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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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US soccer
struggles
against tiny
Martinique
A wobbly 3-2
win over minnow
By FRED GOODALL
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Jordan Mor-
ris put the United States back on
track in the CONCACAF Gold
Cup.
Morris’ second goal of the
game broke a tie in the 76th min-
ute, and the U.S. edged tiny Mar-
tinique 3-2 Wednesday night after
wasting a two-goal lead against a
team that is not even a member of
FIFA.
That hardly mattered to Jor-
dan and his teammates, though,
who rebounded from a disap-
pointing 1-1 tie against Panama in
their tournament opener last
weekend.
“It’s all about team, all about
the three points,” Morris said after
the Americans improved to 31-1-4
during the Gold Cup group stage.
Martinique “made it very
tough for us,” Morris added. “It
was a battle all night.”
Failing to break through in
the first half, the U.S. built a 2-0
lead on goals by Omar Gonzalez
in the 53rd minute and Morris in
the 6b4th.
But Martinique, a French over-
seas department, tied the score on
a pair of goals by Kevin Parse-
main in the 66th and 74th min-
utes. The first was a shot from the
edge of the arc that took a bounce
and went in off goalkeeper Brad
Guzan’s left arm. The second was
a shot by Johan Audel that hit a
leg of Parsemain , who was down
on the field, and deflected in over
Guzan, who had stopped Parse-
main’s initial attempt.
Morris got his fourth interna-
tional goal just 98 seconds later.
He spotted Gyasi Zardes streaking
in on the left side, and Zardes laid
the ball back for the 22-year-old
forward, who scored with a right-
footed shot from just past the pen-
alty spot.
“They didn’t stop running,
didn’t stop playing,” Gonza-
lez said. “We need to be smarter,
more focused throughout the
entire game.”
Wood Bat
Tournament
starts today
The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s annual Wood Bat
Tournament gets underway today
at Broadway Field, with eight
teams taking part in the three-day
tournament.
The
Junior
Baseball
(17-and-under) action begins this
morning, with Scappoose vs. War-
renton at 10 a.m., followed by:
Churchill vs. St. Helens, 12:30
p.m.; Central vs. Madison, 3 p.m.;
and Baker vs. Seaside, 5:30 p.m.
Consolation and champion-
ship bracket action continues Fri-
day and Saturday, beginning at 10
a.m. each day.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz is greeted in the dugout after he hit a three-run home run during the eighth inning of the team’s base-
ball game against the Oakland Athletics in Seattle in July. Cruz is leading the American League in RBIs with 70 at the break despite
playing through leg injuries during big chunks of the first half.
Mariners in awkward spot
entering 2nd half of season
Is Seattle a wild card
contender or also-ran?
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
EATTLE — Trying to define who the
Seattle Mariners are heading into the sec-
ond half of the season is going to be a
challenge that leaves the club in a difficult spot.
The team only has a short time in July to decide
how to move forward for the final two months.
Are they in position to be wild card con-
tenders in the American League? Or would
they be better served by punting on an inju-
ry-filled season and building for the future
prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline?
In the view of general manager Jerry
Dipoto, those questions are one and the same
with the Mariners four games back in the wild
card standings following the All-Star break.
“We are playing in a league of 15 teams, I
believe 12 are within five-ish games of a play-
off spot. We’re one of them and we have as
much talent as anybody else on that board,”
Dipoto said before the break. “We’ve seen
what this team can do when they’re click-
ing on all cylinders, so as we move forward,
whether it be for the second half of 2017 or
2018 and beyond, our goal is to continue to
build onto the core of this team.”
Seattle could have made the situation far
simpler for Dipoto if not for an awful two
weeks prior to the break when the Mariners
failed to take advantage of a favorable sched-
ule. In the final 14 games before the break, the
Mariners went 4-10 just as they were finally
getting closer to full health after patching
together a lineup, rotation and bullpen since
opening day.
Most puzzling was that the slump came
after a promising period during which the
Mariners appeared ready to be contenders.
“We have underperformed, truly,” Dipoto
said. “Particularly over the course of the last
couple of weeks. We just haven’t played well,
S
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernan-
dez, who at this time in May was on the
disabled list, sits in the dugout during
a baseball game against the Colorado
Rockies in Seattle. Trying to define who
the Seattle Mariners are heading into the
second half of the season is a challenge
and leaves the club in a difficult spot of
only having a short time in July to de-
cide how to move forward for the final
two months of the season.
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Seattle Mariners (43-47)
at Chicago White Sox (38-49)
• Friday, 5:10 p.m. TV: RTNW
and we are at probably our most, the longest
stretch of positive health that we’ve had since
opening day, and we’ve played perhaps as
poorly as we’ve played all year long.”
Inconsistency has defined most of Seattle’s
season. The Mariners have been sloppy at
times, making careless mistakes. The offense
has disappeared for stretches or the bull-
pen has failed to close out winnable games.
During other stretches, the Mariners have
shown the punch to be the playoff contender
that most believed them to be before the sea-
son began.
Sitting at 43-47 is probably where Seattle
deserves to be. But are they markedly better or
worse? That’s the unknown.
“We have most of the guys healthy. We just
have to be consistent. That’s been the issue,”
slugger Nelson Cruz said.
THE GOOD: Cruz is leading the Amer-
ican League in RBIs with 70 at the break
despite playing through leg injuries during
big chunks of the first half. When healthy,
Jean Segura has been the best hitter in the AL
and Seattle may have figured out its outfield
of the future between Mitch Haniger, Guill-
ermo Heredia and Ben Gamel, who was hit-
ting .323 at the break.
On the pitching side, Ariel Miranda wasn’t
supposed to be in the rotation at the start of
the season but injuries made him the ace for
much of the first half. He went 7-4 with a 4.15
ERA. James Paxton, when healthy, showed
signs of being at the top of Seattle’s rotation
going forward.
THE BAD: Injuries. Paxton, Cruz,
Segura, Haniger, Robinson Cano, Felix Her-
nandez and Hisashi Iwakuma all missed time
with injuries and while all but Iwakuma have
returned, the impact of their absences may
ultimately be too much to overcome. Kyle
Seager finished the first half hitting just .248.
Mike Zunino had a huge June but was that an
anomaly or can that become the norm? Seat-
tle’s bullpen has been overused due to the
injuries and that led to inconsistency.
WHAT’S AHEAD: Seattle’s sched-
ule makes the first two weeks after the All-
Star break critical in determining where the
Mariners go. After a six-game road trip, the
Mariners return home for 10 games against
both New York teams and Boston. If facing
the top two teams in the AL East isn’t diffi-
cult enough, it’s just the precursor to an awful
August where Seattle plays just seven games
at home and has road trips of nine and 12
games.
Westbrook, Biles win athlete of year honors at The ESPYS
Manning mocks his
reputation for control
By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
Chris Pizzello/Invision
Host Peyton Manning appears on
stage at the conclusion of the ES-
PYS at the Microsoft Theater on
Wednesday in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES — Russell West-
brook won best male athlete at The
ESPYS, while Olympic gymnast
Simone Biles earned best female
athlete honors Wednesday night.
The 25th annual show honor-
ing the past year’s top athletes and
sports moments was hosted by Pey-
ton Manning, who humorously
mocked his reputation as a control
freak and an overexposed commer-
cial pitchman in the retired NFL
quarterback’s opening monologue.
Westbook was the NBA MVP, led
the league in scoring and set a record
for most triple-doubles in a season
with 42. The Oklahoma City Thun-
der star won the trophy over Kris
Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, Sidney
Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins
and Olympic swimmer Michael
Phelps.
“It’s been an unbelievable jour-
ney for me,” said Westbrook, a fash-
ion fiend who adjusted his black shirt
and green pants with wide white
stripes before he spoke. “I want to
make sure I look good first.”
Biles became the most decorated
U.S. Olympic gymnast at the Rio de
Janeiro Games, winning five medals,
including four golds and a bronze.
She beat out Olympic swimmer
Katie Ledecky, WNBA star Candace
Parker and Serena Williams for the
honor.
“Ever since Rio it has been an
amazing year,” Biles said. “I want to
thank you all for believing in me.”
She was one of three double win-
ners. Biles also won best female
Olympic athlete.
Phelps won record-setting per-
formance for extending his record
Olympic medal haul and as best
male Olympic athlete.
Aaron Rodgers won best NFL
player and shared best play with
then-Green Bay Packers team-
mate Jared Cook. Another Packer,
Jordy Nelson, earned best comeback
honors.
The biggest ovation of the
night belonged to former first lady
Michelle Obama, who posthu-
mously honored Eunice Kennedy
Shriver with the Arthur Ashe Cour-
age Award for championing the
rights and acceptance of people
with intellectual disabilities through
her founding of Special Olympics.
Her son, Tim Shriver, accepted the
trophy.
“Once a great first lady, still a
great first lady,” Shriver told Obama
as the crowd roared its approval.
The Patriots and Falcons shared
the best-game award for the Super
Bowl, won in a furious comeback by
New England.
LeBron James, a five-time win-
ner last year, was named best NBA
player. Mike Trout of the Los Ange-
les Angels won best MLB player,
while Crosby won best NHL player.
The show’s most bizarre bit
involved Bill Murray accepting the
best moment award for the Chi-
cago Cubs’ World Series victory
that ended a 108-year championship
drought.