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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
4-time Iditarod
winner denies
doping his dogs
HOT WORLD SERIES ON DECK
ANCHORAGE — Four-time
Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey
denies that he administered
banned drugs to his dogs in this
year’s race and said he has with-
drawn from the 2018 race in pro-
test of the allegation.
“I have never given any banned
substance to my dogs,” Seavey
said in a video posted to his Face-
book page.
He didn’t immediately return
calls after the Iditarod Trail
Committee identified him as the
musher who had four dogs test
positive for a banned opioid pain
reliever after finishing the race last
March in Nome.
Seavey said he fully expected
the committee to ban him from
the race for speaking out. There’s
a so-called gag rule preventing
mushers from making statements
critical of the race or sponsors.
“I have done absolutely noth-
ing wrong,” the 30-year-old
Seavey said, adding he wouldn’t
be “thrown under the bus” by the
race’s governing board.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Sarachan to
coach US soccer
for exhibition at
Portugal
CHICAGO — Dave Sarachan,
the top assistant to Bruce Arena,
will be the interim coach for the
United States when the Americans
play an exhibition at European
champion Portugal on Nov. 14.
Arena quit Oct. 13, three days
after the Americans lost 2-1 at
99th-ranked Trinidad and Tobago
and failed to qualify for next
year’s World Cup. The rest of Are-
na’s staff will remain on for next
month’s game.
The U.S. doesn’t have a com-
petitive match until the 2019 CON-
CACAF Gold Cup and is expected
to overhaul its program during the
more than five years it has to pre-
pare for the 2022 World Cup.
Tiger Woods set to
enter plea bargain
for DUI arrest
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.
— The diversion program for
intoxicated drivers that Tiger
Woods is expected to enter Friday
is one of several across the coun-
try aimed at reducing the number
of repeat offenders and backlogs
of court cases.
The 41-year-old superstar
golfer is scheduled to plead guilty
at a court hearing to reckless driv-
ing, a less severe charge than driv-
ing under the influence, as part of
a Palm Beach County, Florida,
program that has graduated almost
2,500 first-time offenders since it
began four years ago.
Deputy State Attorney Richard
Clausi, who oversees the coun-
ty’s misdemeanor prosecutions,
said that less than 1 percent of the
program’s participants have reof-
fended. He said the key has been
getting offenders to take respon-
sibility for their actions without
requiring a trial and making sure
they complete the program.
“It’s still early, but we think it
has been a success,” he said.
— Associated Press
Los Angeles Dodgers players celebrate beating the Chicago Cubs 11-1 to advance to the World Series.
Altuve, Astros vs Kershaw, Dodgers
By BEN WALKER
Associated Press
WORLD SERIES: GAME 1
Big-time aces Clayton Kershaw and Jus-
tin Verlander. Playoff boppers Jose Altuve and
Justin Turner.
A pair of 100-win teams for the first time
in nearly a half-century. Hollywood Walk of
Fame vs. Texans who wear the star. A little
extra Magic, plus Nolan back in the fast lane.
This is one hot World Series — the Hous-
ton Astros, fresh off a Game 7 victory over the
Yankees, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers,
well rested after a postseason romp.
Could be real steamy, too. It’s supposed to
be almost 100 degrees at Dodger Stadium for
the opener tonight, maybe the hottest tempera-
ture ever at a World Series game.
At least the familiar October chill that
makes players and fans shiver shouldn’t be an
issue outdoors in sun-baked California or under
the retractable roof at Minute Maid Park.
Not that young stars Cody Bellinger and
Carlos Correa would mind, nor would old pros
Carlos Beltran and Chase Utley, nor top starters
Dallas Keuchel and Yu Darvish.
Because a chance to win a ring doesn’t
come very often — these teams that have
already played more than 700 games against
each other over the years already know that.
• Houston Astros (101-61)
at Los Angeles Dodgers (104-58)
• Today, 5:09 p.m. TV: FOX
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Houston Astros’ Yuli Gurriel is congratu-
lated by Jose Altuve after scoring against
the New York Yankees.
The Astros have never won the crown.
They’re playing for a whole region, with the
Houston Strong patches on their uniforms rep-
resenting an area hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.
The Dodgers haven’t been in the World
Series since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s bat,
Orel Hershiser’s arm and Tommy Lasorda’s
moves outdid Oakland for the crown.
Now with Lakers great Magic Johnson as
a part-owner, this LA team that led the majors
with 104 wins is hoping to bring back the glory
days that began in Brooklyn.
“I just want to win a World Series,” Ker-
shaw said after the Dodgers dethroned the Chi-
cago Cubs in Game 5 of the NL Championship
Series. “I know more than anybody how hard it
is to get there. So, I’m definitely not taking this
one for granted.”
Said mercurial outfielder Yasiel Puig: “The
trophy’s coming soon.”
The Astros, the major leagues’ highest-scor-
ing team this year, have never even won a
World Series game. They only time they made
it this far was 2005, when a club that included
Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens
and Andy Pettitte got swept by the White Sox.
In fact, a World Series prize is the one piece
of hardware missing from the trophy case from
the Lone Star State. Texas teams have won the
Super Bowl and championships in the NBA,
NHL, college football and men’s and women’s
basketball, but never in baseball.
Under the leadership of executive Nolan
Ryan, the Texas Rangers came within one
strike in 2011 before losing to St. Louis.
A CAPSULE LOOK AT THE WORLD SERIES
Associated Press
A look at the best-of-seven World Series between
the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers:
SCHEDULE: (All times PDT, televised by FOX)
Game 1, Tuesday, at Los Angeles, 5:09 p.m.;
Game 2, Wednesday, at Los Angeles, 5:09 p.m.;
Game 3, Friday, at Houston, 5:09 p.m.; Game
4, Saturday, at Houston, 5:09 p.m.; x-Game 5,
Sunday, at Houston, 5:16 p.m.; x-Game 6, Tuesday,
Oct. 31, at Los Angeles, 5:09 p.m.; x-Game 7,
Wednesday, Nov. 1, at Los Angeles, 5:10 p.m.
x-if necessary.
SEASON SERIES: Teams didn’t meet in 2017.
PROJECTED LINEUP (ASTROS): CF George
Springer (.283, 34 HRs, 85 RBIs), 3B Alex Breg-
man (.284, 19, 71, 39 doubles), 2B Jose Altuve
(.346, 24, 81, 39 doubles, 32 SBs; 204 hits to lead
AL for 4th straight year, won 2nd consecutive bat-
ting title and 3rd overall), SS Carlos Correa (.315,
24, 84, 25 doubles), 1B Yuli Gurriel (.299, 18, 75,
43 doubles), C Brian McCann (.241, 18, 62), LF
Marwin Gonzalez (.303, 23, 90, 34 doubles), RF
Josh Reddick (.314, 13, 82, 34 doubles).
PROJECTED LINEUP (DODGERS): CF Chris
Taylor (.288, 21, 72, 17 SBs), SS Corey Seager
(.295, 22, 77), 3B Justin Turner (.322, 21, 71, 56
Ks, 59 BBs), 1B Cody Bellinger (.267, 39, 97), RF
Yasiel Puig (.263, 28, 74, 15 SBs), 2B Logan For-
sythe (.224, 6, 36) or Chase Utley (.236, 8, 34), C
Austin Barnes (.289, 8, 38), LF Enrique Hernandez
(.215, 11, 37).
PROJECTED ROTATION (ASTROS): LH Dallas
Keuchel (14-5, 2.90 ERA), RH Justin Verlander
(15-8, 3.36 for Detroit and Houston; 5-0, 1.06 in 5
starts with Astros), RH Charlie Morton (14-7, 3.62),
RH Lance McCullers Jr. (7-4, 4.25).
PROJECTED ROTATION (DODGERS): LH
Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31, 202 Ks, 30 BBs, 23
HRs allowed in 27 starts, 175 IP), LH Rich Hill
(12-8, 3.32, 166 Ks in 25 starts, 135 2/3 IP), RH Yu
Darvish (10-12, 3.86, 209 Ks, 27 HRs allowed in 31
starts with Rangers and Dodgers), LH Alex Wood
(16-3, 2.72 in 27 games, 25 starts).
RELIEVERS (ASTROS): RH Ken Giles (1-3, 2.30,
34/38 saves), RH Chris Devenski (8-5, 2.68), RH
Joe Musgrove (7-8, 4.77), RH Will Harris (3-2,
2.98), LH Francisco Liriano (6-7, 5.66 with Blue
Jays and Astros), RH Luke Gregerson (2-3, 4.57),
RH Brad Peacock (13-2, 3.00).
RELIEVERS (DODGERS): RH Kenley Jansen
(5-0, 1.32, 41/42 saves, tied for NL lead), RH Josh
Fields (5-0, 2.84, 2 saves), LH Tony Cingrani (0-0,
4.22, 52 Ks, 12 BBs, 42 2/3 IP in 47 games with
Reds and Dodgers; 2.79 in 22 games with Dodg-
ers), RH Brandon Morrow (6-0, 2.06, 2 saves), LH
Tony Watson (7-4, 3.38, 10 saves in 71 games with
Pirates and Dodgers; 2-1, 2.70 in 24 games with
Dodgers), RH Pedro Baez (3-6, 2.95), RH Ross
Stripling (3-5, 3.75, 2 saves), RH Kenta Maeda
(13-6, 4.22, 1 save in 29 games, 25 starts), LH Luis
Avilan (2-3, 2.93, 61 games).
MATCHUPS: The Astros and Dodgers have played
over 700 times, more than any pair of teams to
meet in the World Series. That’s because Houston
began as a National League expansion club in
1962 and didn’t switch to the AL until 2013. The
Dodgers hold a 388-323 edge — they’ve played
so often, some fans say this feels more like an NL
Championship Series than a World Series. ... In the
most meaningful game between the sides, Hous-
ton earned its first playoff spot by beating the Dodg-
ers 7-1 in a tiebreaker for the 1980 NL West title
behind pitcher Joe Niekro. ... They last met in 2015,
when Houston swept a three-game series at home.
... Verlander beat the Dodgers in late August with
eight dominant innings for Detroit, shortly before
being traded to Houston. ... Darvish is 5-5 lifetime
vs. the Astros, including 1-1 this year before Texas
sent him to the Dodgers. ... Reddick spent the final
two months with the Dodgers last year after being
traded from Oakland. ... Among the players who
spent time with both clubs: Don Sutton, Jeff Kent
and Jimmy Wynn, aka The Toy Cannon.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Soccer — Scappoose at Astoria,
7:15 p.m.; Banks at Seaside, 6:30 p.m.
Boys Soccer — Astoria at Scap-
poose, 4:15 p.m.; Seaside at Banks,
4:15 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Volleyball — 1A State Playoffs: Jew-
ell at Alsea, 6 p.m.
THURSDAY
Cross Country — Cowapa Cham-
pionships, at Tillamook, TBA; District
1/3A/2A/1A Championships, 3:30 p.m.
Football — North Beach at Ilwaco, 7
p.m.
FRIDAY
Football — 4A Regional Play-in: As-
toria at Estacada, 7 p.m.; Clatskanie at
Warrenton, 7 p.m.; Gaston at Knappa,
7 p.m.; Naselle at Sunnyside Christian,
5 p.m.
Seahawks defense back on top after 3-game win streak
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — It may not
have looked that way earlier in the sea-
son, but the Seattle Seahawks are back
to being an elite defense.
Seattle is tied for the league lead in
scoring defense after Sunday’s 24-7
romp over the New York Giants. The
Seahawks are allowing just 15.7 points
per game, tied with Jacksonville for the
league lead. They’ve given up a com-
bined 244 yards rushing in the past
three games, including just 46 yards on
the ground in rolling past New York.
It’s no surprise the Seahawks
have won three straight because their
defense is back playing at the level that
has become their standard.
The Giants finished with just 177
total yards, the 18th time in Seat-
tle coach Pete Carroll’s tenure that
the Seahawks have held an oppo-
nent under 200 total yards in a regu-
lar-season game. It was the 21st time
they held an opponent under 50 yards
on the ground. Carroll was extremely
pleased with the play of second-year
defensive tackle Jarran Reed and vet-
eran Sheldon Richardson against the
Giants.
“They were really consistent, really
disciplined from inside out. ... It takes
great discipline to do that play after
play after play. We’ve been doing this
for years and this is how you play base
defense and if you don’t play with
great discipline, which shows up in
those couple of plays that get away
from you once in a while, you can’t
play at this level and you can’t play a
base scheme like we do,” Carroll said.
“We don’t do a lot of fancy stuff. We
do stuff really well and we count on
our guys to execute the heck out of it.”
The performance in New York
capped a three-game turnaround
for the Seahawks after an ugly per-
formance in Tennessee where Seat-
tle allowed 195 yards rushing and 33
points to the Titans. Seattle gave up
touchdowns of 55 and 75 yards in the
loss.
In the past three games, the Sea-
hawks held Indianapolis to 237 total
yards in a 46-18 rout, forced five turn-
overs in their 16-10 win over the Rams
and capped the win streak with the
performance against the Giants.