SPORTS
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015
Sports shorts
&ardiQals ¿ re
scouting director
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The
St. Louis Cardinals said
Thursday
they have
¿ red
scouting
director
Chris
Correa,
the ¿ rst known fallout from
the hacking scandal that
has resulted in a federal
investigation into whether
the team illegally got inside
the player personnel database
of the Houston Astros.
The Cardinals declined to
say why Correa was ¿ red but
con¿ rmed he¶d been let go
a day earlier after a team-
imposed leave of absence.
The team is investigating the
alleged hacking, as is the FBI.
³At this time, it¶s still an
ongoing investigation and
there¶s really nothing more
I can add at this point,”
general manager John
Mozeliak said before a game
against San Diego.
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1B
NBA
Portland
Trail
Blazers’
Damian
Lillard (0)
gestures
during
an NBA
basket-
ball game
against
the Dallas
Mavericks
Saturday,
Feb. 7,
2015, in
Dallas.
Trail Blazers extend Lillard
Guard gets
maximum value
By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Associated Press
When Damian Lillard
agreed to a new maximum
contract extension with the
Trail Blazers on Thursday, it
may have been the beginning
AP Photo/Tony
Gutierrez
of a changing of the guard in
Portland.
Lillard agreed to terms on a
¿ ve-year contract worth more
than $120 million, a person
with knowledge of the negotia-
tions told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition
of anonymity because the deal
has not been announced.
“Thank you so much to (at)
PaulGAllen and the (at)trail-
blazers organization,” Lillard
tweeted after the news broke.
“I¶ll be in (hashtag)RipCity 6
more years! Oakland to Ogden
to Oregon..TO STAY.”
The full value of the contract
could wind up ranging between
$125 million and $129 million
and won¶t be determined until
the salary cap is established.
That makes it the richest
contract in league history for a
guard.
See BLAZERS/2B
IRRIGON
Aldridge reportedly
meets with Heat
MIAMI (AP) — A person
with knowledge of the
negotiations says LaMarcus
Aldridge and the Miami
Heat have spoken about
his future plans, and that a
formal conversation was
scheduled for
FACES Thursday night.
The person
says Heat
President
Pat Riley is
to meet with
Aldridge in Los
Angeles. The
Aldridge
person spoke
to The Associated Press
on condition of anonymity
because neither side have
publicly announced the
meeting.
Riley traveled to Los
Angeles on Thursday.
The 6-foot-11 power
forward has spent his ¿ rst
nine NBA seasons with the
Portland Trail Blazers, and
averaged a career-best 23.4
points per game this past
season.
The Heat also announced
a $20 million, one-year
deal with free agent guard
Dwayne Wade.
“I’ll be on the
court next year.“
— Tim Duncan
San Antonio Spurs for-
ward to a San Antonio
newspaper on Thurs-
day. There was spec-
ulation Duncan, 39,
would retire after aver-
aging 13.9 points, 3.0
assists and 2.0 blocks a
game last season. Dun-
can accompanied team
offi cials to Los Angeles
on Wednesday to meet
with free agent LaMar-
cus Aldridge.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1905 — Marvin Hart
wins the vacant world heavy-
weight title with a 12th-round
knockout of Jack Root in the
¿ nal bout of an elimination
tournament in Reno, Nev.
James Jeffries, who refereed
the bout, had retired in March,
leaving the title vacant.
1966 — Atlanta pitcher
Tony Cloninger becomes the
¿ rst National League player
to hit two grand slams in one
game. He adds a single for
nine RBIs in a 17-3 triumph
over San Francisco.
2004 — Maria Shara-
pova, 17, wins her ¿ rst
Grand Slam title and instant
celebrity by beating Serena
Williams 6-1, 6-4.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pendleton 11-12 All Stars celebrate after beating Hermiston for the District 3 championship on Thursday in Irrigon. The lead see-sawed
back and forth until Pendleton fi nally won in extra innings.
Pendleton keeps the faith
Softball all stars turn belief into results,
down Hermiston for District 3 title
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
(ven when things weren¶t going
their way, the Pendleton all-stars
never stopped believing in each
other.
That more than anything else,
the team said, allowed them to pull
out Thursday¶s 10-9 seven-inning
win over Hermiston in the League
District 3 softball tournament
championship.
It was the ¿ fth straight win
for the 11-12-year-olds after
losing their tournament opener on
Saturday, and they trailed 7-5 going
into the bottom of the sixth inning.
“It¶s ¿ tting. Again, we had to
battle and ¿ ght hard,” said manager
Ron Murphy. “We just kept going
and kept going, and it just kind of
shows our whole attitude for every
single girl.
“From Day 1 we¶ve preached
team, from the ¿ rst day we started
practice. And that¶s been our calling
card, we¶ve been a good team.”
Pendleton pieced together its
second four-run rally of the game in
the sixth, and Jordan Jones started
things with a hard line drive single
before Hermiston pitcher Brecella
Nash got a strikeout for the ¿ rst out
of the inning. A passed ball allowed
Jones to move to second, and a
throwing error on Jordyn Murphy¶s
grounder allowed Jones to score.
Katie Kline then put down a
See LITTLE LEAGUE/2B
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pendleton 11-12 Allstars catcher Natalie Neveau makes the tag
against a Hermiston runner Thursday in Irrigon.
MLB
Kazmir helps Athletics shut out Mariners
By MICHAEL WAGAMAN
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Scott Kazmir pitched
eight sparkling innings, Marcus Semien homered
for the ¿ rst time in nearly two months, and the
Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0
on Thursday night.
Josh Phegley had a two-run single and Mark
Canha added an RBI triple for the A¶s, who ended
a ¿ ve-game losing streak against the Mariners.
Kazmir (5-5) retired 21 of his ¿ rst 22 batters,
allowing only a one-out double to Franklin Guti-
errez on a 1-2 pitch in the ¿ fth. Gutierrez also
singled leading off the eighth but was erased on
a double play.
A possible trade deadline target this month,
Kazmir struck out seven and hit a batter while
improving to 5-0 in seven starts against the AL West
this season. (dward Mujica ¿ nished the two-hitter.
Seattle was coming off consecutive shutouts
against San Diego and took an 18-inning score-
less streak into the series opener against Oakland.
The A¶s stopped that roll after Mariners starter
Roenis (lias (4-6) retired the ¿ rst two batters.
Ben Zobrist drew a two-out walk, and Billy
Butler and Josh Phegley followed with back-to-
back doubles to give Oakland an early lead.
Seattle’s
Kyle Sea-
ger walks
to the
dugout
after strik-
ing out
against
Oakland
pitcher
Scott
Kazmir
Thurs-
day in
Oakland,
Calif.
AP Photo/
Jeff Chiu
Semien¶s seventh homer, a two-out solo shot
in the ¿ fth, made it 3-0. It ended a career-high
45-game homerless stretch for the shortstop.
It was more than enough support for Kazmir,
who turned in one of his most dominant perfor-
mances this season. He needed only 31 pitches
to record the ¿ rst nine outs, struck out each of
Seattle¶s ¿ rst four hitters at least once and fanned
slugger Nelson Cruz twice.
Elias gave up three hits in six innings. He
struck out seven and walked one.
TRAINER¶S ROOM
Mariners: SS Chris Taylor was called up
from Triple-A Tacoma and placed in the starting
lineup. Taylor batted ninth and went 0 for 2.
... INF Willie Bloomquist was designated for
assignment. Bloomquist played in 35 games and
was hitting just .159 with four RBIs.
Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray rejoined the
ballclub after being hospitalized for two days
while being treated for salmonella. The team
has still not determined when Gray will make
his next start. ... Oakland acquired reliever Cody
Martin from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for
international slot money. Martin was assigned to
Triple-A Nashville. To make room on the 40-man
roster, 1B Nate Freiman was designated for
assignment.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP J.A. Happ (3-5) gets the ball
on Friday night in the second game of the four-
game series. He is winless in his previous four
starts but hasn¶t gotten much run support.
Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (4-7) gets the
start for Oakland. He has a 1.98 ERA when
pitching on four days¶ rest this season.