10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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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.