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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, June 16, 2016 MLB Rays beat Mariners on bases-loaded walk in 13th By DICK SCANLON The Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mike Montgomery walked Logan Morrison with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to bring in the winning run in the Tampa Bay Rays’ 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night. Logan Forsythe tripled with one out and scored the winning run after Mont- gomery hit pinch-hitter Tim Beckham with a pitch and walked pinch-hitter Taylor Motter. Matt Andriese (6-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings to get the win in his irst relief appearance of the season. Montgomery (2-3) lost for the second straight night. Nelson Cruz’s 16th home run followed a leadoff single by Robinson Cano in the fourth inning, giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead against Rays starter Drew Smyly. It was Cruz’s ifth homer in nine games. Smyly struck out a career- Seattle Tampa Bay 2 3 high 12 in 6 2/3 inning while giving up two runs on four hits. After giving up the home run to Cruz, the left-hander did not give up another hit and struck out six of the 11 batters he faced. Corey Dickerson drove in the Rays’ irst two runs with a sacriice ly in the fourth and CNFR: T-Wolves get rest day Continued from 1B performance. He trailed only JD Struxness of NW Oklahoma State, who also leads the aggre- gate standings with 13.9 on three heads while Parke sits in seventh with 25.0 on three. Also going in tie-down roping on Wednesday was Jordan Tye and he inished his round in just over 13 seconds (13.3) for 10th in the performance. After three rounds, Tye currently sits in sixth place in the aggregate standings with an average of 46.3, and trails irst-place Lane Santos-Karney of Feather with a 27.2 average. Also competing for the men’s team on Wednesday was Kenny Haworth in bareback and the team of Chase Hansen and Chaise Robbins in team roping. Haworth turned in a 64-point ride in the round for a 12th place inish and sits in 10th in aggre- gate, while Hansen/Robbins failed to record a time for the third day in a row. The men’s team now has 80 points overall and moved up to 32nd place in the team standings. The lone competitor on the women’s side for the Timber- wolves was Quincy Pendergrass in goat tying where she turned in a 9.2-second time to put at 26th in Round 3. The women’s team overall failed to garner any points on Wednesday and fell into second place in the team standings with 260 points, trailing irst place Gillette College which has 307 points. Jessica Lewis was the two-round leader in barrel racing with 28.23 in the aggregate, and Missouri Valley’s Cassidy Webster put the mark to beat after Wednesday at 42.50 on three. There have been several contestants that have come close to breaking arena records during this year’s competition and two of them got it done on Wednesday night. Team ropers out of the Southwest Region stopped the clock in 3.9 seconds. Casey Tew from Weatherford College did the heading for New Mexico Junior College’s Keely Bonnett. They now lead the third round, but two no-times in previous competitions will keep them from advancing to the inals. The third round will continue tonight. Blue Mountain does not have any competitors going in Thursday’s action, but will pick back up on Friday with Lauren Leyva in goat tying, Danyelle Williams in breakaway roping and barrel racing, Lewis and Emily Sorey in barrel racing, Tye and Parke in team roping, JT Garland in steer wrestling, and Tyler Potter in bareback. LITTLE LEAGUE: Volunteers needed to staff games in Milton-Freewater Continued from 1B The two-team 10/11 year-old bracket will start things off at 10 a.m. when Triangle takes on Hermiston in a best-of-three series with a berth in the state tournament in Baker City on the line. Games will be played at both Cannery Field and Yantis Park. Only the 11-12 and Junior age division teams will have a chance to advance past state and continue their seasons at the regional and national levels. Milton-Freewater Little League is still looking for volun- teers to help staff tournament games, which will run through Friday, June 24. Two concession workers, a ield crew, score- keepers, scoreboard operators and announcers are needed for each game. To get involved call Michelle Giguiere at 509-876-1796. ——— District 3 Softball Championships at Milton-Freewater, June 18-24 9/10 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) Saturday, June 18 Game 1: Grant County vs. Baker (Cannery Field), 12:30 p.m. Game 2: La Grande vs. Pilot Rock (Cannery Field), 3 p.m. Game 3: Pendleton vs. Wallowa (Cannery Field), 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19 Game 4: Milton-Freewater vs. Game 1 winner (Cannery Field), 5:30 p.m. Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner (Cannery Field), 3 p.m. Game 6: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser (Cannery Field), 12:30 p.m. Monday, June 20 Game 7: Game 1 loser vs. Game 5 loser (Yantis Park), 10 a.m. Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 4 loser (Yantis Park), 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 21 Game 9: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner (Yantis Park), 10 a.m. Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (Yantis Park), 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 22 Game 11: Game 9 loser vs. Game 10 winner (Yantis Park), 3 p.m. Thursday, June 23 Championship 1: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner (Yantis Park), 3 p.m. x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Baker City on July 23) 10/11 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) All game at Cannery Field Saturday, June 18 Triangle vs. Hermiston, 10 a.m. Sunday, June 19 Championship 1: Triangle vs. Hermiston, 10 a.m. x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Baker City on July 23) 11/12 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) All games at Yantis Park Saturday, June 18 Game 1: Pendleton vs. Columbia, 2 p.m. Game 2: La Grande vs. Hermiston, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19 Game 3: Grant County vs. Game 1 winner, 2 p.m. Game 4: Milton-Freewater vs. Game 2 winner, 4:30 p.m. Monday, June 20 Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m. Game 6: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 21 Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 3 p.m. Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 22 Game 9: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m. Thursday, June 23 Championship 1: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 6 p.m. Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Redmond on July 7) Juniors (Double elimination; x-if necessary) All games at Yantis Park Saturday, June 18 Game 1: Grant County vs. Hermiston, 11:30 a.m. Game 2: Milton-Freewater vs. Game 1 winner, 7 p.m. Sunday, June 19 Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:30 a.m. Championship 1: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 7 p.m. x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Tulelake, Calif.) District 3 Baseball Championships at Burns, July 24-July 1 Schedules subject to change 9/10 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) Friday, June 24 Game 1: Harney County B vs. Milton-Freewa- ter, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25 Game 2: Hermiston vs. Pendleton, 10:30 a.m. Game 3: Pilot Rock vs. La Grande, 1 p.m. Game 4: Wallowa vs. Harney County A, 3:30 p.m. Game 5: Baker vs. Game 1 winner, 6 p.m. Sunday, June 26 Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 27 Game 7: Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 10:30 a.m. Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 1 p.m. Game 9: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 3:30 p.m. Game 10: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 28 Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 loser, 1:30 p.m. Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 29 Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1 p.m. Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 30 Game 15: Game 14 winner vs. Game 13 loser, 4 p.m. Friday, July 1 Championship 1: Game 13 winner vs. Game 15 winner, TBA x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Gold Valley on July 8) 10/11 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) Saturday, June 25 Game 1: Baker vs. Grant County, 8 a.m. Game 2: La Grande vs. Pendleton, 8:30 a.m. Sunday, June 26 Game 3: Harney County vs. Game 1 winner, 1 p.m. Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3:30 p.m. Monday, June 27 Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 10:30 a.m. Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 28 Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 5 loser, TBA Wednesday, June 29 Championship 1: Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 6 p.m. x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Centennial on July 15) 11/12 year-olds (Double elimination; x-if necessary) Saturday, June 25 Game 1: La Grande vs. Hermiston, 11 a.m. Game 2: Pendleton vs. Wallowa Valley, 1:30 p.m. Game 3: Columbia vs. Milton-Freewater, 4 p.m. Game 4: Baker vs. Harney County, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 26 Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 11 a.m. Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 1:30 p.m. Game 7: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4 p.m. Game 8: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 27 Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 5 loser, 4 p.m. Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 28 Game 11: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6:30 p.m. Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 29 Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30 Championship 1: Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 6:30 p.m. x-Championship 2: TBA (champion advances to state tournament in Hollywood on July 15) a two-out single in the sixth that tied it, 2-2. Dickerson has 10 of his 31 RBIs in ive games against Seattle. Steve Pearce tripled and doubled and reached base four times for the Rays, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. Seattle starter Nathan Karns, who was acquired in a winter trade from the Rays, struck out eight in ive innings, giving up two runs on four hits. TRAINER’S ROOM Mariners: After leaving Tuesday night’s game in the fourth inning with a strained tendon in his right foot, RHP Taijuan Walker is hopeful of not skipping his turn in the rotation. “He feels like it’s not going to be a big issue, and he’s on some medicine to kind of calm it down,” reported manager Scott Servais. UP NEXT Mariners: LHP James Paxton (0-2) will make his fourth start of the season in the series inale. Rays: LHP Blake Snell is “deinitely excited, jittery” about facing the Mariners in his Tropicana Field debut. Snell, who got no decision in his major league debut in New York on April 23, was born and raised in the Seattle area. MOVING DAY The Rays designated LHP Dana Eveland for assignment and purchased the contract of OF Jaff Decker from Triple-A Durham. Cash didn’t rule out Eveland, 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA in 21 games, from eventually joining Durham. STRAILY: Has fond memories of Round-Up Continued from 1B Now almost three months deep into the season, Straily has found a home in Cincinnati and cemented his spot in the starting rotation. Statisti- cally speaking, Straily has been the team’s best pitcher as he leads the rotation in wins (4), ERA (3.15), strikeouts (64) and Wins Above Replacement (2.2). As he looks back on that whirl- wind of a week that featured three teams in ive days, Straily can only be grateful for where he is now. “It’s all about patience,” Straily said in a phone interview Tuesday before the Reds took on the Braves in Atlanta. “I believed in myself from the start because I knew I had a good spring. I was throwing strikes, my velocity was up and I was just fortunate that I landed with a team that gave me an opportunity.” ••• When the 2015 season came to a close, Straily knew he had to change something in his offseason prepa- rations. His fastball velocity had decreased from an average of 91.3 mph in 2012 to 89.6 in 2015, which led to a .357 batting average against his fastball over the past two years. His career trajectory had also plateaued as he spent the majority of the 2014-15 seasons hanging around in Triple-A and appeared in just 19 major league games with three different teams in that span. “For a guy that had more than 1,000 innings between the minors and major leagues, I knew what it would take to be successful,” he said. “I knew I just had to put in a lot of work to get back to that level of aggressiveness.” After talking with some Houston coaches, he decided to enlist the help of Driveline Baseball in Seattle, which is a highly-respected training facility that has helped numerous major league and college pitchers and coaches. Working at Driveline, Straily got into a new workout regimen that included a heavy dose of weight lifting, weighted-ball drills and a new throwing program that focused on rebuilding strength in his shoulder. “My arm just hadn’t been up to strength for the last two years,” Straily said,” and I just needed some- thing that could get me back to where I used to be.” When the offseason was over and Straily reported to Houston’s spring training in Kissimmee, Florida, the hard work had appeared to pay off. His velocity had increased and had been reportedly touching the 94 mph threshold — and he was throwing lots of strikes in his spring outings, recording 14 strikeouts to just three walks in 12 innings. His improvements were also the feature AP Photo/John Minchillo Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Dan Straily, center, speaks with catcher Tucker Barnhart (16) on the mound in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, June 4, 2016, in Cincinnati. The Reds won 6-3. of a story on the well-renowned baseball website FanGraphs that published on Mar. 30, as the site took a deeper look at his recent trends and offseason program. All of that work has paid off so far in Cincinnati, which has Straily excited to keep working to see where it will take him. “I’ve really just been trying to be more of a complete ballplayer,” he said, “working to try and keep the ball on the ground more instead of the air. Playing at Great American Ball Park (in Cincinnati) it’s not exactly the most pitcher-friendly place in baseball, but I try not to let that be an excuse.” His success has been one of the few bright spots for the Reds this season, a team that currently sits in last place in the National League Central division with a 26-39 record. It’s been well-publicized that the team is at the start of rebuild as they look to replenish the core and pitching staff, which is something Straily said the players don’t pay much attention to. “I think it’s very media-driven because the guys in the clubhouse are here to win every single day,” he said. “It’s not a rebuild for us, it’s guys getting their auditions for the major leagues because no matter who you are you’re on a constant job interview … and if you don’t come to the ield every day thinking you have a chance to win, then what are you doing here?” ••• Straily spent the irst four years of his life in California before his family moved to Pendleton, where they would stay until he was 15. After his sophomore year of high school, Straily’s family moved again to Springield and he attended Thurston High School for two years. But within all of the moving around, Straily said Pendleton is where his heart stays. “It might not say it on the baseball card, but Pendleton is my home- town,” Straily said. “I remember the (Round-Up), all the memories from little league, and of course getting the chance to play on the high school ield.” He’s been back to town several times since he moved away in 2004, most recently to hold a youth pitching camp this past December, where he shared his knowledge of the game and some of his workouts from his Driveline program. Before and after the camp he spent some time driving around the area. “It was different,” he said. “Some of the routes and intersections had changed, the downtown was slightly different … it wasn’t quite the same town I remember, but that’s what it should be. I’m happy it’s evolving.” One of the things that remains on Straily’s bucket list is to attend the Round-Up again, but it will have to wait until after his baseball career is over as MLB is still in season during the second week of September. He said some of his best childhood memories all happened during Round-Up week. “It’s just part of growing up there, whether you’re volunteering or fortunate to work at Happy Canyon and make a few bucks as a kid, it’s just a big event,” he said. “My sister was a Round-Up city clogger, too, so I spent a lot of time on Main Street as a kid. “It’s something that lifts the town for the whole week and something that gets you excited as a kid.” ——— Contact Eric Singer at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or (541) 966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ ByEricSinger. LOVE: Cleveland is 40-15 when Love scores at least 20 points Continued from 1B Golden State on Monday night — then getting something out of the former Lake Oswego star might be a huge help. For as great as James and Irving usually are, to expect more Game 5-type performances from them again is asking a ton. So if Love lightens their load, as he often has in their two seasons together, Cleveland’s less-than-great odds in this series igure to markedly improve. “We still have life,” Love said. Game 6 on Thursday is the last game in Cleveland this season. It wouldn’t surprise many if it was Love’s last home game with the Cavaliers as well, with his name sure to come up during this rapidly approaching summer in trade rumors even if Cleveland pulls off this comeback and gets its long-elusive championship. The Cavaliers sent Andrew Wiggins, now a star-in-waiting, to Minnesota in the deal that landed Love two summers ago that seemed one-sided toward Cleveland when it was irst executed and now appears like it could be a huge boost to the Timberwolves going forward. And Love’s two postseasons with the Cavaliers could be best described as snakebitten, too. Last year his shoulder was pulled from its socket in the irst round, ending his playoffs right there. This Game 6 Golden State leads the series 3-2 and can win its second straight champi- onship in Cleve- land. • Today, 6 p.m. • TV: ABC year, he avoided serious playoff trouble until the inals. The Cavs lost the irst three games in which he appeared, won by 30 in the game he missed with a concussion — sparking questions about whether they were better without Love — and staved off elimination by pulling away from Golden State in the second half of Game 5 on Monday night in a game where Love was a total non-factor offensively. Out of the nearly 400 NBA games in which he’s logged 30 minutes or more, Love has scored no more than two points now twice. As if that could get made to look worse, it seemed Tuesday that the most-re- played “highlight” involving Love from Game 5 was when he appeared to try to give James a high-ive and got no reciprocation. “He’s an important player for them,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said earlier in the series, which his team still leads 3-2. “He’s a guy who you have to account for in a lot of ways. So when he’s on the loor, we’ll be well aware of his presence.” For lack of a better term, Love is the third wheel in this Big Three setup. It’s a role that Chris Bosh strug- gled with at times in Miami when James was there with Dwyane Wade and the Heat went to four consecutive NBA Finals. To outsiders, it could have seemed like a demotion. Bosh was the star in Toronto like Love was in Minnesota, then had to accept what looked like an ego hit in order to it alongside fellow elite players. But throughout those four years in Miami, it was James who often referred to Bosh as the “most important player” on the Heat. And when Bosh went scoreless in Miami’s Game 7 win over San Antonio in the 2013 NBA Finals, hardly anyone noticed. “I ain’t scored no points,” Bosh said as he walked into the locker room champagne-spraying party that night, “but I’m still happy, though.” There’s still a chance for Love to get one of those same moments. He’s had 55 games of 20 or more points in his two Cleveland seasons, and the Cavs are 40-15 in those games. They’d surely take a couple more of those efforts right about now. “We get to go back home, and we’ve played well there all year,” Love said. “We love playing there in front of the home fans, so this is a good opportunity for us.” A good opportunity for him, too.
