SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2017
1B
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NBA
HERMISTON
Cavaliers send Irving to Celtics
Cleveland gets back
Isaiah Thomas, Jae
Crowder in deal
By TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving
was tired of being teammates with
LeBron James.
Now he has to fi gure out how to
Irving
Thomas
beat him.
Cleveland’s All-Star guard, who
asked owner Dan Gilbert to trade
him earlier this summer, was dealt
Tuesday night to the Boston Celtics
for fellow All-Star Isaiah Thomas,
forward Jae Crowder, center Ante
Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ unpro-
tected 2018 fi rst-round draft pick.
“It’s extremely rare to trade for a
25-year-old player that’s done what
he’s done, the offensive weapon
that he is,” Celtics president Danny
Ainge said. “We feel like his best
basketball is still ahead of him.
“We have a player that’s proven
to be a sure thing. We know how
unpredictable the draft can be. You
do pay a heavy price for a player of
that age and that caliber.”
Irving, whose late 3-pointer
helped Cleveland win the 2016
NBA championship — and the
city’s fi rst title since 1964 — is on
his way to Boston, where he’ll join a
Celtics team that lost to the Cavs in
last season’s conference fi nals.
And as fate will have it, the Cavs
will host the Celtics in their season
opener on Oct. 17.
See BLOCKBUSTER/2B
MLB
Mariners blanked by Braves
Atlanta
Braves
second
baseman
Ozzie Al-
bies dives
to home
plate to
score as
Seattle
Mariners
fi rst base-
man Yon-
der Alonso
waits for
the throw
after a
rundown
on the
third base
line during
the sixth
inning of
Tuesday’s
game in
Atlanta.
AP Photo/John
Amis
Seattle manages just five hits, strands nine runners in loss
By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Rookie Lucas
Sims pitched three-hit ball over
six innings and the Atlanta Braves
scored on a crazy play that took
three rundowns in a 4-0 victory over
the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday
night.
Sims (2-3) won his
second straight start
after starting his big
Seattle
league career with
three losses in a row.
Seattle only got two
runners as far as second base against
the 23-year-old right-hander, a
0
native of suburban
Atlanta who won for
the fi rst time in front
of the home folks.
Atlanta
Nick Markakis put
the Braves ahead in
the fourth, leading off
with his eighth homer of the season
against Marco Gonzalez (0-1),
4
yet another replacement starter in
Seattle’s injury-plagued rotation.
Markakis added a run-scoring single
in the fi fth.
After committing four errors
in the series opener, the Mariners
botched two more plays defensively.
Third baseman Kyle Seager
See MARINERS/3B
East
Oregonian
hires new
sports
reporter
East Oregonian
A new Hermiston-based
sports reporter has joined
the East Oregonian sports
staff.
Alexis
Mansanarez,
a recent graduate of the
University of Washington,
joined the staff this week.
She fi lls the slot formerly
held by Matt Entrup,
who recently left the East
Oregonian after 10 years as
a sports reporter.
“I have received a warm
welcome over the past few
days,” Mansanarez said. “I
look forward to bringing
my knowl-
edge and
experience
to the EO
and
the
Hermiston
Herald.”
During
her time
at
the
Mansanerez
University
of Washington, Mansanarez
worked as a reporter, sports
editor and news editor at
the student-run newspaper,
The Daily. While there she
traveled with the football
team and was the lead men’s
basketball reporter during
Lorenzo Romar’s last season
as head coach. She also
covered the baseball beat
during her time in Seattle.
From the Hermiston
offi ce, Mansanarez will
cover prep sports for both
the East Oregonian and
Hermiston Herald, covering
athletics for west Umatilla
and north Morrow counties,
including Hermiston and
surrounding communities.
She joins Eric Singer
covering sports for the two
newspapers who has worked
here since August 2015.
Singer is based out of the
Pendleton offi ce.
Coaches, parents and
athletes can contact Alexis
Mansanarez
at
aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.
com or (541) 564-4542.
You can also follow her on
Twitter @almansanarez.
College Football
Pac-12 loaded with QB talent in 2017
Darnold, Browning
preseason Heisman
candidates
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
The Pac-12 has been
called the Conference of
Quarterbacks and it looks
like it will really live up to
that this season.
USC’s Sam Darnold leads
a strong group of returning
QBs,
including
Jake
Browning of Washington and
Josh Rosen of UCLA.
But there are some
newcomers, too. Oregon
State has community college
transfer Jake Luton, while
Utah’s Tyler Huntley wrested
away the starter’s job from
a senior incumbent after
a glimpse of the fi eld last
season.
A primer for the quar-
terbacks that will lead the
league’s teams this season:
SAM DARNOLD, USC:
When fans last saw Darnold,
he was throwing for 453
yards and fi ve touchdowns
in USC’s comeback win over
Penn State in the Rose Bowl.
As a redshirt freshman
last season, Darnold started
10 games and threw for 3,086
yards with 31 TDs. Now the
Trojans are ranked No. 4 in
AP’s preseason poll and he
was named a preseason fi rst-
team All-American.
“Obviously there are some
grand expectations for him,
but he’s welcomed those.
That’s part of being a USC
quarterback. That’s why you
come to USC. You’re the face
of the program and you’re
the leader of the program,”
coach Clay Helton said.
JAKE
BROWNING,
WASHINGTON:
Even
though he was hampered by
a shoulder injury last season,
Browning led the Huskies to
the Pac-12 championship and
a spot in the College Football
Playoff.
He threw for 3,430 yards
and tied a Pac-12 record
with 43 touchdown passes
to earn the league’s offensive
See PAC-12/3B
AP Photo/Ryan Kang, File
In this Oct. 1, 2016, fi le photo, Southern California quar-
terback Sam Darnold (14) throws a touchdown pass to
wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (9) during the fi rst
half of an NCAA college football game in Los Angeles.
Sports shorts
Ducks announce contract
extension with baseball coach
EUGENE — The University of Oregon
announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to a
contract extension with head baseball coach
George Horton.
The new deal will run through
June 30, 2020. In nine seasons
leading the Ducks’ program,
Horton has compiled a 320-220-1
(.592) record and has led the team
to fi ve postseason appearances,
most recently in 2015.
Horton
“We appreciated George’s
leadership in building Oregon
baseball, and we are excited about the future,”
said Oregon athletics director Rob Mullens in a
statement.
During Horton’s tenure, 29 players have been
selected in the MLB Draft, including two fi rst
rounders and four making it to the big leagues.
“Honestly, I don’t care, and
I don’t think the guys in this
locker room care whether
[the NFL] is going to be
around in 20 years because
none of us are going to be
playing. So if these guys [the
owners] want to own for a
long time, then they can own
for a long time. But another
work stoppage might kill the
golden goose.”
— Eric Winston
Cincinnati Bengals tackle and
NFLPA President said that a work
stoppage after the CBA expires
in 2021 is likely, but he thinks it
could hurt the NFL in the long run.
Dodgers place Bellinger, Wood
on 10-day disabled list
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Los Angeles
Dodgers have put starting pitcher Alex Wood
and rookie star Cody Bellinger on the 10-day
disabled list.
The Dodgers made the moves
before playing at Pittsburgh
on Tuesday night and recalled
right-handed pitchers Josh Ravin
and Brock Stewart from Triple-A
Oklahoma City. The Dodgers have the best
record in the majors.
Wood was put on the DL for the second time
this season because of infl ammation in the area
of his left shoulder. Wood is 14-1 with a 2.41
ERA for the NL West leaders.
Bellinger is recovering from a mild ankle
sprain that happened Sunday while making a
play at the outfi eld wall. He took swings on
Tuesday, but the team is being cautious.
Bellinger has 34 home runs and 79 RBIs.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2004 — The U.S. softball
team wins its third straight gold
medal with a nearly unblem-
ished romp through the Olym-
pics, capped by a 5-1 victory
over Australia. Lisa Fernandez
pitches a four-hitter and Crystl
Bustos homers twice in the
Americans’ best all-around
game of the tournament.
2012 Lance Armstrong
chooses not to pursue arbitra-
tion in the drug case brought
against him by the U.S. Anti-
Doping Agency. That’s his
last option in his bitter fi ght
with USADA which leads to
the the titles to be stripped
and his name to be all but
wiped from the record books
of the sport he once ruled.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com