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SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 13, 2017
MLB
Bautista homers as Blue Jays blank Mariners
By IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
TORONTO — When
opposing batters reach
second base against Joe
Biagini, Devon Travis likes
to ask for their impressions
of his Blue Jays teammate.
He’s been hearing the
s a m e
answer a lot
lately.
Biagini
Seattle
and
four
relievers
combined
on a seven-
hitter, Jose
Bautista hit
Toronto
a two-run
homer and
To r o n t o
beat
the
Seattle Mariners 4-0 on
Friday night.
“That guy is nasty, man,”
Travis said of Biagini.
“Every single guy that gets
on (second) base, I ask them
what they think about him
and they’ve all got the same
answer: he’s something.”
Travis had two RBIs
despite a hitless night for the
Blue Jays, who have won
five of six.
Biagini (1-1) gave up four
hits, walked none and struck
out three, winning as a starter
for the first time in his second
career start.
“They’ve got a good
lineup over there,” manager
John Gibbons said. “He shut
them down.”
Biagni said he’s been
working on improving his
changeup, and catcher Luke
0
4
Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Christian Bergman walks back up the mound after
giving up a two-run home run to Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista, rounding the
bases at left, during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Friday.
Maile suggested using it
against Seattle.
“I try to make sure my
arm speed is up on that
pitch,” Biagini said. “When
it is, it looks a little bit
more like a fastball. (Maile)
hasn’t seen me a lot but he
definitely seemed to think
it might be effective. Not
all of them were but when I
was disciplined on getting it
down, that was important for
me.”
Aaron Loup got one out,
Danny Barnes and Ryan
Tepera each worked 1 1/3
innings and Roberto Osuna
finished.
A Rule 5 pick from San
Francisco, Biagini made
60 relief appearances for
Toronto in 2016, and had 15
more before sliding into the
rotation at Tampa Bay last
Sunday.
“He’s fantastic, man, the
things he’s been able to do
for the ball club the last two
years,” Travis said. “Being
able to step into the starting
rotation, that’s not easy,
especially when you’re not
expecting it.”
Seattle has lost two
straight after winning the
previous four. After scoring
21 total runs in consecutive
victories over Philadelphia
this week, the Mariners have
scored two runs in back-to-
back defeats to Toronto.
“As hot as we were with
the bat in Philadelphia,
we’ve been just as cold here
in Toronto,” manager Scott
Servais said.
Mariners
right-hander
Christian Bergman (0-1)
allowed three runs and seven
hits in five innings.
“I thought he hung in
there fine,” Servais said.
Travis opened the scoring
with an RBI groundout in the
second. Bautista homered in
the third, his second in three
games.
Bautista had one homer
and seven RBIs in 25 games
in April. He has three homers
and seven RBIs in 11 games
so far in May.
Travis made it 4-0 with a
sacrifice fly off Jean Machi in
the sixth.
Seattle put runners at
second and third with one
out in the third but couldn’t
score. Third baseman Darwin
Barney knocked down Jean
Seagura’s grounder and got
an out while keeping Taylor
Motter at third, and left
fielder Steve Pearce ended
the inning with a full-length
diving catch on Ben Gamel.
HOME RUN DERBY
Toronto has hit 17 homers
in its past 11 games in May
after hitting 22 in 25 April
games.
WALK THIS WAY
Biagini has not walked
a batter in any of his past
13 outings, covering 21 1/3
innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: RHP Felix
Hernandez (shoulder) felt
sore after playing catch
twice last week and will back
off his throwing program,
manager Scott Servais said.
... 2B Robinson Cano (right
quadriceps) was held out of
the starting lineup for the
second straight night but was
able to take part in batting
practice. Cano left Tuesday’s
win at Philadelphia after
four innings with the same
injury. ... RHP Steve Cishek
(hip surgery) made his first
rehab appearance at Triple-A
Tacoma
on
Thursday,
striking out two in a score-
less inning. He’ll make at
least one more appearance
with Tacoma before being
activated. ... OF Mitch
Haniger (right oblique) will
swing off a tee for the first
time Saturday.
Blue Jays: SS Troy
Tulowitzki (right hamstring)
will begin a rehab assign-
ment at Class-A Dunedin on
Saturday and is expected to
be activated next Wednesday
in Atlanta. ... LHP J.A. Happ
(elbow) is throwing up to 120
feet on flat ground and will
try throwing off a mound next
week. Happ remains approx-
imately three weeks away
from returning. ... Kendrys
Morales (left hamstring) ran
without pain during batting
practice but did not start for
the third straight game.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Seattle has yet
to name a starter for Saturday.
Blue Jays: RHP Marcus
Stroman (3-2, 3.38 ERA)
pitched six shutout innings
against Cleveland in his
previous outing, winning for
the first time in three starts.
The Mariners are the only AL
opponent Stroman has never
faced.
NFL
Malik McDowell hops into new role with Seahawks
By CURTIS CRABTREE
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. —
Malik McDowell was called
“too unique” to pass up by
Seattle Seahawks general
manager John Schneider
after the team selected him
with the 35th pick in the NFL
draft.
On their first day of
rookie mini-camp Friday, the
Seahawks began to explore
the versatility of their newest
defensive lineman.
The Seahawks envision
a substantially different role
for McDowell in Seattle than
he had at Michigan State.
McDowell frequently lined
up over the center as a nose
tackle in the Spartans’ 3-4
defense last year. With the
Seahawks, he’ll be playing
more defensive end with the
plan to move
him inside as an
interior rusher
in passing situa-
tions.
“We’ll play
him a little more at defensive
end,” coach Pete Carroll said.
“He played inside a lot, he
was on the center a lot. He
doesn’t look like that kind of
a player in our system to us.”
The differences in roles
was glaring even on the first
day of rookie camp.
“I’m playing a whole
different
position,”
McDowell said. “... Moving
outside and going from
taking double teams to taking
single
blocks
here mostly.”
“I like it.”
Schneider
said following
the selection that
they’ve been seeking a player
of McDowell’s abilities since
they first got to Seattle eight
years ago.
“He’s
too
unique,”
Schneider said. “We’ve been
looking for a pass rushing
3-technique since we’ve
NASCAR
been here together.”
McDowell — a pros-
pect who was viewed as a
possible first-round selection
before his final year of
college — as plagued by
evaluations that panned his
effort at times. McDowell
did deal with ankle issues
throughout season that ulti-
mately brought his season
to an end prematurely in
November. However, it is
an area the Seahawks have
acknowledged was an issue
“It is what it is,” McDowell
said. “No excuses for it. I was
out there playing.”
McDowell
played
primarily at defensive end
during his first day on the
field with the Seahawks.
Listed at 6-foot-6, 299
pounds, McDowell doesn’t
look nearly that big. He’s
lean and sleek and has the
explosiveness to get around
the edge and pressure the
quarterback. During the
practice, McDowell blew
by sixth-round pick Justin
Senior at left tackle for a
would-be sack of tryout
quarterback Michael Bird-
song.
Carroll
said
that
McDowell will probably put
on 10-15 pounds over the
next few years just naturally
as he gets stronger.
The Seahawks will need
to keep McDowell’s focus
dialed in to see the greatest
potential reward from his
selection, but Carroll was
quite happy with the first
impression.
“Instantly, almost, you
could see how comfortable
he is with his movements,
his body control and stuff,”
Carroll said. “He’s got an
awareness already how to use
his hands that I’m surprised
to see with that background
technically. They did a really
nice job with him at Mich-
igan State so he got off to a
really nice start and he looks
great.”
PGA
Blaney takes Kansas pole as Oosthuizen, Stanley share lead
eleven fail to pass inspection at Players Championship
KANSAS CITY, Kan. —
Ryan Blaney was all alone
atop the leaderboard Friday
during qualifying at Kansas
Speedway.
He probably felt all alone
on the track, too.
Blaney earned his first
career NASCAR Cup pole for
Saturday night’s race, but only
after traffic jams at inspection
prevented 11 cars from getting
on the track. Among the big
names that failed to turn a lap
were Jimmie Johnson, Dale
Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer
and Kasey Kahne.
The left just 28 cars for
Blaney to beat for the right to
start up front.
“It feels really good. We
got better and better each
round and that’s all you can
ask for,” he said. “It’s so
cool to sit on the pole. We’ve
been working really hard at
it. We’ve been getting close
— qualifying hasn’t been
my best suit, but we’ve been
getting better and better.”
Joey Logano will start
second and Martin Truex Jr.
third, while drivers that failed
to get through inspection will
start at the back based on car
owner points.
“This is just, wow. Super
disappointing,” Bowyer said.
“You’re off 10-thousandths
of an inch? It’s ridiculous.
Most people can’t even
understand how little that is.
I get it. If you’re off, you’re
off, but I watched my guys
move the car and adjust the
car accordingly for it and
then actually overcompen-
sate on it because we were
Louis
Osthuizen,
of South
Africa,
follows his
shot from
the sixth
tee during
the second
round
of The
Players
Champion-
ship golf
tourna-
ment Fri-
day, May
12, 2017, in
Ponte Ve-
dra Beach,
Fla.
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Pres
AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
Driver Jimmie Johnson (48) pulls onto pit row during
practice for the NASCAR Monster Cup auto race at
Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Friday.
worried about not making
it. Then they wheel it back
in and fail the exact same
amount? Twice? That makes
no sense. None.”
NASCAR has been
closely monitoring tech
stations this season, resulting
in several cases where
numerous cars failed to take
the track. But the 11 cars
that sat parked in the garage
at Kansas was the most this
year, raising red flags at a
time the sport is trying to
keep and attract fans.
“The only thing I’m not
too sure about is how so many
cars cannot get through,”
said David Ragan, whose
care also failed inspection.
“Everybody is not trying to
cheat on the same thing.”
NASCAR changed qual-
ifying tech procedures this
year, which could be partly to
blame for the trouble. Teams
only go through a quick
safety and fuel cell check
prior to practice, though they
can voluntarily go through
any of the four technical
areas, so many don’t know
they’re out of compliance
until they’re trying to get on
the track for qualifying.
Teams are also required
to go through the entire
inspection process again if a
car fails any of the stations,
a time-consuming endeavor
that has contributed to the
long waits.
NASCAR vice president
of competition Scott Miller
said most of the trouble has
been at the laser inspection,
which is a significant perfor-
mance metric and an area
where teams push the limits.
“It’s fairly disappointing
that they can’t present their cars
to pass inspection,” Miller said,
adding that there are built-in
tolerances that give teams
some leeway. “They want to
be right on the limit and 11 of
them were over the limit.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
qualified fourth after his first
career win last weekend at
Talladega, while Kyle Busch
will start fifth and Kurt Busch
sixth.
PONTE
VEDRA
BEACH, Fla. — Each birdie
by Louis Oosthuizen and
Kyle Stanley pushed them
higher up the leaderboard,
a little further away from
those chasing them in The
Players Championship.
And as Friday showed,
every little bit helps.
Anirban Lahiri looked
like a lock to at least make
the cut until he hit three
shots into the water on the
18th and took a 10. Jim
Furyk celebrated his 47th
birthday with a solid round
that came undone with
two shots into the water
on the island-green 17th
that caused him to take the
weekend off.
J.B. Holmes was tied for
the lead until bogeys on his
last two holes.
Vijay
Singh,
the
54-year-old surprise of the
tournament, poured in putts
from everywhere until a
three-putt on the 18th gave
him a 68 and put him three
behind.
“I don’t think you can
every get too comfortable
out here,” Stanley said after
an eight-birdie round of
6-under 66, matching Oost-
huizen for the best score of
the second round and giving
them a share of the lead at
9-under 135.
As conditions toughened
at TPC Sawgrass, they
played even better.
Dustin Johnson and Rory
McIlroy scrapped it around
Friday morning, Johnson
making only one birdie for
a 73 and McIlroy managing
AP Photo/Chris
O’Meara
through nagging back pain
for a 71. They were at even
par and not too bothered.
They were only five behind
when they finished, and they
could sense that because
of steamy weather and
swaying pines that nobody
was going to get too far
away from him.
“I’m going to have to
play two really good rounds
on the weekend,” Johnson
said.
Johnson and McIlroy at
least are still in the game.
Jordan Spieth was headed
home after missing the cut
for the third straight year,
yet he didn’t sound terribly
upset. He chalked that up to
not being able to handle this
strand of grass when it gets
firm and crusty. Spieth’s last
hope ended with a tee shot
that bounced at the back of
the island-green 17th and
into the water.
The cut was at 2-over 146,
and there will be another cut
Saturday because more than
78 players advanced to the
weekend. That’s when the
tournament will finally start
to take shape, and while
Oosthuizen and Stanley
stood out with the best
scores of the second round,
both know it can change
quickly.
“We’re in a pretty
good spot going into this
weekend,” said Oosthuizen,
the 2010 British Open
champion who still hasn’t
won in America. “A lot of
golf to be played around this
golf course, and as we’ve
seen the last two days, you
can easily make a mistake
around this track.”
Yes, there were plenty of
those.
Along with Lahiri, the
other big number belonged
to Zac Blair. He hit three
shots into the water on the
par-3 17th and made a 9.