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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, MARcH 12, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Former ace
Hernandez upset
over Mariners’
opening day plan
PEORIA, Ariz. — Felix Her-
nandez doesn’t think he could
have changed the mind of Seat-
tle Mariners manager Scott Ser-
vais about opening day, even by
pitching well this spring.
With his ERA approaching
16, it’s a moot point.
King Felix is royally agitated
anyway.
Hernandez was tagged for
seven runs in three-plus innings
against the Cleveland Indians
on Sunday, raising his spring
ERA to 15.95 a day after Ser-
vais announced that Marco Gon-
zales would start Seattle’s season
opener against Oakland in Tokyo
on March 20.
Seattle’s decision ends Her-
nandez’s run of 10 consecutive
opening day starts.
Hernandez spoke publicly
after the game for the first time
since Servais’ announcement.
Asked if he was upset, Hernandez
said simply, “Yeah,” but declined
to elaborate on his emotions.
“I knew it was going to hap-
pen,” he added.
Hernandez was also asked if
he could have convinced Servais
to give him the opening day nod
with a better spring camp.
“No,” he said while shaking
his head.
The 32-year-old has been los-
ing fastball velocity since his
mid-20s and been mostly hob-
bled and ineffective since turn-
ing 30.
The 2010 AL Cy Young
Award winner had a career-worst
5.55 ERA in 29 games last sea-
son and was briefly removed
from the rotation for the first time
in the majors. This is his final sea-
son of a $175 million, seven-year
contract.
The Mariners have asked Her-
nandez to use his curveball more
this spring, especially early in
counts, because data suggests it’s
the right-hander’s most effective
pitch. Hernandez used the break-
ing ball often during a 1-2-3 first
inning but got away from it as the
game wore on.
“He needs to continue to work
that in,” Servais said. “It’s one of
his best pitches. Didn’t go to it
today.”
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ASTORIA MIDDLE SCHOOL
TEAMS FIND SUCCESS AT STATE
Photos by Keely Hjerleid-Bohannon
Astoria’s fifth-grade basketball team — the Bandits — took third place.
The Daily Astorian
A
Mariners’ Seager
needs surgery on left
hand, out for April
PEORIA, Ariz. — Seattle
Mariners third baseman Kyle
Seager needs surgery on his left
hand and will be out at least
through April.
Manager Scott Servais said
Seager will have surgery today
to repair the tendon of his middle
finger. Seager had an MRI over
the weekend that revealed the
extent of the injury, which is just
above the knuckle.
This will be Seager’s first
time ever on the injured list. It’s
unclear how long he will be out.
Seager is coming off the worst
season of his career in 2018,
when he hit .221. He changed
his offseason training regimen
and arrived at spring training
slimmed down and in better con-
dition. He was hitting .318 in nine
spring training games.
With Seager out, the Mariners
are likely to move Ryon Healy to
third base. Healy played in only
two games at third base last sea-
son with Seattle, but made 103
starts at third during the 2016 and
2017 seasons with Oakland.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY
Baseball — Knappa at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Softball — Gladstone at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Sea-
side at Molalla, 4:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Baseball — Astoria at Gladstone, 5 p.m.;
Naselle at Knappa, 4 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Clatskanie, 4:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Baseball — North Marion at Astoria, 5 p.m.;
Nestucca at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Gladstone, 5 p.m.;
Nestucca at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Track — Astoria at Cotton Invitational, 4:30
p.m.; Seaside at Grant, 4:30 p.m.
ABOVE: The seventh-grade Astoria Anglers won three games in the Silver bracket.
BELOW: Astoria’s team in the eighth-grade Silver bracket went 3-1.
storia Middle School had three
teams compete in the seventh
annual state basketball tournament
for Oregon middle schools, March 8-10
in Bend, Redmond and Sisters.
Astoria’s fifth-grade team — the
Bandits — took third place in the Silver
bracket.
They played their first game Friday
night in Sisters, defeating the Molalla
Indians 33-27.
Their lone loss came early Saturday
morning, coming up short against even-
tual champion Pleasant Hill, 38-36.
The Bandits rebounded with a 43-27
win Saturday afternoon over Tigard,
then won Sunday’s third-place game
against West Linn, 40-36.
At the seventh-grade level, the
Astoria Anglers went 3-1 in the Silver
bracket.
The team opened with a 55-42 win
Friday over Sherwood, then played a
single game Saturday, dropping a 37-20
decision to the Molalla Indians.
The Anglers closed the tournament
by winning a pair of Sunday nail-bit-
ers, 52-50 over Tualatin, and 47-46 over
Sherwood.
In the eighth-grade Silver bracket, the
Astoria team also went 3-1.
The eventual champion Woodburn
Bulldogs topped Astoria 78-56 in a
9:15 a.m. Saturday opener in Redmond,
before the Astorians bounced back with
a 62-39 win over the Dayton Pirates.
Astoria closed the day with a 54-53 vic-
tory over Clackamas.
In Sunday’s consolation action, Asto-
ria took down Summit in a high-scoring
game, 69-54.
Gonzaga, Virginia, UNC remain 1-2-3 atop new AP Top 25 poll
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Gonzaga, Virginia and
North Carolina remain 1-2-3 atop an other-
wise reshuffled top 10 in the latest AP Top
25 poll.
The Zags sit on top for a third straight
week, earning 41 of 64 first-place votes on
Monday. And the Cavaliers also stayed put
behind Gonzaga for a third straight week,
claiming the remaining 23 first-place votes.
Gonzaga (29-2) didn’t play last week
after wrapping up its regular-season sched-
ule on March 2. The Zags blew out Pepper-
dine on Monday night to start play in the
West Coast Conference Tournament. Vir-
ginia (28-2) and UNC (26-5) finished tied
atop the Atlantic Coast Conference regu-
lar-season standings with wins Saturday.
Kentucky was fourth, followed by Duke
— which lost for a second time to the rival
Tar Heels without freshman star Zion Wil-
liamson, though coach Mike Krzyzewski
has said the 6-foot-7, 285-pound William-
son could be ready for this week’s ACC
Tournament.
Michigan State, Texas Tech, Tennessee,
LSU and Michigan rounded out the top 10.
Preseason No. 1 Kansas fell to No. 17
for its lowest ranking since the 2013-14
season, which followed last week’s end
of the Jayhawks’ 14-year run of winning
at least a share of the Big 12 regular-sea-
son title.
No. 23 Marquette had the biggest fall of
the week, sliding seven spots after closing
the regular season on a four-game losing
streak. Kansas and No. 24 Cincinnati each
fell four spots.
Auburn is the only addition at No. 22,
returning for the first time since mid-Jan-
uary and after peaking at No. 7 in Decem-
ber. UCF slid out from its No. 25 ranking
in the last poll.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Gonzaga coach Mark Few.