SPORTS
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017
1B
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MLB
Red Sox shut out Mariners to avoid sweep
Boston rookie
makes impact in
MLB debut
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — When
Chris Sale woke up
Wednesday, he was unaware
the Red Sox were on a four-
game losing streak.
“I actually fell asleep
before the end of it. I woke
up this morning and heard
the news,” Sale said of
Boston’s 13-inning loss the
previous night.
Sale was
brilliant,
pitching
Boston
seven innings
of three-hit
ball in a 4-0
win
over
the Seattle Mariners that
featured a home run by
20-year-old Rafael Devers
, who became the youngest
Boston player to hit a home
run in more than 50 years.
Sale headed back to the
team hotel early on Tuesday
night to be rested for a day
game. He didn’t know about
Seattle’s two-run rally in the
13th inning, shortly after
midnight.
About 12 hours later, the
4
Red Sox got
exactly what
they needed
Seattle
from
their
ace to avoid
being swept.
He struck out
11 , the 14th time this season
he reached double digits.
Sale allowed doubles to
Jean Segura and Guillermo
Heredia, and a broken-bat
single to Ben Gamel, but
none of the three to reach
base via hit ever advanced.
“It’s deception, it’s angle.
He does a lot of things well,”
Gamel said.
Sale (13-4) has struck out
at least nine batters in each
of his 12 road starts this
0
season, the longest streak
dating to 1913. He’s won
fi ve of his last six decisions
and became the fi rst AL
pitcher with 13 wins.
In two starts on Boston’s
trip, Sale allowed seven hits
in 13 innings and struck out
20.
“We’re watching one of
the better years ever pitched
by a major league pitcher
in the American League,”
Boston manager John Farrell
said. “We’re fortunate it’s in
our uniform.”
A day after his major
league debut, Devers led off
the third inning by sending
See MARINERS/2B
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Boston Red Sox’s Rafael Devers hits a single in the sev-
enth inning of a baseball game as Seattle Mariners catch-
er Carlos Ruiz looks on, Wednesday in Seattle.
Soccer
College Football
US brings Gold Cup home Trojans,
United
States’
Jordan
Morris
(8) cel-
ebrates
with
team-
mates
after
scoring
a goal
against
Jamaica
during
the
second
half of
the Gold
Cup fi nal
soccer
match
in Santa
Clara,
Calif.,
Wednes-
day, July
26, 2017.
AP Photo/
Marcio Jose
Sanchez
Jordan Morris scores game-winning goal in 88th minute to beat Jamaica
By JANIE MCCAULEY
Associated Press
United
States play-
ers celebrate
after beating
Jamaica
2-1 in the
Gold Cup
fi nal soc-
cer match
in Santa
Clara, Calif.,
Wednesday,
July 26,
2017.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. —
Jordan Morris scored a tiebreaking
goal in the 88th minute, and the
United States beat Jamaica 2-1
Wednesday night for its sixth
CONCACAF Gold Cup title and
fi rst since 2013.
Jozy Altidore’s goal on a
28-yard free kick in the 45th
minute beat backup goalkeeper
Dwayne Miller after Jamaica
captain Andre Blake left early with
AP Photo/Marcio
Jose Sanchez
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Jamaica
United States
1
2
a hand injury.
Je-Vaughn Watson tied the
score when he got away from
Morris for a 4-yard volley off
Kemar Lawrence’s 50th-minute
corner kick.
See GOLD CUP/2B
Huskies
picked as
preseason
favorites
Oregon picked fourth,
OSU fi fth in North
By GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Southern
California is the preseason pick to
win the Pac-12 in a poll of football
media, and defending champion
Washington is favored to win the
North Division.
The conference announced
the results Wednesday before its
preseason media
availabilities
in
Hollywood.
USC got 28
of 52 overall
fi rst-place votes,
topping
the
Huskies’ 22. Both
schools were clear favorites in
their respective divisions, getting
49 of the 52 votes for the top spot.
The Trojans won their fi nal
nine games last season behind
returning
quarterback
Sam
Darnold, culminating in a thrilling
Rose Bowl victory over Penn
State. Although USC must replace
playmakers at several key posi-
tions, coach Clay Helton returns
for his second full season with the
school’s usual roster loaded with
See PREDICTIONS/2B
College Football
Pac-12 will test shorter halftime, reduced TV timeouts this season
By DAN GREENSPAN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The
Pac-12 will shorten halftime
and reduce the number of
commercial breaks during
its non-conference schedule
this season as part of a trial
program to reduce the length
of its football games.
Halftime will be 15
minutes long, cut down from
the usual 20-minute break.
The number of commercial
breaks will be reduced and
they will be shorter in length,
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry
Scott said Wednesday.
Scott announced the initia-
tive as the Pac-12 kicked off
its media days in Hollywood.
The experiment is intended
to shorten ballooning game
times in an era of up-tempo
offenses running more plays
and the increased scoring that
comes with it.
“Just because metrics
show robust ratings and
attendance doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t be experimenting
and piloting with formats that
will keep the sport attractive,”
Scott said. “It’s incumbent on
us to look at the presentation
of the sport and make sure
the pace of play is moving as
much as possible and without
changing the fundamentals
of the game.”
Scott did not completely
dismiss
potential
rule
changes in the future to
address the length of games,
saying that the upcoming
experiment was part of a
larger, more comprehensive
review.
Scott noted that Pac-12
games have averaged nearly
3 hours and 30 minutes, more
than 30 minutes longer than
See PAC-12/2B
Sports shorts
Marlins score 22 runs to set team
record in win over Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Marlins
leadoff hitter Dee Gordon homered on the fi rst
pitch thrown by Yu Darvish, and things got no
better for the Texas Rangers as
Miami set a franchise record for
runs in a 22-10 victory Wednesday.
Christian Yelich hit a solo
homer in the fi rst for the Marlins,
and Marcell Ozuna’s three-run
triple in the fourth made it 9-2. J.T. Realmuto
and Giancarlo Stanton later went deep, Stanton’s
468-foot drive in the eighth being his majors-
leading 33rd homer.
Adrian Beltre homered and had two doubles,
giving the Rangers third baseman 2,996 career
hits before he was ejected from the game while
waiting on deck to bat again in the eighth.
Second-base umpire Gerry Davis motioned
for Beltre to get closer to the on-deck circle,
Beltre instead dragged circle closer to him.
“Just because you forgot
your keys on a day, that
doesn’t mean that’s the
canary in the coal mine.
At the same time, you
have to remember that
you did play in the NFL
and it is a real possibility.
I’m just monitoring it and
I’m not worried about it
right now.“
— Joe Thomas
Cleveland Browns offensive tackle
said his recent memory loss isn’t
alarming to him yet, but the
recent studies of football play-
ers and links to brain trauma is
something he’s watching closely.
Tri-City Dust Devils place four on
Northwest League All-Star team
PASCO, Wash. — The Tri-City Dust Devils
will be represented by four of its players at the
Northwest League / Pioneer League All-Star
game next week.
Pitchers Jose Galindo, Henry
Henry and Emmanuel Ramirez,
plus outfi elder Luis Asuncion
were selected for the game,
which will be played Aug. 1 in
Hillsboro.
Asuncion has a .282 batting average in 36
games this season with a team-high three home
runs and 18 RBI.
Ramirez leads Tri-City with 48 1/3 innings
pitched and touts a 2-1 record with a 2.61
ERA. Henry is 1-3 with a 2.83 ERA in 28 2/3
innings over six starts, and Galindo has not
allowed a run in 14 1/3 innings this season
spanning 10 games as a reliever.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1986 — Greg Lemond
becomes the fi rst American
to win the Tour de France.
LeMond’s teammate, Bernard
Hinault of France, fi nishes
second.
1987 — The Salt Lake Trap-
pers, an independent baseball
team in the Pioneer League, have
their record 29-game winning
streak snapped with a 7-5 loss to
Billings.
2015 — The Arizona Cardi-
nals hire Jen Welter to coach
inside linebackers through their
upcoming training camp and
preseason. Welter is believed
to be the fi rst woman to hold a
coaching position of any kind
in the NFL.
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sports@eastoregonian.com