SPORTS
THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
Hillclimb ready for second go
Great dirt, hill bringing
more riders to Pendleton
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Logan Mead of Concord, California begins his ascent at
the inaugural Nitro in the Blues hillclimb on July 24, 2016
outside of Pendleton.
When the Nitro in the Blues motor-
cycle hillclimb debuted just outside
of Pendleton in 2016, event promoter
Ron Dillon soon found out he had
uncovered a hidden gem.
The hill chosen for the event,
located on the Jim Whitney Ranch at
41095 Taylor Lane, drew rave reviews
from riders throughout the three-day
event, mainly for the quality of the
dirt when wet. And since that event,
word has spread around the hillclimber
community and is set up to make the
second Nitro in the Blues even better.
“We learned that this is seriously
the best dirt in the West,” said Dillon,
of R&R Promotions based in Boise,
Idaho. “We thought it would be rocky
and slick but it’s not. As long as it has
water, it is amazing for the riders.”
Dillon added that former North
American Hillclimbers Association
world champion Kerry Peterson of
Yorba Linda, California dubbed it
the ‘Chocolate Cake hill’ last year,
something that promoters ran with and
turned into t-shirts and other apparel.
The event kicks off on Friday
morning with semi-pro competition
beginning at 8 a.m. that will run
through approximately 2 p.m. Riders
in that class include women, mini-
bikes and old-timers.
See HILLCLIMB/2B
MLB
MLS
Paxton shines as Seattle wins
Mariners pitcher
allows one run
in seven innings
Seattle
Mariners
starting
pitcher
James
Paxton
delivers
during
the fi rst
inning
of a
baseball
game
against
the
Houston
Astros,
Wednes-
day, July
19, 2017,
in Hous-
ton.
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Not many pitchers
have been able to slow down the
Houston Astros this season.
James Paxton has done it repeat-
edly.
Paxton had another strong start
against Houston and
rookie Ben Gamel
powered the offense
with a two-run homer
Seattle
to give the Seattle
Mariners a 4-1 victory
over the Astros on
Wednesday.
“Paxton
was
outstanding today,”
Houston
manager
Scott
Servais said. “It’s
exactly what the
doctor ordered. He
was on top of his game.”
Paxton (9-3) allowed six hits and
one run in seven innings, after not
allowing a run in his previous two
starts against Houston this season.
It’s the fourth straight win for Paxton,
who struck out seven.
“He’s really good,” Houston
manager A.J. Hinch said. “His arm
strength is at the top end of left-
handed starters in the league ... a lot of
the story today is just about how good
he was. We couldn’t quite break out
and have a big inning against him.”
Wednesday’s
performance
improved Paxton to 2-0 with a 0.45
ERA and 20 strikeouts against the AL
West-leading Astros this year.
“This was a big series for us and
a big road trip, we went fi ve out of
AP Photo/
Eric Christian
Smith
4
1
Timbers
thumped
at home
Portland, Real Salt
Lake tally seven
yellow cards
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Joao
Plata scored twice and Kyle
Beckerman added a goal
before receiving a red card in
Real Salt Lake’s 4-1 victory
over
the
Portland
Timbers on
Wednesday
Real Salt Lake night.
T h e
eventful
m a t c h
featured
s e v e n
Portland
yellow cards
and three red
cards.
Albert
Rusnak also scored for Salt
Lake (7-12-2), and Jack
Barmby connected for Port-
land (7-8-6)
The action kicked off in
the 10th minute, when Beck-
erman received a pass 25
yards from the Portland goal.
With no defenders attempting
to close in on him, the
midfi elder unleashed a right-
footed rocket over leaping
goalkeeper Jake Gleeson for
his third goal of the season.
Salt Lake doubled the
lead in the 50th minute and
Portland got a consolation
goal in second-half stoppage
time, when Barmby hit a
long, bouncing shot past
goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
4
1
See MARINERS/2B
Tour de France
Aru falters, Froome soars in thin air of the Alps
Froome pads
lead with fourth
Tour win in sight
By JOHN LEICESTER &
SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press
BRIANCON, France —
One series of giant Tour de
France mountains out of the
way. One more to come. And
one less rival for race leader
Chris Froome to watch quite
so closely.
By sticking like fl y-paper
to the enterprising Romain
Bardet, despite the French
rider’s efforts to distance
him on the race’s highest
peak, Froome took a big step
Wednesday toward a fourth
Tour victory this weekend in
Paris.
Italian Fabio Aru, on the
other hand, fell behind on
the barren slopes of scree and
patchy grass in the thinning
air of the mighty Col du Gali-
bier, one of the Tour’s most
fearsome Alpine climbs.
Like a yo-yo, the Italian
repeatedly worked his way
back to Froome’s group
of top contenders. But a
last burst of speed from
Bardet toward the top of the
mountain pass, which rises
2,642 meters (8,668 feet)
in altitude, proved decisive.
Froome stayed with the
French rider who stood next
to him on the Paris podium
last year, in second place.
Aru did not.
On the long and hairy
high-speed descent from
there to the fi nish, they
pedaled furiously to prevent
Aru from catching them,
whisking through the bends
with no safety barriers and
no margin for error. At their
quickest, the riders descended
at 75 kph (45 mph).
Rigoberto Uran, the
Colombian who is making
a habit at this Tour of being
in the right place at the right
time, always in Froome’s
See TOUR/2B
AP Photo/Christophe Ena
Britain’s Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader’s
yellow jersey, is followed by Italy’s Fabio Aru as they
climb Croix de Fer pass during the seventeenth stage
of the Tour de France over 113.7 miles on Wednesday.
Sports shorts
Red Sox release 3B Sandoval
BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have
offi cially released Pablo Sandoval because
the third baseman didn’t report after being
designated for assignment last week.
It offi cially ends the Boston
tenure for the once-celebrated
free agent, who never was
healthy enough to live up to the
expectations that came with the
$95 million contract he signed in
2014.
With the Red Sox unable to fi nd
Sandoval
a team willing to take on part of
his salary, the 2012 World Series
MVP with the San Francisco Giants moves on
after a total of 161 games, 575 at-bats, 136 hits
and 14 homers for Boston but not a single one
of them in the postseason.
Various media reports on Wednesday night
indicated that Sandoval will re-sign with the
Giants pending physical.
“He can help us a
lot; we can help him.
He wants to play in
the playoffs and be
competitive. He’s a very
talented player. I think if
we get him — when we
get him — I think (we’re)
top three in the West,
easy.“
— C.J. McCollum
Portland Trail Blazers guard
speaking about Portland’s inter-
est in acquiring All-Star forward
Carmelo Anthony, who has
played his way out of favor with
the New York Knicks.
Hillsboro Hops to host MiLB
rookie league All-Star Game
HILLSBORO — The top players in the
Northwest League and Pioneer League will
descend on western Oregon
on August 1.
The Hillsboro Hops’ Ron
Tonkin Field is the site for the
Northwest League/Pioneer
League All-Star Game,
which pits the best players
from both short season minor
leagues against each other.
It’s only the third year of the event, which
debuted in 2015 in Spokane, Washington. The
Northwest League is 2-0 so far in the meetings,
winning the debut game 6-5 and then winning
11-5 in the 2016 game in Ogden, Utah.
Fesitvities include a Fan Fest presented
by Intel and a home run derby aside from the
game itself. Tickets are still available and range
from $10-22 a piece.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1858 — Fans are charged
for the fi rst time to see a base-
ball game. Approximately
1,500 fans pay 50 cents to see
the New York All-Stars beat
Brooklyn 22-18 at Fashion
Race Course on Long Island.
2014 — Rory McIlroy
completes a wire-to-wire
victory in the British Open
to capture the third leg of the
career Grand Slam. McIlroy
closes with a 1-under 71
for a two-shot victory over
Sergio Garcia and Rickie
Fowler. McIlroy joins Jack
Nicklaus and Tiger Woods
as the only players with
three different majors at age
25 or younger.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com