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SPORTS WEEKEND, AUGUST 20-21, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON Olympics Lochte issues apology for incident Professional career could now be in jeopardy By BETH HARRIS Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte apologized Friday for his behavior surrounding an incident at a Rio de Janeiro gas station, saying he should have been more “careful and candid” about how he described what happened after a night of partying with his teammates. But he didn’t explain why he embellished details of an encounter with armed security guards and called it a robbery, and why he omitted to say that he and three teammates had vandalized a gas station Lochte restroom. “Regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry,” Lochte said in a lengthy post on his Instagram account. “This was a situation that could and should have been avoided. I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons.” Whatever they were, for now, he’s keeping them to himself. The situation raises questions about the future for Lochte, who is planning to take time off from swimming but wants to return to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Usually known for his party boy image and love of the limelight, he now is facing a line of nervous sponsors, the possibility of legal charges in Brazil and sanctions from USA Swimming and the Inter- national Olympic Committee. The robbery fl ap deeply hurt Brazilians, who were eager to prove they could get street crime under control and host a safe Olympics. And it overshadowed the efforts of U.S. Olympians, who have domi- nated the medal count. Swimmers alone piled up 16 golds and 33 medals total at the games. Known for his outsized person- See LOCHTE/3B MLB Mariners hang on for victory Seattle wins seventh straight game at home By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Kyle Seager got Seattle started with a solo home run, and Robinson Cano added a two-run shot, and the Mariners continued their surge at home with a 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. The Mariners won their seventh straight at Safeco Field, ignited by Seager’s 23rd home run of the season and Cano’s 28th. Adam Lind Milwaukee added a solo home run in the eighth inning and Seattle also got RBI hits from Seattle Stefan Romero, Nelson Cruz and Ketel Marte as it pulled within two games of Baltimore for the second wild card in the American League. Ryan Braun had a two-out, two-run single in the ninth off Seattle closer Edwin Diaz to pull the Brewers within 7-6 after Diaz walked the bases loaded. But Diaz struck out Hernan Perez to close out his ninth save with the tying run at third. Chris Carter hit the longest recorded home run in Safeco Field 6 7 AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano, right, celebrates with Kyle Seager after his two-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fi fth inning of Friday’s game in Seattle. history, estimated at 465 feet after hitting the batting backdrop in center fi eld for the fi rst of Milwau- kee’s three home runs. Jonathan Villar and Keon Broxton added back-to-back homers off Seattle starter Wade LeBlanc leading off the sixth inning. LeBlanc (3-0) was able to limit the damage to those three solo homers, although he lasted just 5 1/3 innings and added stress to Seattle’s bullpen. See MARINERS/2B Seattle Mar- iners closing pitcher Edwin Diaz throws against the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Seattle. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson T-Wolves get fi rst tune-ups Blue Mountain women’s soccer, volleyball host scrimmages By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian The Blue Mountain Community College women’s soccer and volleyball teams hosted their fi rst opponents of the season for scrimmages on Friday. Per Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) regu- lations, scoreboards were turned off and BMCC Athletic Director Brett Bryan said coaches would not be allowed to comment, but the many fans in attendance were able to see both coaches’ initial impressions play out. Women’s soccer coach Art Mota said during a practice earlier this week that he expected his team to take its lumps early, and physical fi tness was going to be their key due to a small roster. Those statements rang true against Western Wyoming, which found the net often while holding onto a shutout during their 90-minute exhi- bition. The Timberwolves were able to keep up with Western Wyoming, but the difference in experience and skill level was evident and BMCC spent most of the scrimmage on defense. Blue Mountain was able to get a few chances on offense and display some of the short-pass possession style Mota hopes can help level the playing fi eld in games this season, but too often passes were hit without much pace and Western Wyoming was able to keep the action in front of it without much diffi culty. Goalkeeper Jessica Adams had a few nice diving saves, but faced several one-on-one situations due to breakdowns in defense. Also earlier in the week, volleyball coach Dave Baty expressed excitement over See T-WOLVES/2B College Football Beavers pleased with progress from latest scrimmage Andersen pleased with effort from young guys By KEVIN HAMPTON Albany Democrat-Herald CORVALLIS — Thursday’s Oregon State football scrimmage was a prime opportunity for some of the younger players to show their stuff. Coach Gary Andersen said the idea was to get the players who are in position to be in the two-deep depth chart on the fi eld. “We’re interested in targeting guys that need to be targeted to put the ball in their hands. The same thing on defense,” Andersen said. “Put them in position to be able to make plays with guys who haven’t had to do that.” The Beavers got in 70 reps overall with 30 involving the starters. Andersen said the team got what it wanted out of the scrim- mage. “I thought overall the tackling was decent. There were some guys running the ball hard in there. It will just be fun to sit back and watch that tape from a distance, sitting back and listening,” he said. “The communication was much better. The sideline situa- tions were much better with those young kids as far as getting on and off the fi eld, understanding what a game scenario is. So that was much, much improved. We handled pace better as far as when our offense was going a little bit faster at times.” Andersen said the coaches were pick and choose on what they wanted to do with the fi rst- team offense when they were facing the No. 1 defense. See BEAVERS/2B Oregon State head football coach Gary An- derson pass- es on instruc- tions during Thurs- day’s scrim- mage in Corval- lis. AP Photo via Gazette-Times Sports shorts ‘The Kid’ to be guest analyst for Mariners game on ESPN SEATTLE — ESPN announced on Friday that Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as a guest analyst when the network broadcasts the game on Aug. FACES Mariners-Yankees 23 from Safeco Field. It is the fi rst time that ESPN will broadcast a Mariners home game since 2011. Griffey will be in the booth for the entirety of the game, and will join play-by-play man Jon Sciambi Griffey Jr. and analysts Doug Glanville and Rick Sutcliffe for the call. The game is set for a 7 p.m. fi rst pitch. The game adds to the list of summer festiv- ities for Griffey and his Mariner roots, starting with his induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July and then having his number ‘24’ retired by the team earlier this month. “I want to see how aggressive we are on the line of scrimmage, how physical we tackle. See if we do a good job with leveraging tackles and those kind of things that are part of football. I think we are getting better.“ — Brady Hoke Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator following Friday’s practice speaking on the steady improvement of the unit in camp, though he’s anxious to see them in a game setting. New Orleans picked as 2017 All-Star Game replacement NEW ORLEANS (AP) The NBA has chosen to hold the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans after taking the midseason event away from North Carolina because of a state law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people. The league announced Friday that New Orleans would replace Charlotte, which had been set to host the game until the NBA decided last month to move it elsewhere. Unlike several other Southern states, Louisiana has not been swept up in legislative efforts to pass laws similar to that in North Carolina. The All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 19, which falls during the fi rst weekend of Mardi Gras parades. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 2000 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship in a playoff over Bob May, becoming the fi rst player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year. He’s the fi rst player to repeat as PGA champion since Denny Shute in 1937. 2008 — In Beijing, Usain Bolt of Jamaica becomes the fi rst man since Carl Lewis in 1984, to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olym- pics. Bolt is the fi rst man to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics — a feat that neither Lewis nor Jesse Owens accom- plished. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com