SPORTS
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016
1B
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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.
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