10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Healy, Mariners
rally past Astros
for 4-game sweep
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Edwin Diaz
was supposed to be off on Sun-
day after earning saves in each of
the last three games for the Seat-
tle Mariners.
Instead, after the Mariners tied
the Houston Astros in the ninth
inning, the All-Star closer told
bullpen coach Brian De Lunas
to call the dugout to say that he
wanted to try to make it four in a
row.
Ryon Healy hit a tying home
run with two outs in the ninth,
Mitch Haniger delivered an RBI
double in the 10th and Diaz fin-
ished up as the Mariners beat
Houston 4-3 to sweep a four-game
series from the AL West leaders.
Diaz allowed one hit in a score-
less 10th for his major league-high
46th save. Manager Scott Servais
was pleased but not surprised
that Diaz offered to help out on
Sunday.
“Sometimes you’ve got to do
that,” he said. “That’s how Eddie’s
wired and how this team is wired.”
It’s the first time in franchise
history that Seattle swept a four-
game series from the Astros. The
third-place Mariners pulled within
four games of Houston.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman George Fant runs off the field after a June practice.
Vancouver
snaps Portland’s
unbeaten run
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Kei Kamara
and Cristian Techera scored for
the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-1
Cascadia Cup victory over Port-
land on Saturday night, snapping
a 15-match unbeaten streak for the
Timbers.
Portland (10-3-8) had not
dropped a league match since los-
ing 3-2 at Orlando City on April
8. The 15-match streak was the
longest in MLS this season and
equaled a franchise record.
“We came in here and we knew
what the record was. It’s all about
that, sometimes, in soccer. You
kind of want to spoil the party for
somebody else,” Kamara said.
The Whitecaps (9-9-6) were
without 17-year-old midfielder
Alphonso Davies because of a groin
injury. Bayern Munich acquired
Davies last month for a transfer fee
that could, with bonuses, total an
MLS record of $22 million. He’ll
move to the German team after
Vancouver’s season.
US beats Japan
in final of softball
championship
Associated Press
MAKUHARI, Japan — Kelsey
Stewart drove in the winning run
in the bottom of the tenth inning
as the United States beat Japan 7-6
in the final of the women’s world
softball championship on Sunday.
Stewart’s single down the third
base line scored the runner from
third as the defending champions
rallied with three runs in the tenth
off Japan starter Yukiko Ueno.
Fant travels long road
back for Seahawks
By MATT CALKINS
The Seattle Times
G
eorge Fant stands 6 feet 6, weighs
322 pounds and likely treats 20
ounce steaks as finger food. If any-
one wanted to approximate life as
Peter Dinklage, they’d need only stand next to
Fant for two seconds.
The man is a giant among behemoths —
a Himalaya among Alps. Yet, last year at this
time, the hype surrounding him was about 10
times bigger.
An undrafted rookie in 2016, Fant seemed
to have made unparalleled strides two offsea-
sons ago. On the first day of training camp last
year, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Fant
was the player whose gains most caught his
attention.
It seemed the panacea for Seattle’s protec-
tion woes lay in a former basketball player
turned left tackle. Then came Week 2 of the
preseason, when Fant rolled up his leg in the
second quarter and left on a stretcher.
Torn ACL. Out of the season.
This was painful for the Seahawks but
devastating for Fant. The former forward at
Western Kentucky — where he weighed 245
pounds — seemed to have developed into a
legitimate NFL starter.
His strength and size had skyrocketed.
His footwork improved exponentially. Tes-
timony suggested the now-third-year player
had emerged from his cocoon as a potential
Pro Bowler.
Then the 26-year-old learned it would be
nearly a year before he’d even be able to prac-
Heisman darkhorses: Can UW’s
Browning repeat Mayfield’s path?
Associated Press
Washington’s Jake Brown-
ing is hoping to repeat what
Baker Mayfield did last year.
Mayfield was a Heisman
Trophy longshot in the pre-
season, but ended up winning
the award while leading Okla-
homa to the College Football
Playoff for the second time in
three years.
Browning was sixth in the
Heisman voting two years ago
after leading the Huskies to the
Pac-12 title and the playoff,
where they lost to Alabama in
the semifinals. His productiv-
ity declined last year though as
his touchdowns fell from 43 to
19.
Washington was 10-3 last
season, but is the preseason
favorite to win the Pac 12.
Browning and the Huskies will
also have an early opportunity
to make a favorable impres-
sion to rest of the nation as
they face Auburn in the opener
in Atlanta on Sept. 1.
Browning — who has
thrown for over 9,000 yards
and 78 touchdowns the past
three seasons — is facing high
expectations, but none might
be bigger than what coach
Chris Peterson expects out of
the senior.
“Jake plays really good
football and has made some
spectacular plays in his
career,” Peterson said.
UP NEXT: PRESEASON
• Seattle Seahawks (0-1)
at Los Angeles Chargers (0-1)
• Saturday, 7 p.m. TV: FOX
tice again. For a brief second, he wondered
what the point of it all was.
“I felt like I put all that work in for noth-
ing,” Fant said. “I had a lot of expectations
and expected a lot of things.”
The public didn’t see or hear much from
Fant after that, but his disappointment was
clear to those around him. Asked about
him earlier this week, Carroll said Fant was
“crushed” by the injury after “putting every-
thing he possibly could into the offseason.”
But it wasn’t long before the melancholy
morphed into motivation. And George had his
wife to thank for that.
A standout forward at Western Kentucky,
Chastity Gooch righted her husband’s men-
tality almost instantly. She herself had expe-
rienced injuries throughout her playing days,
but finished her senior season as the Confer-
ence USA Player of the Year.
Fant didn’t want to say what she said to
him directly. Might not have been safe for a
family paper. But it is safe to say her words
resonated with George and got him back on
the right path _ even if he had to use crutches
to navigate it.
“(The injury) wasn’t for nothing. I didn’t
lose anything,” Fant said. “I haven’t lost con-
fidence in myself at all. I still want to be one
of the best in the game.”
Of course, much has changed in the past
12 months since that torn ACL. Last season,
the Seahawks acquired Pro Bowl left tackle
Duane Brown, who would most certainly
keep Fant on the sideline if healthy.
The team has been insistent on keeping
Fant at left tackle since coming back to prac-
tice, although Carroll said an eventual move
to the right side is possible. The main thing
right now is trying to ease him back into
competition.
“We don’t even want to try to evaluate
him for a couple more weeks,” said Carroll,
adding that he still sees Fant as “a heck of a
prospect. “Just let him keep getting back and
showing what he can do right now.”
There wasn’t much talk about Fant after
the game Thursday night, but he did play
against the Colts. And even though it isn’t
time to evaluate him yet, that doesn’t mean
he can’t feel a great sense of achievement.
It had been nearly a year since he had
played in front of tens of thousands of peo-
ple, and shortly after taking the field, he took
to Twitter to express himself.
“So happy to step back on CenturyLink
Field last night,” Fant said. “So many emo-
tions last night and it’s been a long road
back.”
With injuries to fellow tackles Jamarco
Jones and Isaiah Battle on Thursday, Fant’s
chances to impact the Seahawks this year
grew. The man who “still wants to be one of
the best in the game,” as he said, might get to
help his team sooner than expected.
At this point, the hype has disappeared.
Now is Fant’s chance to show that he hasn’t.