once the balk by Diaz got Perkins to second base. “I knew he was going to challenge me. He has a really good fastball. I was just making sure I battled and put the ball in play,” Knapp said. HOUSTON — Chris Paul is heading to Houston to join James Harden, giving the Rockets two All-Stars in the backcourt to lead their chase for a championship. In the NBA’s second block- buster trade in less than a week, the Rockets acquired Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednes- day in exchange for Patrick Bev- erley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a protected first-round pick next year and cash considerations. The Rockets acquired Hilliard from Detroit and Liggins from Dal- las for cash considerations before adding them to the deal. “It’s a weapons race in the NBA and you’re either in the weapons race or on the sidelines,” Houston general manager Daryl Morey said. “We felt like with James Harden in his prime and Chris Paul in his prime this gives us a real shot to chase the jug- gernaut teams that are out there. This puts us right there with them.” Both the Clippers and Houston will look far different next season than they did in again falling short in the playoffs. The roster over- hauls came five days after Minne- sota sent three players to Chicago for All-Star Jimmy Butler to kick things off with NBA free agency opening Saturday. Mariners lose lefty Smyly to Tommy John surgery By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Drew Smyly was the centerpiece to one of Seattle’s many offseason moves by general manager Jerry Dipoto. He was a priority acqui- sition as a proven lefty for the rotation the Mariners believed would thrive pitching at Safeco Field. Smyly will end his first season in Seattle never having thrown a pitch during the regular season. The Mar- iners announced Wednesday that Smyly will need Tommy John surgery after being diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. “I feel bad for Drew. I know how excited he was when we acquired him, getting a chance to pitch in Seattle, how excited he was to be part of the team,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He did everything he could do to try and get back with us, the treat- ments and procedures and whatnot to figure it out.” Smyly had been on the disabled list since opening day with a flexor strain in his left arm, an diagnosed in spring training one outing after he pitched for the United States during the World Baseball Classic. Smyly had been rehabbing in the hopes of return- ing after the All-Star break but Ser- vais said Smyly came out of his last 25-pitch simulated game last weekend not feeling great and additional exams revealed the need for surgery. The operation is scheduled for July 6 and will be performed by Dr. James Andrews. Recovery time is typically 12 to 15 months. “Everybody was excited about get- ting him back but that’s obviously not going to happen,” Servais said. “I don’t want to say, ‘woe is us,’ or the ‘sky is falling.’ It is what it is and we’ve dealt with a lot of things this year and we’ll deal with this one.” Smyly’s setback only adds to Seat- tle’s long list of injuries with its start- ing rotation. Felix Hernandez just returned after nearly two months on the disabled list. Hisashi Iwakuma has no timetable for his potential return from shoulder inflammation. James Paxton missed three weeks with a forearm strain and Yovani Gallardo was demoted to the bullpen. Seattle has used 13 different start- ing pitchers and Smyly was not one of them. “I guess it creates some clarity on where we’re going to get through the rest of the year, the guys we’ve got and how important they are,” Servais said. Smyly was acquired in January in a multi-team deal. Seattle acquired out- fielder Mallex Smith from Atlanta then packaged him in a deal with Tampa Bay the same day to land Smyly. AP Photo/Matt York Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Drew Smyly throws against the Tex- as Rangers during the first inning of a spring training baseball game, in Peoria, Ariz. Smyly will undergo Tommy John surgery after being diagnosed with a torn ulnar collat- eral ligament. Seattle announced the diagnosis on Wednesday end- ing Smyly’s hopes of returning during the 2017 season.
