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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2016)
SPORTS FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Fun and games for Merritt PENDLETON US Track & Field Trials Omar Craddock competes during qualifying for men’s triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Thursday in Eugene. AP Photo/Char- lie Riedel Greb fi fth in stroke play Also qualifi es for Jr America’s Cup East Oregonian Sprinter advances in quest for Olympic double By EDDIE PELLS Associated Press AP Photo/Charlie Riedel Katie Reichert gets ready for qualifying during the women’s jave- lin event at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Eugene Ore. EUGENE — LaShawn Merritt considers his 200-meter races more of a lark than anything else. Think of the possibilities if they ever become a serious pursuit. Already qualifi ed for the Olympics in his “real” race, the 400, Merritt pulled away for an easy victory in the opening round of 200-meter qualifying at the rain-soaked U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday, posting the night’s third-best time at 20.09 seconds. He already has the world’s best time this year, at 19.78 seconds, and if world-record holder Usain Bolt’s hamstring injury turns out to be worse than expected — well, who knows what could happen? “It’s not really a serious thing for me,” said Merritt, who also owns the fastest time at 400 meters this year. “I just want to have some fun with it, and if I have the ability to do it, I fi gure I’ll do it. I’ll try to make it as light as possible.” Among those who take the 200 more seriously are worlds silver medalist Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Mike Rodgers and Wallace Spearmon, who is trying to return to the upper-echelon of this race after struggling with injuries. All made it through their fi rst-round heats with ease. Allyson Felix also views it as more work than play, and is trying to become the fi rst woman to win Olympic gold in both events. Felix is already qualifi ed at 400 meters and begins her quest in the 200, her See TRIALS/2B MLB Perez walk-off double sends Royals over Mariners Seattle held 3-0 lead in eighth inning By DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Salvador Perez ripped a double off the wall in the ninth inning, scoring Whit Merrifi eld and Seattle Jarrod Dyson and giving the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday Kansas City night. Merrifield doubled off Steve Cishek (2-5) leading off the inning, then Kendrys Morales got plunked on the foot. Dyson came in to pinch run and Eric Hosmer struck out 3 4 AP Photo/Orlin Wagner Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, back, celebrates his game-winning 2-RBI double with teammate Whit Merrifi eld (15) during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium Thursday in Kansas City. before Perez dug in to face the Mariners’ closer He lined a shot off the wall in center for his second career game- ending hit. Brooks Pounders (1-0) tossed a scoreless inning for his fi rst big league win, helping Kansas City bounce back after a dismal road trip, during which they were swept in Toronto and lost fi ve of their last six games. The ending squandered a dynamic performance by James Paxton, who needed only 78 pitches to get through eight innings for Seattle. The only damage he allowed came on a two-out single by Paulo Orlando in the eighth. Danny Duffy nearly equaled his left-handed counterpart in 6 1/3 innings for Kansas City. He allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk, his fi rst in 88 batters faced, while striking out seven. He received a standing ovation after leaving the mound, despite the Royals facing a 2-0 hole. Seattle managed that meager lead not with a homer — they entered the game tied for second in the majors with 128 of them — but See MARINERS/2B WOODBURN — Haley Greb continued her summer hot streak with a fi fth-place fi nish at the 19th Oregon Junior Stroke Play Cham- pionships on Thursday at the OGA Golf Course in Wood- burn. Greb S h e was coming off a title at the match play championships, and following Thursday’s round learned she had been named to the Junior America’s Cup team. Greb fi nished strong in the three-round stroke play tourna- ment and shot her lowest round of the week with a two-over 74. She carded four birdies on the back nine to leapfrog Elise Filuk (Camas, Washington) on the leaderboard. Greb fi nished with a three- round total of 84-76-74—234. Victoria Gailey (Tigard) erased a two-shot defi cit over the fi nal nine holes and then beat See GREB/2B NBA Blazers sign center on busy day Portland also trades for guard, finalizes contracts By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a two-year contract with free agent center Festus Ezeli worth $15 million, a person familiar with the deal said Thursday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been announced by the team. It was fi rst reported by Yahoo Sports. His agent, David Mondress, did not immediately respond to messages left by the AP seeking comment. Ezeli, a 6-foot-11 native of See BLAZERS/2B Sports shorts Lee shoots 8-under, ties LPGA Women’s Open record SAN MARTIN, Calif. (AP) — Mirim Lee became the fi fth golfer to shoot a round of 8-under par at the U.S. Women’s on Thursday when she made FACES Open 10 birdies on the way to a 64 to take the early lead at CordeValle. Lee is the fi rst woman to shoot that much below par at the U.S. Open since Lorie Kane and Becky Iverson did it in the second round in 1999 at Old Waverly in Mississippi. Lee The lowest total score in a round in U.S. Open history is a 63 by Helen Alfredsson in 1994 at the par-71 Indianwood in Michigan. Lee capped her day with birdie from about 8 feet on her fi nal hole at the par-5 ninth to take a three-shot lead over Minjee Lee and Christie Kerr after the morning groupings. “I mean if you needed Vicodin, call out, ‘My ankle hurt,’ you know. ‘I need, I need it. I can’t, I can’t play without it.’ It was simple. That’s how easy it was to get ‘em. So if you were dependent on ‘em, they were readily available.“ — Calvin Johnson Ex-NFL receiver in an interview with ESPN explaining that many players go to great lengths to stay on the fi eld throughout a season, which often leads to painkiller dependencies. Seattle’s Cano to face Miami’s Stanton in Home Run Derby NEW YORK (AP) — Defending champion Todd Frazier and MLB home run leader Mark Trumbo lead the fi eld for Monday’s All-Star Home Run Derby in San Diego. Frazier, second in the American League with 23 homers, will take on Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez in the fi rst round, while Trumbo faces the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cory Seager. Cincinnati’s Adam Duvall is paired with the host Padres’ Wil Myers and Seattle’s Robinson Cano will go against Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton in the other matchups. Each batter gets four minutes per round. Batters can earn 30 seconds of bonus time with two homers of 440 feet or more. The event starts at 8 p.m. on ESPN. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1941 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning to give the American League a 7-5 victory in the All-Star Game. 1967 — Billie Jean King sweeps three titles at Wimbledon. King beats Ann Hayden Jones 6-3, 6-4, for the singles title; teams with Rosie Casals for the women’s doubles title, and pairs with Owen Davidson for the mixed doubles title. 2000 — Venus Williams tops Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her fi rst Grand Slam title. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com