SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
1B
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Prep Roundup
MLB
Mariners
Strong starts help Bucks split
rally, avoid
sweep
Pend-
leton’s
Daniel
Naugh-
ton
delivers
a pitch
during
the fi rst
game
of a
double-
header
against
La
Grande
on
Thurs-
day in La
Grande.
Pendle-
ton lost
5-4 in 10
innings.
Seattle scores two in ninth
for win No. 1 on season
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Jarrod Dyson hit a
tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning
and Jean Segura drove in a run later in
the inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to
a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on
Thursday night.
The game was tied at 2 entering the
ninth before Danny Valencia walked with
one out and Carlos Ruiz was plunked by
Ken Giles (0-1). They were replaced by
pinch-runners Taylor Motter and Guill-
ermo Heredia before
Dyson’s fl y ball landed
between left fi elder
Nori Aoki and center
Seattle
fi elder Jake Marisnick
to allow Motter to score
and put Seattle on top.
Segura
singled
with two outs to send
Heredia home for an
Houston
insurance run that made
it 4-2.
Dan Altavilla (1-0)
pitched a scoreless
eighth for the win and Edwin Diaz struck
out two in a perfect ninth for his fi rst save.
Mitch Haniger homered in the third
and Kyle Seager’s RBI tied it in the sixth
to help the Mariners to their fi rst win of
the year after dropping the fi rst three
games of this series.
George Springer hit a leadoff homer
for Houston, and Marwin Gonzalez added
his second homer of the year with a solo
shot in the third to put the Astros up 2-1.
Houston starter Joe Musgrove allowed
fi ve hits and two runs while walking three
in fi ve-plus innings.
Ariel Miranda yielded fi ve hits and
two runs in fi ve innings in his 11th major
league start.
The Mariners tied it in the third inning
on Haniger’s two-out homer.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Yovani Gallardo will make
his Mariners debut as Seattle starts a
three-game series at the Angels on Friday.
Gallardo went 6-8 with a 5.42 ERA in 23
starts for Baltimore in 2016.
Astros: Right-hander Mike Fiers
makes his 2017 debut when the Astros
open a three-game series against Kansas
City on Friday.
Photo by Ron-
ald Bond/The
La Grande
Observer
4
2
Pendleton pitching shows progress against La Grande
Pend-
leton’s
Wyatt
Morris
throws
to fi rst to
get the
out in
the fi st
game
of a
baseball
double-
header
against
La
Grande
on Thurs-
day in La
Grande.
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — It would appear
Pendleton’s pitchers are beginning to
settle in after the inconsistencies that
followed them through the fi rst two
weeks of the season were nowhere to
be found on Thursday in a non-league
doubleheader at La Grande.
Both of Pendleton’s starters were in
command of the strike zone and lasted
fi ve complete innings in the types of
performances coach T.J. Haguewood
has been saying he knew would come,
but the Buckaroos could only take
advantage of one of them.
An inability to bring runners in
from scoring position cost the Bucks
in the opener as La Grande outlasted
them 5-4 in 10 innings.
Pendleton made sure it at least got
Photo by
Ronald Bond/
The La Grande
Baseball
Crabbe’s 25 points leads
Portland past Minnesota
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith
Seattle Mariners’ Mitch Haniger, left,
celebrates his solo home run off with
Leonys Martin during the third inning
of Thursday’s game in Houston.
PORTLAND — Allen Crabbe
had 25 points, including a career-
high eight 3-pointers, and the
Portland Trail Blazers beat the
Minnesota Timberwolves 105-98
Thursday night to snap a two-game
losing streak.
Damian Lillard added 22 points,
nine rebounds and eight assists for
Portland, which held onto the eighth
and fi nal playoff spot in the Western
Conference ahead of the Denver
Minnesota
Portland
98
105
La Grande
4-6
5-1
the split, though, and won the second
game 6-1.
Daniel Naughton took the mound to
open the afternoon, and was hitting his
spots for eight strikeouts with just one
walk to keep the game close though he
would leave trailing 2-1 after fi ve.
Pendleton tied the score in the top
of the sixth when Jared Beveridge laid
down a perfect bunt with the bases
loaded and one out, but the Bucks
struck out twice in a row to end the
threat.
See PREPS/2B
NBA
Blazers wipe away
halftime defi cit with
fourth quarter comeback
Pendleton
Nuggets with three games to go.
Andrew Wiggins had 36 points
for the Timberwolves, who have
already been eliminated. Karl-An-
thony Towns added 24 points and 16
rebounds.
After trailing by 15 points in
the third quarter, Crabbe’s running
3-pointer gave the Blazers a 92-89
lead with 8:25 left. Lillard added a
layup and Crabbe made another 3
to push the lead to 97-91 while the
Portland
Trail Blaz-
ers guard
Allen
Crabbe
hits a
shot over
Minneso-
ta Timber-
wolves
guard
Brandon
Rush
during
the
second
half of
an NBA
basket-
ball game
in Port-
land, Ore.,
Thursday,
April 6,
2017.
AP Photo/Steve
Dykes
See BLAZERS/3B
Sports shorts
Johnson withdraws from Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Dustin Johnson
arrived at Augusta National on quite a roll,
having won his last three tournaments.
He never even took a shot at the fi rst major
of the year.
The world’s No. 1-ranked player was forced
to withdraw from the Masters on
Thursday because of a lower back
injury suffered less than 24 hours
earlier in a freak fall at the home
he was renting for the week.
“I want to play,” Johnson said.
“I just can’t swing.”
Johnson
Clearly in pain during a limited
warmup session, Johnson still intended to at
least try to play Thursday. He walked slowly
toward the fi rst hole, where he was paired with
Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker in the fi nal
group of the opening round.
Then, at the last possible moment, Johnson
changed his mind.
“That fl ap, man, that
thing just saved my life.
The crazy thing about it
is I was thinking about
taking it off a couple days
ago, too, and then this
happens. I’m never taking
that thing off ... It just felt
like I got punched by Mike
Tyson. But other than that I
feel good.“
— Keon Broxton
The Milwaukee Brewers outfi eld-
er left Thursday’s game against
Colorado after getting hit with
a pitch on the cheek fl ap of his
batting helmet. Broxton suffered
only a slight nasal fracture.
WIAA approves language for
possible Hermiston acceptance
RENTON, Washington — At its executive
board meeting on March 18-19, the Washington
Interscholastic Activities Association approved
the fi rst reading of its set of
criteria to allow out-of-state
schools to join the association.
That move cracks the door for
Hermiston High’s possible move
north, a desire for the school to
cut down on travel time and missed class time
for each of its athletic teams. Hermiston athletic
director Larry Usher said in a text message
Thursday that from what he has heard, the
criteria was very well received from the board.
The next step for Hermiston is to await the
OSAA executive board’s meeting on Monday,
April 10, as it will discuss the same policy and
decide whether to give Hermiston its support
to pursue the WIAA, which is necessary as it is
criteria No. 1 for the WIAA to accept.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2003 — Syracuse wins
the NCAA tournament with
an 81-78 victory over Kansas.
Freshman Carmelo Anthony,
fi ghting off a bad back, fi nishes
with 20 points, 10 rebounds
and seven assists.
2007 — Vince Carter and
Jason Kidd are the fi rst team-
mates with triple-doubles in
the same game since Michael
Jordan and Scottie Pippen
in 1989. Carter scores 46
points, adds a career-best 16
rebounds and 10 assists. Kidd
has 16 rebounds, 18 assists and
adds a late free throw for 10
points to lead New Jersey to
a 120-114 overtime win over
Washington.
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