Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
NBC going
live for
Olympics,
mostly
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A swimmer
with a heart-wrenching history
is about to race at the Olympics,
so of course NBC will ¿rst air
a slickly produced feature full
of teary interviews and stirring
music.
Not next year. Not enough
time.
With the 2016 Summer
Games taking place in Rio de
Janeiro, which is just an hour
ahead of the United States’
Eastern time zone, the network
can broadcast many high-pro-
¿le events live in prime time.
Make no mistake, NBC exec-
utives are thrilled about that
prospect, but it means tweaking
a formula that has worked so
well in recent Olympics.
“People still react to
live,” NBC Sports Group
Chairman Mark Lazarus said
Wednesday, a year before the
start of the Rio Games. “While
we’ve been very successful in
delayed coverage because the
Olympics are so unique, live
is still better.”
There will be plenty of
those trademark features,
though some may need to
appear at other times of day or
online instead of on the center-
piece prime-time telecasts.
It will be “less that
polished presentation the
time delay affords you,”
said executive producer Jim
Bell, “and more rock and roll
sports event.”
MARINERS:
8th walk-off
loss of season
Continued from 1B
Colorado, which managed
Must two hits through the ¿rst
¿ve innings, rallied to tie it in
the sixth on Gonzalez’s 22nd
home run, which traveled an
estimated 465 feet.
“I looked at (bench coach
Tom Runnells) after CarGo’s
homer and said, ‘These guys
are killing us 3-3.’ That’s
what it felt like,” Rockies
manager Walt Weiss said.
“Walker was in complete
control of the game and he
was pretty ¿lthy. To get three
runs with one swing, that was
pretty huge.”
HIT PARADE
Gutierrez ¿nished with
three hits for the ¿rst time
since doing it at Detroit on
Sept. 18, 2013.
WALK-OFF MAD
The Mariners suffered
their eighth walk-off loss of
the season. Since the begin-
ning of the 2010 season they
have suffered 63 walk-off
losses, which is most in the
major leagues.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Hisashi
Iwakuma (2-2, 4.47) will
open a three-game series
at home against Texas on
Friday. Iwakuma tossed
8 2-3 innings of one-run
ball against Minnesota on
Sunday.
BRIEFLY
Echo Hills to host
Golf ‘Fore’ Life
ECHO — Pregnancy
Care Services of Pendleton
and Hermiston announced
that its Golf ‘Fore’ Life
Tournament and BBQ
Dinner will be held on
Aug. 29 at Echo Hills Golf
Course.
The tournament is a four
person scramble format that
will span nine holes at the
course.
Registration for the
tournament or the dinner
needs to be completed
by Aug. 13 and can be
done one of two ways.
You can sign up online at
pregnancycareservices.com
or mail your registration to
the PCS of¿ces at 311 SE
Dorion Ave., Pendleton, OR,
97801.
Sign in for the
tournament will start at 1
p.m. on the 29th, with a
shotgun start at 2 p.m.
For more information you
can contact the PCS of¿ces
at (541) 276-5757.
— East Oregonian
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Golf
A jug in hand, Zach Johnson gets back to work
Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio — Jordan Spieth
gets to play with Zach Johnson one
tournament too late.
When last seen on the golf
course, Spieth missed out on a
three-man playoff at the British
Open that ended his bid for a
Grand Slam. He came back out
and watched from the steps of the
Royal & Ancient clubhouse at St.
Andrews as Johnson, a good friend,
won the claret jug.
The only players to win majors
this year will be paired Thursday
when the Bridgestone Invitational
begins at Firestone.
The World Golf Championship
event offers big money, free FedEx
Cup points and for some of the 77
players in the ¿eld, a chance to
make sure their games are in shape
for the PGA Championship the
following week in Wisconsin.
Spieth and Johnson are coming
off three-week breaks, both taking
time off to celebrate after getting
back from St. Andrews.
Johnson hasn’t let the silver
claret jug out of his sight, though
golf’s oldest trophy has been put to
good use.
“We’ve had wine in there. We’ve
had champagne in there, obviously
some beer in there and that kind
of stuff,” he said. “My kids drank
water out of it. They thought that
was pretty cool. I did have a corn
on the cob in it.”
Corn on the cob? Indeed, he
posted a photo on Twitter over the
weekend of a corn cob in the jug as
he pretends to take a bite. He ¿gured
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
Zach Johnson chips to the 16th green during the practice round of
the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country
Club, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015, in Akron, Ohio.
it was only ¿tting since Johnson
still sees himself as a regular guy
from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“I did have a corn on the cob in
it. I did not eat the corn on the cob
out of it,” Johnson said Tuesday.
“It was just a picture because I am
from the state of Iowa. ... I thought
it would be a cool little picture, and
I’m telling you, the Iowa folk, the
Midwest folk in general, thought it
was pretty awesome.”
Spieth’s celebration was more
personal. He turned 22 last week.
It’s a peculiar friendship if it
were based strictly on age. John-
son’s wife reminded him recently
that at 39, the two-time major
champion is nearly old enough
to be Spieth’s father. They spent
time together late in 2013 during
Spieth’s rookie season and have a
few friends in the same circle that
keep them connected.
Spieth surprised Johnson by
living up to his word even as his
fame grew. He had told Johnson
after winning the Masters that he
would take part in his charity event
ahead of the John Deere Classic.
And then he won the U.S. Open
that put him halfway home to the
Grand Slam. Spieth still showed up
at the charity event, and the John
Deere Classic, which he won for
his fourth title this year.
“What he did, and honoring his
commitment, is beyond classy and
just goes to show once again how
much he truly gets it,” Johnson
said. “He didn’t have to do it, but
maybe he thought it was in his best
interests, too.”
The Bridgestone Invitational
will be missing its defending
champion for the ¿rst time since
2008 when Tiger Woods was recu-
perating from knee surgery. Rory
McIlroy won last year during his
summer trifecta — British Open,
Bridgestone, PGA Championship
— but he still is recovering from
an ankle injury he suffered playing
soccer in Northern Ireland and has
not determined if he can even play
at Whistling Straits next week.
Woods won’t be around either,
missing for the ¿rst time because he
wasn’t eligible. The ¿eld is for the
top 50 in the world (Woods is No.
262), members of the last Ryder
Cup team (he wasn’t on it) and
winners of top events from tours
around the world. Woods hasn’t
won in two years dating to his
eighth career victory at Firestone.
“You win the bloody tournament
eight times, you probably should ...
oh man, it’s tough,” Day said about
Woods’ absence. “It’s something
that we have to earn our spots in
these tournaments. Unfortunately,
right now he’s going through a
spell where he’s not playing that
great. For him, he never had to
think about it because he was No.
1 for so long, it was just part of his
schedule.
“Someday I’m going to go
through the exact same thing where
I have to somehow earn my way
back into this tournament, but I’m
hoping it’s a long way away from
now.”
SEAHAWKS: King, Dobbs also to get work in lineman rotation
Continued from 1B
Jones said. “… That’s very
evident to see in the short
time that he’s been here.
He’s a great addition to the
group. Quiet guy but one of
those quiet, silent assassins
kind of guys.”
The Seahawks haven’t
been particularly effective
in drafting interior defen-
sive linemen under Carroll
and general manager John
Schneider. Instead, they’ve
found success with veteran
free agents like McDaniel,
Kevin Williams, Cliff Avril
and Michael Bennett in
recent seasons at marginal
cost. Rubin could be the next
in that line of key free agent
acquisitions for Seattle.
Rubin will be the ¿rst in
line to replace McDaniel.
David King and Demarcus
Dobbs will also get a chance
to work into the rotation.
“My role is just to come
here and try and ball out and
make plays, stop the run and
get a couple sacks if I can,”
Rubin said.
Mebane, 30, has been one
of the most consistent pieces
of Seattle’s defenses over
the last eight seasons. He
was putting together one of
the best years of his career in
2014 when a torn hamstring
suffered in November ended
his season. Mebane was hurt
trying to chase down a wide
receiver screen in a victory
over the New York Giants.
Mebane said he felt like
he was back to 100-percent
in April and is in some of the
best shape of his career.
“Really now it’s just the
mental part of it,” Mebane
said. “Physically I feel great.
I feel like I’m about 25, 24
(years old).”
Mebane will resume his
role as the team’s starting nose
tackle with Rubin setting up
alongside in the team’s base
defense. However, Carroll
said they will move the pair
around to best maximize their
abilities together.
“I think Brandon is prob-
ably in the best shape of his
life so he’s ready to play nose
tackle and Rubin will play
three-technique for the most
part. But both those guys
could Àip,” Carroll said.
“There will be times when
we might want to match up
and we’ll do different things.
We’ll uncover the versatility
as we go through camp and
the early season.”
SWIMMING: Franklin struggling as meet reaches halfway point
Continued from 1B
She rallied from fourth
after the ¿rst two laps to
touch ¿rst in 1 minute, 55.16
seconds for her second gold
medal of the championships.
She already won the 1,500
free, lowering her own world
record in the preliminaries
and ¿nal.
Pellegrini
of
Italy
¿nished second in 1:55.32,
and Franklin was third in
1:55.49.
“I knew it was going to
be a really competitive ¿eld
and that was something that
was really special for me,”
Ledecky said. “It was an
honor to be in a heat like
that.”
Femke Heemskerk of
the Netherlands took it out
strongly, dipping under
world-record pace on the
opening lap. She was still in
front through the third lap
before fading to eighth.
Franklin was second and
Ledecky fourth halfway
through the most anticipated
women’s race in Kazan.
Ledecky moved up to second
behind Heemskerk on the
third lap while Franklin
dropped to third.
“After racing with Katie
for the last couple of years,
I know her last 25 is always
just ridiculous and that’s
how Katie is too,” Franklin
said. “I knew she was going
to come back really strong.”
Two years ago in Barce-
lona, Ledecky won four
golds and set two world
records. The recent high
school graduate shows no
signs of slowing down in
Kazan, where she still has
the 400 and 800 freestyles
remaining.
“I never really feel
pressure,” said Ledecky,
who burst onto the world
stage with a gold in the 800
free at the 2012 Olympics.
“Going into London I didn’t
and since then I’ve just
tried to maintain that same
mentality.”
Better known as a
distance specialist, Ledecky
was competing in the 200
free for the ¿rst time at the
worlds.
“I had plenty of training
to do all of these races and
I knew that I could trust in
my training,” Ledecky said.
“That con¿dence has fueled
my swims this week.”
Ledecky’s successes have
been the lone bright spot
for the U.S. team halfway
through the meet in Kazan.
Franklin picked up
her second bronze medal,
having helped the U.S. ¿nish
third in the 4x100 free relay
Sunday. She was ¿fth in the
100 backstroke. She recently
turned professional after
swimming in college for two
years, and has yet to regain
the form that carried her to a
record six gold medals two
years ago at the worlds.
Sun Yang of China rallied
to take the lead on the next-
to-last lap and won the 800
free in 7:39.96 to go with
his earlier victory in the 400
free.
Gregorio Paltrinieri of
Italy ¿nished second in
7:40.81 after leading for six
laps until he was passed late
by Sun, who earned his third
consecutive world title.
Mack
Horton
of
Australia, who led the ¿rst
eight laps, settled for third at
7:44.02.
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary
overtook Chad Le Clos to
win the 200 butterÀy as the
oldest man in the ¿nal at age
29.
Cseh trailed Le Clos after
the ¿rst two laps before
passing the South African
midway through the third
lap. He hung on and touched
¿rst in 1:53.48.
Defending
champion
Le Clos settled for silver in
1:53.68, and Jan Switkowski
of Poland earned bronze in
1:54.10.
“I tried to take it out
really hard. I wanted to see
if I could scare them off the
¿rst 100 but it didn’t work
out,” Le Clos said.
It was Cseh’s ¿rst gold
at the worlds since 2005 in
Montreal, where he won
the 400 individual medley.
He has reunited with his
childhood coach ahead of
next year’s Rio de Janeiro
Olympics.
“I know I need to keep
working on the race,” Cseh
said. “My last 20 was a
little bit hard but it was an
enjoyable race and I’m very
happy.”
Michael Phelps, the
world-record holder, was
forced to miss the world
meet as part of his suspen-
sion by USA Swimming
after a second drunk-driving
arrest. He will be competing
at U.S. nationals in Texas
this week.
Adam Peaty of Britain
earned his second individual
gold medal with a victory
in the 50 breaststroke, a
non-Olympic event. He set
the world record in the semi-
¿nals Tuesday and came
back to win in 26.51.
Cameron van der Burgh
of South Africa ¿nished
second in 26.66. Kevin
Cordes of the United States
was third in 26.86.
Peaty and van der Burgh
also ¿nished 1-2 in the 100
breaststroke.
Vladimir
Morozov
of Russia, a gold-medal
favorite in the 100 free, was
disTuali¿ed for a false start
after winning his semi¿nal
heat. He sat on the lane line
in shock at the announce-
ment.
“When I jumped, I knew
it was a false start,” he said.
“The really painful thing was
that I gave it everything and
got that kind of result, 48.1,
pretty much a gold medal. I
had the best chance over that
distance.”
Britain’s Chris Walk-
er-Hebborn, Peaty, Siobhan
O’Connor and Fran Halsall
won the mixed relay in
3:41.71, a world record in
the new event.
The United States was
second and Germany third.
Second Round
Sam Groth, Australia, def. Viktor Troicki
(9), Serbia, 6-3, 6-4.
Feliciano Lopez (7), Spain, def. Lleyton
Hewitt, Australia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Steve Johnson, United States, def. Ber-
nard Tomic (11), Australia, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2.
John Isner (8), United States, def. Victor
Estrella Burgos, Dominican Republic, 6-3,
7-6 (5).
Grigor Dimitrov (6), Bulgaria, def. Guido
Pella, Argentina, 7-6 (1), 6-4.
Alexander Zverev, Germany, def. Kevin
Anderson (5), South Africa, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Leonardo Mayer (16), Argentina, def. Blaz
Rola, Slovenia, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 6-4.
Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russia, def. Andy
Murray (1), Britain, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, def. Pablo
Cuevas (14), Uruguay, 6-3, 6-3.
Women
Second Round
Sam Stosur (2), Australia, def. Irina
Falconi, United States, 6-1, 7-5.
Louisa Chirico, United States, def. Alize
Cornet (5), France, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
Monica Niculescu, Romania, def. Lauren
Davis, United States, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Irina-Camelia Begu (6), Romania, def.
Polona Hercog, Slovenia, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles
Men
First Round
Ivan Dodig, Croatia, and Marcelo Melo
(2), Brazil vs. Raven Klaasen, South
Africa, and Rajeev Ram, United States,
Postponed
Juan Sebastian Cabal, Colombia, and
Robert Farah, Colombia, def. Austin Kra-
jicek, United States, and Nicholas Monroe,
United States, 7-6 (23), 6-3.
Marcin Matkowski, Poland, and Nenad
Zimonjic (4), Serbia, def. Sam Groth and
Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 7-5, 6-4.
Feliciano Lopez, Spain, and Max Mirnyi,
Belarus, def. Steve Johnson, United
States, and Sam Querrey, United States,
6-4, 7-6 (9).
Women
First Round
Sanaz Marand and Taylor Townsend, Unit-
ed States, def. Hsu Chieh-yu, Taiwan, and
Hiroko Kuwata, Japan, 7-5, 5-7, 10-5.
Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, and Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova (1), Russia, def. Alize
Cornet, France, and Magda Linette,
Poland, 7-5, 6-3.
Irina Falconi, United States, and Monica
Niculescu, Romania, def. An-Sophie
Mestach, Belgium, and Alison Van Uyt-
vanck, Belgium, 6-1, 6-2.
Lara Arruabarrena, Spain, and Andreja
Klepac (3), Slovenia, def. Shuko Aoyama
and Eri Hozumi, Japan, 6-3, 6-1.
SCOREBOARD
Baseball
MLB
American League
East Division
W
L Pct GB
New York
60 46 .566 —
Toronto
57 52 .523 4½
Baltimore
55 52 .514 5½
Tampa Bay
54 55 .495 7½
Boston
48 60 .444 13
Central Division
W
L Pct GB
Kansas City
63 43 .594 —
Minnesota
54 53 .505 9½
Detroit
52 55 .486 11½
Chicago
51 55 .481 12
Cleveland
49 58 .458 14½
West Division
W
L Pct GB
Houston
60 49 .550 —
Los Angeles
57 50 .533
2
Texas
54 53 .505
5
Seattle
50 59 .459 10
Oakland
48 61 .440 12
———
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago White Sox 6, Tampa Bay 5, 10
innings
Colorado 7, Seattle 5, 11 innings
Baltimore 7, Oakland 3, 10 innings
L.A. Angels 4, Cleveland 3
Boston 2, N.Y. Yankees 1
Toronto 9, Minnesota 7
Detroit 2, Kansas City 1
Texas 4, Houston 3
Today’s Games
Kansas City (Ventura 6-7) at Detroit (An.
Sanchez 10-9), 10:08 a.m.
Boston (E.Rodriguez 6-3) at N.Y. Yankees
(Sabathia 4-8), 4:05 p.m.
Minnesota (Gibson 8-8) at Toronto (Bueh-
rle 11-5), 4:07 p.m.
Houston (Feldman 4-5) at Oakland
(Brooks 1-0), 7:05 p.m.
Basketball
National League
East Division
New York
Washington
Atlanta
Miami
Philadelphia
Central Division
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
West Division
W
58
55
48
43
42
L
50
51
60
65
66
Pct GB
.537 —
.519
2
.444 10
.398 15
.389 16
W
68
62
58
48
46
L
39
44
48
57
63
Pct GB
.636 —
.585 5½
.547 9½
.457 19
.422 23
W
L Pct GB
Los Angeles
61 46 .570 —
San Francisco
59 48 .551
2
Arizona
52 54 .491 8½
San Diego
52 56 .481 9½
Colorado
45 61 .425 15½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Colorado 7, Seattle 5, 11 innings
Arizona 11, Washington 4
Pittsburgh 7, Chicago Cubs 5
L.A. Dodgers 4, Philadelphia 3
N.Y. Mets 8, Miami 6
San Francisco 6, Atlanta 1
St. Louis 4, Cincinnati 3, 13 innings
Milwaukee 8, San Diego 5
Today’s Games
St. Louis (Wacha 12-4) at Cincinnati
(Lorenzen 3-6), 9:35 a.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Greinke 10-2) at Philadel-
phia (D.Buchanan 2-5), 10:05 a.m.
San Diego (Despaigne 5-7) at Milwaukee
(Garza 5-12), 11:10 a.m.
Arizona (Hellickson 7-7) at Washington
(J.Ross 2-3), 1:05 p.m.
Miami (Urena 1-5) at Atlanta (Wisler 5-2),
4:10 p.m.
San Francisco (Heston 11-5) at Chicago
Cubs (Hammel 6-5), 5:05 p.m.
WNBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L Pct GB
New York
13
6 .684 —
Washington
12
7 .632
1
Chicago
13
8 .619
1
Indiana
11
9 .550 2½
Connecticut
10
9 .526
3
Atlanta
7 13 .350 6½
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W
L Pct GB
Minnesota
15
5 .750 —
Phoenix
13
7 .650
2
Tulsa
10 11 .476 5½
Los Angeles
6 14 .300
9
San Antonio
6 16 .273 10
Seattle
5 16 .238 10½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Washington 66, San Antonio 63
Today’s Games
Tulsa at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Soccer
MLS
Wednesday’s Games
Montreal 1, New York 1, tie
Toronto FC 4, Orlando City 1
Today’s Games
Chicago at Portland, 8 p.m.
Tennis
Citi Open results
Wednesday
At William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
Washington
Purse: Men, $1.51 million (WT500);
Women, $250,000 (Intl.)
Surface: Hard-Outdoor
Singles
Men
WTA
Bank of the West Classic
A U.S. Open Series event
Wednesday
At The Taube Family Tennis Center
Stanford, Calif.
Purse: $665,900 (Premier)
Surface: Hard-Outdoor
Singles
Second Round
Mona Barthel, Germany, def. Andrea
Petkovic (6), Germany, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Alison Riske, United States, def. Carla
Suarez Navarro (3), Spain, 6-4, 6-4.
Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia, def. Madison
Keys (7), United States, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles
First Round
Chan Chin-wei, Taiwan, and Darija Jurak,
Croatia, def. Vitalia Diatchenko, Russia,
and Anna Tatishvili, United States, 6-4, 7-5.
Mona Barthel, Germany, and Sabine
Lisicki, Germany, def. Raquel Kops-Jones,
United States, and Maria Sanchez (4),
United States, 6-3, 7-6 (2).