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SPORTS Saturday, May 27, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3B Soccer Cascadia rivals clash with national team duty on horizon By TIM BOOTH Associated Press TUKWILA, Wash. — When Portland and Seattle meet Saturday in the first matchup between the Cascadia rivals this season, there will be no lack of intensity or acri- mony. No one would expect anything less when the Timbers and Sounders meet, especially now with both being able to claim championships on their MLS resumes. “(The rivalry games), I think, do set the tone for the rest of the season in a lot of ways,” Portland coach Caleb Porter said. “Obviously it’s not the only time we’ll play them, but because it’s bigger than 3 points, in terms of magnitude — the supporters and how they feel about it, and the players and how they feel about it — you want to get that result even more so. It’s the best medicine, when you haven’t won, to get 3 points.” But the timing of this rivalry match makes things a bit uneasy for a handful of players. For the likes of Jordan Morris, Clint Dempsey, Darlington Nagbe and possibly a few others, a key period of World Cup qualifying matches is on the horizon. The U.S. national team will face Venezuela in a friendly on June 3 in Salt Lake City before two hugely important qualifiers — June 8 against Trin- idad and Tobago in Commerce City, Colorado, and June 11 against Mexico in Mexico City. MLS Seattle Portland Sounders Timbers (3-5-4) (5-4-3) • Today, 11:30 a.m. • at Providence Park, Portland The U.S. is expected to announce the roster for its upcoming training camp and those matches soon, and the last thing any player wants is to pick up an injury right before the qualifiers. “Obviously jumping into the international game it’s a different level and it’s pretty exciting, but I think you try and have the same mentality to go in and work hard every day and try to get better,” Morris said. “I guess it’s a little different going into (national team) camp that I have to prove myself a little bit more. There are a lot of good forwards and I want to fight for some time on the field so I have to go into every practice and prove myself.” Morris understands the risk that comes with trying to balance club commitments and national team duty. He was unavailable for both U.S. qualifying matches in March after injuring his ankle in an MLS match just before reporting for national team camp. Morris was left at home as a spectator while the U.S. beat Honduras and played to a 1-1 draw at Panama. “You have to try and push it out and focus on the now,” Morris said. “Obviously, the most important thing is this game this weekend.” Seattle defender Brad Evans likely won’t be selected for camp in this round of qualifying after recently returning from an injury. Having played in World Cup qual- ifiers in the past, Evans understands the difficult dynamic that comes with knowing a national team opportunity is on the horizon while not sacrificing performance for the club. “Ultimately you’ve got to be smart in certain situations,” Evans said. “But at the same time, if you don’t perform well with your club team you don’t get called in with the national team. And (U.S. coach) Bruce Arena will see that.” Rodriguez strong, Red Sox down Mariners for 5th straight win By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON — The Red Sox scored runs in bunches in tallying four consecutive victories. They leaned on pitching and defense to earn their latest. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six scoreless innings and the Red Sox took advantage of a sloppy performance by the Seattle Mariners for their season- high fifth straight win, 3-0 on Friday night. It was the third win in a row for Rodriguez (4-1), who gave up just five hits and struck out four while throwing a season-high 112 pitches. Craig Kimbrel earned his 13th save. “I just go out there and pitch,” Rodriguez said. “I’m never really thinking about numbers. I just go out there and throw my pitches and do the best I can do.” That effort is producing one of the best stretches of his three-year career. Rodriguez has pitched at least six innings in his last seven starts, going 4-0 in that span. He hasn’t allowed a run in 10 innings and only 11 runs in his last 49 1/3 innings. His ERA is just 2.01 over that same period. Seattle Boston 0 3 “He was amazing,” Jackie Bradley Jr. said. “Put zeroes on the board all night long. And he made the big pitch when he needed to.” The only run support Rodriguez needed came in the second inning, when Hanley Ramirez scored on Josh Rutledge’s RBI groundout. Boston added two more runs in the sixth, scoring on a wild pitch and passed ball. Manager John Farrell said his 24-year-old pitcher is in a “very good place” right now. “He was powerful tonight,” he said. “It’s just a matter of his abilities coming together. This has always been an extremely talented young guy. We’ve talked about his maturity, we’ve talked about his progression. It’s been on display here for a good number of starts consecu- tively.” Yovani Gallardo (2-5) took the loss. He lasted 5 1/3 innings, gave up seven hits and was responsible for Boston pitcher E d u a r- do Ro- driguez delivers during the first inning of a base- ball game against the Seat- tle Mar- iners at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday. AP Photo/ Charles Krupa all three of Boston’s runs. “The whole night obvi- ously wasn’t consistent,” he said. Seattle has won just one of its last seven. Meanwhile, Boston gave Rodriguez got lots of help defensively. Bradley had a pair of nice plays, getting an outfield assist in the second and running down another ball on the warning track in the sixth. In addition to the pitching miscues, the Mariners had all kinds of issues in the wet conditions, committing two fielding errors. The Red Sox left 11 runners on base, leaving the door open for the Mariners to get back in the game. But Seattle couldn’t capitalize, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Mari- ners also left seven runners stranded. TRAINER’S ROOM Mariners: LHP James Paxton (strained left forearm) was slated to make a rehab start Friday night in Double-A Arkansas. He has been on the 10-day disabled list since May 5. He could be activated for a start at the end of the month against Colorado. Red Sox: Infielder Marco Hernandez will be out the remainder of the season after undergoing stabilization surgery on his left shoulder on Friday. Hernandez was placed on the disabled list May 4 with a left shoulder misalign- ment. The 24-year-old hit .276 with two RBIs in 21 games. ... A night after he left the game with left knee pain, 2B Dustin Pedroia was held out Friday for what Farrell said was “precau- tionary reasons” because of the wet playing surface. MISSING: OFFENSE Mariners manager Scott Servais said they are doing everything they can to find production from an offense that has gone missing. “Offensively, we strug- gled to put innings together. That’s kind of been the story here for the last week or so, we just haven’t gotten the line moving at all, for whatever reason,” he said. “Guys are frustrated by it, we all are. We know we’re better than that, offensively. It’s not happening right now.” Seattle was held score- less for the fourth time this season. UP NEXT Mariners: RHP Rob Whalen (0-2, 4.09 ERA in Triple-A Tacoma) will be making his first major league start since last season with Atlanta. He will be 12th different starting pitcher the Mariners have used this season. Red Sox: LHP Brian Johnson (1-0, 7.20 ERA) will be making his second major league start this year and third of his career. SCOREBOARD Golf Spieth avoids Colonial cut scare, has shot to defend title By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Jordan Spieth normally doesn’t concern himself with the cut line in the middle of a round. Unless the Dallas native is in danger of staying home on consecutive weekends in what amount to his hometown events. Spieth recovered from a bad start by going 5 under over his final 13 holes at the Colonial on Friday, and his 2-under 68 put the defending champion at 2-under 138, four shots behind second-round leaders Webb Simpson, Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee and Scott Piercy. “When your back’s against the wall and you feel the nerves kick up because you’ve got to do something, and you’re not going to be able to play both week- ends in town,” said Spieth , coming off missed cuts in The Players Champion- ship and AT&T Byron Nelson. “That would have been really, really tough for me to swallow if I missed the cut. And it was in my head.” Lee birdied the last hole for a 64, the low round of the tournament on a hot and windy day. Kisner also had a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, for a second straight 67. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, and Piercy each shot 66 to join the group at 6-under 134. Masters champion Sergio Garcia (66) and fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm (69), who played in the same group, were at 5 under along with England’s Paul Casey (66) and Sean O’Hair (68). Phil Mickelson didn’t have a birdie while shooting a 75 that left him at 2 over, three shots clear of the cut in his first Colonial since the two-time champ missed the cut in 2010. Spieth said the key to the recovery was a short bogey putt at 14, his fifth hole, that dropped him to 3 over after he opened with a par 70. The 23-year-old broke from his recent routine by seeking caddy Michael Greller’s input. “He said, ‘Hit this one with confi- dence and walk it in,’” Spieth said about his third bogey in the first five holes. “I stepped and walked it in. I think it was kind of shocking because it was a bogey putt to go 3 over. No one really walks those in. But it was exactly what I needed.” Local Slate PREP BASEBALL Tuesday #4 St. Mary’s, Medford at #1 Stanfield, (3A semifinals), TBD PREP SOFTBALL Tuesday #3 Pendleton at #2 Marist Catholic (5A semifi- nals), TBD #3 Union/Cove at #3 Pilot Rock (2A/1A semifi- nals), TBD Prep Scores BASEBALL Quarterfinals Class 6A #1 West Linn 8, #8 Gresham 1 #4 Beaverton 9, #28 Lake Oswego 6 #3 Sheldon 5, #6 Grant 4 #2 Clackamas 2, #10 Westview 1 Class 5A #1 Churchill 10, #8 Bend 0 #5 Wilsonville 6, #13 Lebanon 2 #3 Crescent Valley 13, #6 Dallas 6 #2 Crater 4, #7 Putnam 1 Class 4A #9 Astoria 8, #1 Hidden Valley 7 #4 La Grande 4, #5 Sweet Home 0 #6 Philomath 6, #3 Sisters 5, 8 innings #2 Henley 16, #7 Banks 7 Class 3A #1 Stanfield 23, #9 Taft 11 #4 St. Mary’s, Medford 8, #5 Santiam Christian 0 #6 Glide 10, #3 Dayton 2 #10 Pleasant Hill 10, #2 La Pine 8 Class 2A/1A #1 Dufur 16, #8 Umpqua Vall. Christ. 1 #5 Reedsport 1, #4 Monroe 0 #3 Regis 5, #6 Oakland 0 #2 Knappa 22, #7 Sherman 2 SOFTBALL Quarterfinals Class 6A #1 Oregon City 7, #9 McNary 4 #5 Westview 8, #13 Beaverton 7 #3 North Medford 4, #6 Glencoe 3, 8 innings #7 Tualatin 4, #15 Grants Pass 0 Class 5A #1 Dallas 3, #9 Lebanon 2 #5 Silverton 7, #4 Ridgeview 6 #3 Pendleton 4, #6 Hood River 2 #2 Marist Cath. 6, #7 Putnam 1 Class 4A #1 Henley 11, #9 Scappoose 1 #5 La Grande 4, #13 Elmira 0 #6 Crook County 6, #3 Mac-Hi 3 #10 Gladstone 3, #2 Banks 0 Class 3A #1 Rainier 5, #9 Amity 1 #4 Vale 5, #5 Pleasant Hill 4 #3 Dayton 8, #6 Glide 2 #2 Scio 8, #10 Blanchet Cath. 1 Class 2A/1A #1 Kennedy 9, #9 Monroe 4 #5 North Douglas 7, #4 Central Linn 4 #3 Union 13, #6 Bonanza 3, 5 innings #2 Pilot Rock 11, #10 Lost River 1 Basketball NBA Playoffs FINALS (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) All games televised on ABC Golden State vs. Cleveland Thursday, June 1: Cleveland at Golden State, 6 p.m. Sunday, June 4: Cleveland at Golden State, 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 7: Golden State at Cleveland, 6 p.m. Friday, June 9: Golden State at Cleveland, 6 p.m. x-Monday, June 12: Cleveland at Golden State, 6 p.m. x-Thursday, June 15: Golden State at Cleveland, 6 p.m. x-Sunday, June 18: Cleveland at Golden State, 5 p.m. Hockey NHL Playoffs STANLEY CUP FINAL (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) Nashville vs. Pittsburgh Monday, May 29: Nashville at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. (NBC) Wednesday, May 31: Nashville at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. (NBCSN) Saturday, June 3: Pittsburgh at Nashville, 5 p.m. (NBCSN) Monday, June 5: Pittsburgh at Nashville, 5 p.m. (NBC) x-Thursday, June 8: Nashville at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. (NBC) x-Sunday, June 11: Pittsburgh at Nashville, 5 p.m. (NBC) x-Wednesday, June 14: Nashville at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. (NBC) Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB New York 27 18 .600 — Boston 26 21 .553 2 Baltimore 25 21 .543 2½ Tampa Bay 26 25 .510 4 Toronto 22 26 .458 6½ Central Division W L Pct GB Minnesota 25 19 .568 — Cleveland 24 22 .522 2 Detroit 22 25 .468 4½ Chicago 21 25 .457 5 Kansas City 20 27 .426 6½ West Division W L Pct GB Houston 33 16 .673 — Los Angeles 25 26 .490 9 Texas 24 25 .490 9 Oakland 22 25 .468 10 Seattle 21 28 .429 12 ——— Friday’s Games Detroit at Chicago White Sox, ppd. Oakland 4, N.Y. Yankees 1 Toronto 7, Texas 6 Boston 3, Seattle 0 Kansas City 6, Cleveland 4 Miami 8, L.A. Angels 5 Chicago White Sox 8, Detroit 2, 2nd game Houston 2, Baltimore 0 Tampa Bay 5, Minnesota 2 Saturday’s Games Oakland (Cotton 3-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-2), 10:05 a.m. Texas (Darvish 5-2) at Toronto (Estrada 3-2), 10:07 a.m. Detroit (Farmer 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Holland 4-3), 11:10 a.m., 1st game Tampa Bay (Odorizzi 3-2) at Minnesota (Mejia 1-1), 11:10 a.m. Seattle (Whalen 0-0) at Boston (Johnson 1-0), 1:05 p.m. Kansas City (Vargas 5-3) at Cleveland (Salazar 3-4), 1:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Ramirez 4-3) at Miami (Nicolino 0-1), 1:10 p.m. Detroit (Fulmer 5-2) at Chicago White Sox (Dan- ish 0-0), 2:10 p.m., 2nd game Baltimore (Miley 1-2) at Houston (Keuchel 7-0), 4:15 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 29 18 .617 — Atlanta 21 25 .457 7½ New York 20 26 .435 8½ Miami 17 29 .370 11½ Philadelphia 16 30 .348 12½ Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 25 22 .532 — Milwaukee 25 23 .521 ½ St. Louis 23 22 .511 1 Cincinnati 23 24 .489 2 Pittsburgh 22 27 .449 4 West Division W L Pct GB Colorado 32 18 .640 — Arizona 31 19 .620 1 Los Angeles 29 20 .592 2½ San Francisco 20 30 .400 12 San Diego 18 32 .360 14 ——— Friday’s Games Cincinnati 5, Philadelphia 2 N.Y. Mets 8, Pittsburgh 1 Washington 5, San Diego 1 Miami 8, L.A. Angels 5 Arizona 4, Milwaukee 2, 10 innings Colorado 10, St. Louis 0 L.A. Dodgers 4, Chicago Cubs 0 Atlanta 2, San Francisco 0 Saturday’s Games Cincinnati (Arroyo 3-4) at Philadelphia (Eickhoff 0-5), 1:05 p.m. San Diego (Richard 3-5) at Washington (Stras- burg 5-1), 1:05 p.m. Arizona (Greinke 6-2) at Milwaukee (Anderson 2-1), 1:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Ramirez 4-3) at Miami (Nicolino 0-1), 1:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Lackey 4-4) at L.A. Dodgers (McCarthy 4-1), 4:15 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Wheeler 3-2) at Pittsburgh (Cole 2-5), 4:15 p.m. St. Louis (Wainwright 4-3) at Colorado (Freeland 5-2), 6:10 p.m. Atlanta (Foltynewicz 3-4) at San Francisco (Blach 2-2), 7:05 p.m. Softball NCAA Division I Super Regionals (Best-of-3; x-if necessary) Host school is home team for Game 1; visiting school is home team for Game 2; coin flip deter- mines home team for Game 3 At Gainesville, Fla. Thursday: Alabama 3, Florida 0 Friday: Florida 2, Alabama 0 Saturday: Florida vs. Alabama, 2 p.m. At Los Angeles Thursday: UCLA 8, Mississippi 7, 11 innings Friday: UCLA 1, Mississippi 0 At Tallahassee, Fla. Friday: Florida State 3, LSU 1 Saturday: LSU vs. Florida State, 12 p.m. x-Sunday: Florida State vs. LSU, 10 a.m. At Knoxville, Tenn Friday: Tennessee 8, Texas A&M 1 Saturday: Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, 2 p.m. x-Sunday: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M, 12 p.m. At Auburn, Ala. Friday: Oklahoma 4, Auburn 0 Saturday: Oklahoma vs. Auburn, 10 a.m. x-Sunday: Auburn vs. Oklahoma, 10 a.m. At Seattle Friday: Washington 10, Utah 4 Saturday: Washington vs. Utah, 6 p.m. x-Sunday: Utah vs. Washington, 7 p.m. At Eugene, Ore. Friday: Oregon 4, Kentucky 0 Saturday: Kentucky vs. Oregon, 4 p.m. x-Sunday: Oregon vs. Kentucky, 12 p.m. At Tucson, Ariz. Friday: Arizona 3, Baylor 2 Saturday: Baylor vs. Arizona, 6 p.m. x-Sunday: Arizona vs. Baylor, 4 p.m. Golf PGA Tour Dean & DeLuca Invitational Friday At Colonial Country Club Fort Worth, Texas Purse: $6.9 million Yardage: 7,209; Par 70 Second Round Webb Simpson 68-66—134 Kevin Kisner 67-67—134 Danny Lee 70-64—134 Scott Piercy 68-66—134 Paul Casey 69-66—135 Sergio Garcia 69-66—135 Jon Rahm 66-69—135 Sean O’Hair 67-68—135 Graeme McDowell 66-70—136 Tony Finau 72-65—137 Kelly Kraft 65-73—138 Jordan Spieth 70-68—138 Kevin Tway 68-70—138 Scott Brown 66-72—138 Whee Kim 68-70—138 Bill Haas 69-69—138 Brian Gay 69-69—138 Stewart Cink 68-70—138 Brian Harman 69-69—138 -6 -6 -6 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 Motorsports NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Lineup Race Sunday, 3 p.m. (TV: FOX) At Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, N.C. (Car number in parentheses) 1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford 2. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota 3. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet 4. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota 5. (77) Erik Jones, Toyota 6. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota 7. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford 8. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota 9. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford 10. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford 11. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet 12. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford 13. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford 14. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet 15. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford 16. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet 17. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet 18. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford 19. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet 20. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota 21. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet 22. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet 23. (22) Joey Logano, Ford 24. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet 25. (43) Regan Smith, Ford 26. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet 27. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet 28. (38) David Ragan, Ford 29. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet 30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford 31. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford 32. (23) Gray Gaulding, Toyota 33. (7) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet 34. (72) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet 35. (15) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet 36. (51) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet 37. (55) Derrike Cope, Toyota 38. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet 39. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet 40. (83) Corey LaJoie, Toyota INDYCAR Indy 500 Lineup Race Sunday, 8 a.m. (TV: ABC) At Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis Lap length: 2.5 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda 2. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet 3. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda 4. (26) Takuma Sato, Honda 5. (29) Fernando Alonso, Honda 6. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet 7. (10) Tony Kanaan, Honda 8. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda 9. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet 10. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda 11. (19) Ed Jones, Honda 12. (16) Oriol Servia, Honda 13. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda 14. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda 15. (8) Max Chilton, Honda 16. (83) Charlie Kimball, Honda 17. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda 18. (22) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet 19. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet 20. (77) Jay Howard, Honda 21. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet 22. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet 23. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet 24. (14) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet 25. (88) Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet 26. (4) Conor Daly, Chevrolet 27. (50) Jack Harvey, Honda 28. (63) Pippa Mann, Honda 29. (11) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet 30. (44) Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet 31. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Chevrolet 32. (40) Zach Veach, Chevrolet 33. (18) James Davison, Honda Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts Toronto FC 8 1 5 29 Chicago 7 3 3 24 Orlando City 6 4 2 20 NYC FC 6 4 2 20 Columbus 6 7 1 19 New York 5 6 2 17 Philadelphia 4 4 4 16 New England 4 4 4 16 Atl. United FC 4 4 3 15 Montreal 3 4 4 13 D.C. United 3 6 2 11 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts Sporting K.C. 6 3 4 22 FC Dallas 5 2 4 19 Houston 6 5 1 19 San Jose 5 4 4 19 Portland 5 4 3 18 Vancouver 5 5 1 16 Los Angeles 4 5 2 14 Seattle 3 5 4 13 Minn. United 3 7 2 11 Real Salt Lake 3 8 2 11 Colorado 2 8 1 7 GF 26 23 14 22 20 13 19 20 24 18 9 GA 12 16 17 13 24 19 15 17 16 18 19 GF 16 15 22 14 22 15 15 16 18 11 9 GA 9 8 20 14 20 16 17 19 30 24 17 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Friday’s Game Toronto FC 5, Columbus 0 Today’s Games Portland at Seattle, Noon D.C. United at Vancouver, 4 p.m. New England at New York, 4:30 p.m. Orlando City at Minnesota United, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Real Salt Lake, 5 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at Colorado, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at San Jose, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Games New York City FC at Atlanta United FC, 2 p.m. Houston at FC Dallas, 5 p.m.
