SPORTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
1B
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MLB
Mariners thump Astros, stay in playoff hunt
Seattle
Mariners’
Robinson
Cano,
right, cele-
brates his
three-run
home run
with Nel-
son Cruz
in the fi rst
inning of
a baseball
game,
Wednes-
day, Sept.
28, 2016,
in Hous-
ton.
Seattle still two
games back with
four games to play
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Robinson
Cano hit a three-run homer
in the fi rst inning, and
the Seattle Mariners beat
the Houston Astros 12-4
Wednesday to keep pressure
on the other AL wild-card
contenders.
Kyle Seager added
another three-run drive in
the eighth, his 30th home run
AP Photo/Eric
Christian Smith
Seattle
Houston
12
4
this season, as Seattle pulled
within 1½ games of Balti-
more for the second AL wild
card. Houston dropped three
games back as its magic
number for elimination was
cut to two. The Orioles were
at Toronto on Wednesday
night.
Cano’s career-best 36th
home run, a drive off Doug
Fister (12-13), landed in the
fi rst row of the Crawford
PENDLETON
Prep Football
Hawks shut out Timberwolves
BMCC women’s
soccer continues
hunt for first win
East Oregonian
The Blue Mountain women’s
soccer team remained on the defen-
sive in Wednesday’s NWAC East
meeting with Columbia Basin.
For the second time in a row
and the seventh time this season the
Timberwolves were unable to fi nd
the net and fell in a shutout loss, this
time 4-0.
Two of those goals came late in
the game, though,
with the fi nal one
Women’s
in the 78th minute
Soccer
by
Madison
Gatherum to fi nish
off her hat trick
off a feed from Columbia Basin
Mikayla Reed.
The T-Wolves
(0-9, 0-6 East)
were able to turn
back the Hawks
(3-7-1, 2-4) for Blue Mountain
most of the fi rst
half, but Gatherum
scored off a pass
from Starcia Deponte on a fast break
in the 39th minute.
“We really had high hopes that
today was going to be a day where
we were going to earn our fi rst win
of the season,” said BMCC coach
Art Mota. “Things got off to a good
start, unfortunately the injuries came
back to haunt us again.”
For the fi rst time in several
games, the T-Wolves started with 11
players on the fi eld. That wouldn’t
last long, though, and midfi elder
Karla Gonzalez left the game with
a concussion midway through the
fi rst half.
East Oregonian
0
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Zaira Villaneuva (24), of Columbia Basin College, and BMCC’s Addilyn Buchanan (5) jostle for position
Wednesday in Pendleton.
PENDLETON
East Oregonian
1
Walla Walla
3
WALLA WALLA, Wash. —
The Blue Mountain volleyball
team continued its up and down
September with a four-game loss
to Walla Walla on Wednesday that
dropped them back to .500 on the
season.
The Timberwolves edged the
Warriors 25-23 in the fi rst game,
As the days grow shorter
in Eastern Oregon, it means
that the high school football
schedules are getting shorter
as well.
Four weeks of the nine-
week regular season have
already expired, which
means that each game
becomes more and more
meaningful. For many teams,
Week 5 presents one of the
most important games on the
schedule as the 3A Eastern
Oregon League and 2A
Columbia Basin Conference
kick off league play on
Friday.
A look at Friday’s Week 5
match-ups:
BURNS
(3-1)
at
UMATILLA (4-0), 7 p.m.
— At Umatilla, the Vikings
welcome in the Burns
Hilanders for the EOL league
opener and aim to keep their
momentum from the 36-26
win over Portland Christian
last week. Burns is coming
off of a 38-12 victory at
Grant Union.
Last week Umatilla put
up one of its more balanced
offensive attacks against
Portland Christian, passing
See PREP FOOTBALL/2B
College Football
Walla Walla beats BMCC in four
Blue Mountain
Week 5
features
crucial
clashes
EOL, CBC kick off
league play in style
4
See T-WOLVES/2B
Boxes in left fi eld. Cano has
nine homers and 25 RBIs in
19 games against Houston
this season.
Seattle doubled its lead
in the second on Nori Aoki’s
RBI single and Seth Smith’s
two-run
single.
Ketel
Marte made it 7-0 with a
run-scoring infi eld single in
the third.
James Paxton (6-7)
allowed three runs and six
hits in fi ve innings, striking
out eight.
Fister gave up fi ve runs
and fi ve hits over 1 1/3
innings in the shortest start
See MARINERS/2B
EOU ranked No 17 headed into bye
but fell 25-18, 25-20, 25-16 in the
next three.
It was a frustrating outcome in
a season fi lled with unanswered
questions for the team that
returned seven sophomores from
its NWAC title run a year ago.
Blue Mountain co-head coach
Dave Baty said he’s got to do a
See BMCC/3B
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon football team
retained its top-20 NAIA
ranking heading into its
bye week despite a setback
against No. 10 Montana
Tech.
Coming off a 37-24 loss
at Community Stadium, the
Mountaineers fell two spots
and were ranked No. 17 in
the third edition of the NAIA
Football Coaches Poll.
A total of fi ve teams from
the Frontier Conference
earned recognition in the
rankings. Southern Oregon
and Montana Tech held steady
at No. 9 and No. 10, respec-
tively, and Montana Western
entered the poll at No. 24.
Eastern Oregon (2-2,
2-2 Frontier) returns to
action on Saturday, Oct. 8 at
MSU-Northern (1-3, 1-3) in
Havre, Mont.
Sitting in a tie for fourth
place in the conference with
Montana Western, here’s
how EOU is stacking up
against the rest of the Fron-
tier heading into its bye:
See EOU/2B
Sports shorts
Watt re-injures back, placed on IR
HOUSTON (AP) The Houston Texans have
placed star defensive end J.J. Watt on injured
reserve and his return this season is in doubt.
Coach Bill O’Brien announced Wednesday
that Watt had re-injured his back and that
putting him on IR was the best
thing for his long-term health.
The team was still exploring
the injury and it’s unclear if it will
require surgery. He is not expected
back before December, if at all.
Watt, who has won Defensive
Watt
Player of the Year for the past two
seasons, missed training camp and
Houston’s four preseason games after surgery
in July to repair a herniated disk in his back. He
started each of the team’s three regular-season
games and got hurt again Thursday against the
Patriots.
The Texans signed veteran defensive end
Antonio Smith to take his spot on the roster.
“I just want them to
release me from the
contract. If they offer me
millions, they can have
it. I don’t want it. Sorry
for the expression, but
I’m not a whore to sell
myself. I’m a man.“
— Jose Aldo
Interim UFC featherweight cham-
pion. Aldo, 30, publicly asked
the UFC for his release on Tues-
day — one day after the pro-
motion announced a lightweight
championship fi ght between
Eddie Alvarez and Conor Mc-
Gregor. Aldo had been lobbying
for a rematch with McGregor.
Seahawks to sign RB Spiller
RENTON, Wash. (AP) The Seattle
Seahawks are expected to sign veteran running
back C.J. Spiller with the team running out of
depth at running back.
The team said Wednesday that Spiller’s
signing likely would not be fi nalized until
Thursday. Seattle coach Pete
Carroll later confi rmed the intent
to sign Spiller in a conference call
with New York media.
Spiller was released by New
Orleans on Sept. 13 after being
inactive in Week 1. Spiller
Spiller
rushed for only 112 yards in
very limited opportunities with
the Saints last season. Spiller’s best season
came in 2012 with Buffalo when he rushed for
1,244 yards and six touchdowns for the Bills.
Seattle has been thinned at running back
because of injuries to Thomas Rawls (shin)
and C.J. Prosise (hand).
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1954 — Willie Mays
makes his famous over-the-
shoulder catch of Vic Wertz’
long drive to center fi eld and
pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes
homers off Bob Lemon in the
10th inning to lead the New
York Giants to a 5-2 victory
over the Cleveland Indians in
Game 1 of the World Series.
2001 — Seattle’s Ichiro
Suzuki sets the major
league rookie record for hits
in a season but the Mariners
lose to Oakland 8-4. Suzuki
gets his 234th hit, breaking
the previous rookie mark
set by Shoeless Joe Jackson
with Cleveland in 1911.
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