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SPORTS WEEKEND, AUGUST 19-20, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS MLB HERMISTON Dawgs hungry to leave their mark Hermiston senior Dayshawn Neal tackles a Bulldog ball carrier while se- nior Tyler Rohrman lurks closely during a drill at practice on Friday at Kenni- son Field in Hermis- ton. Staff photo by Eric Singer M’s win big in Tampa Cruz hits longest- ever home run at Tropicana Field By DICK SCANLON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nelson Cruz didn’t quite know what to make of his 30th home run, which put a charge into the ninth inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Seattle T h e distance of the solo blast into the upper deck was Tampa Bay measured by MLB Stat- cast as 482 feet, which makes it the longest ever measured at Tropicana Field. “Cool. Do they give a prize for that?” asked Cruz, who also had two doubles and scored three runs for the See MARINERS/3B 7 1 Hermiston football wants to make final season in OSAA memorable By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Staff photo by Eric Singer Hermiston junior QB Andrew James throws a pass during Friday’s practice at Kennison Field in Hermiston. The Hermiston Bulldogs begin their fi nal athletic year as members of the OSAA this fall, and the football team is not shy in letting know what their goals are for the farewell season. “We defi nitely want to leave on a high note,” Hermiston senior Joey Gutierrez said confi - dently after practice on Friday at Kennison Field. “We want to leave our mark on the state of Oregon and that’s what were going for this year.” The Bulldogs certainly have the personnel to put together a successful 2017 season, as the team brings back numerous big-time contributors including QB Andrew James, star WR/DB Dayshawn Neal, a solid DB/WR in Gutierrez, RB/LB Jonathan Hinkle and a host of solid offen- sive and defensive linemen. With that returning core plus a Special District 1 that could be a little more wide open this season with teams like Summit, Redmond, and Bend hit hard by graduation, things on paper set up very well for the Bulldogs here in mid-Au- gust. However, it is still only mid-August and Hermiston knows there is still a lot of work left to do. The Bulldogs wrapped up its fi rst week of practices with full gear and full contact on a warm Friday afternoon, and while the players are thankful for a two-day breather this weekend, Gutierrez said he was ecstatic to get back into the swing of things. “It’s good to get a group of guys together who have put in the work in the summer and now come out and chase a common goal,” Gutierrez said. “Now we have to pay attention to small details in practices in order to get these big goals ... when you’re starting small and getting those down, you can work toward those big things.” Third-year head coach David Faaeteete said he’s pretty pleased with the effort and results from the team for the fi rst week, as they continue to build on the hard work put in throughout the summer in the weight room, in 7-on-7, and other team workouts. The Bulldogs changed up their offseason goals to get a better start on the season, after Herm- iston went 1-3 out of the gates in 2016 before fi nishing on a 4-1 stretch to make the playoffs. “We wanted to get bigger, faster stronger and develop leadership,” he said. “That’s a big focus for us, we have a good group of seniors that want to be See DAWGS/2B AP Photo/Chris O’Meara Seattle’s Nelson Cruz cel- ebrates after his home run off Tampa Bay relief pitcher Brad Boxberger during the ninth inning of Friday’s game in St. Pe- tersburg, Fla. MLS NFL Valeri scores, Timbers beat Red Bulls Seahawks’ preseason win comes at a cost Portland rebounds after weekend loss By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Diego Valeri scored his 14th goal of the season and the Portland Timbers beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 on Friday night. The Red Bulls, who had won fi ve of their previous six games, rested Bradley Wright-Phillips after a short turnaround because of a U.S. Open Cup semifi nal earlier in this week. Valeri’s goal in the 66th minute was his 51st with the Timbers, tying him with Fanendo Adi for the most in franchise history across all eras. He leads all Portland Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via AP Portland Timbers’ Zarek Valentin (16) clears the ball during an MLS soccer match against the New York Red Bulls in Portland on Friday evening. scorers this season. Second-half sub Darren Mattocks added a goal for the Timbers just as stoppage time ran out at the end. It was his second goal of the season. The Timbers were 2-2-1 in their previous fi ve games, including a 4-1 loss at Toronto last weekend. New York Portland 0 2 New York was coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind U.S. Open Cup semifi nal victory over FC Cincinnati on Tuesday night. The Red Bulls didn’t bring in midfi elder Sacha Kljestan until the second half, and left Wright-Phillips on the bench for the duration. Midfi elder Daniel Royer missed his second game with a knee injury. Kljestan leads the league with 12 assists this season, while Wright-Phillips is ranked third with 14 goals, tied with Valeri. See TIMBERS/3B Fant suffers signifi cant knee injury By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Russell Wilson looked just fi ne throwing for 206 yards and two touchdowns in the fi rst half, and the Seattle Seahawks suffered a signifi cant injury loss to left tackle George Fant in their 20-13 victory over Minnesota the Minnesota Vikings on Friday night. Wilson picked apart a Vikings secondary that played without starting cornerback Trey Waynes and safety Andrew Sedenjo, completing 13 of 18 passes. He hit Kasen Williams on a 1-yard Seattle touchdown pass and found Mike Davis on a 22-yard catch-and-run TD late in the fi rst half. But the Seahawks may have lost Fant for an extended period to what appeared to be a signifi cant right knee injury, throwing the offensive line into fl ux See SEAHAWKS/3B 13 20 Sports shorts Orioles’ Machado hits 3 home runs, including walk-off grand slam BALTIMORE (AP) — Manny Machado capped a three-homer night with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the Los Angeles Angels 9-7 on Friday night in a game that featured 10 home runs. Machado hit his seventh career slam off Keynan Middleton (4-1), who entered with two on and one out in the ninth. After Tim Beckham singled to load the bases, Machado hit a drive far over Machado the center-fi eld wall to give the Orioles their fi rst lead. Machado also hit a two-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the fi fth to fi nish with seven RBIs. Albert Pujols set the tone for the game in the fi rst inning with a milestone homer off Jeremy Hellickson, the 609th of his career. “It’s just a regular NBA problem, right? A lot of teams have gone through this before ... Both of those guys won a championship together. They love each other. If Kyrie wants to do something else, that’s on him. I’m sure whatever happens, it’ll work out for the best for both of them.“ — Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors foward speaking on the supposed rift between Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, prompting Irving to demand a trade. But Durant believes the two will work things out and Irving will remain with the Cavaliers. Walla Walla team shut out in Little League WS opener WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The Walla Walla Valley little league team had an eye-opening debut at the Little League World Series on Friday afternoon, dropping its opening game 9-0 to Ranch Santa Margarita, California. The California team opened up the game with a grand slam by Joey Gray in the fi rst inning, and Gray’s twin brother Bobby no-hit Walla Walla through 5 1/3 innings. Andrew Hall picked up Walla Walla’s fi rst hit of the game in the sixth inning. The loss drops Walla Walla into the elimination bracket, where they will next play the Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and can also be streamed on WatchESPN.com Attendance for the game was 8,153. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1909 — The fi rst race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twelve-thousand spectators watch Austrian engi- neer Louis Schwitzer win a fi ve-mile race with an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour. 2007 — Top-ranked Roger Federer reaches another measure of tennis greatness, winning his 50th tournament title by beating James Blake 6-1, 6-4 in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. The 26-year-old Swiss star is the fi fth-youngest player in history to reach 50, and only the ninth overall since 1968 to win so many tournaments. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com