SPORTS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017
1B
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Seattle man-
ager Scott
Servais, left,
relieves start-
ing pitcher
Marco Gon-
zales, center,
in the fourth
inning of Mon-
day’s game
against Balti-
more Orioles
in Baltimore.
MLB
Pitching plagues M’s again
Seattle falls two games
back of Wild Card spot
Seattle
Baltimore
Associated Press
6
7
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore
Orioles have reached an important
landmark in their quest to reach the
postseason for the third time in four
years.
Their task now is to keep the
momentum going for fi ve more
weeks.
Adam Jones hit a record-
breaking home run , Welington
Castillo had three hits and two
RBIs and Baltimore beat the Seattle
Mariners 7-6 Monday night for its
See MARINERS/2B
AP Photo/Patrick
Semansky
College Football
College Football
Herbert ready to lead
Beavers’
defense
searching
for some
answers
OSU gave up 58 points,
525 total yards in loss
to Colorado State
By KEVIN HAMPTON
Albany Democrat-Herald
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez, File
In this Nov. 26, 2016, fi le photo, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert throws in the fi rst half of a game against Oregon State in Cor-
vallis. Herbert had what was essentially a two-pronged approach to the offseason: Become stronger and become a leader.
After taking the reins as freshman, Ducks’ QB excited for 2017
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
EUGENE — Oregon quar-
terback Justin Herbert had what
was essentially a two-pronged
approach to the offseason: Become
stronger and become a leader.
Herbert put on muscle,
prompting Ducks fi rst-year coach
Willie Taggard to joke that the
sophomore signal-caller kept
strutting around shirtless. Herbert
worked on the leadership part,
too, as a counselor at the Manning
camp in Louisiana.
“I’ve seen Justin grow a lot.
I mean, he’s giving off a lot of
confi dence, especially to the other
players, to show he’s that guy,”
running back Royce Freeman said.
“We’re defi nitely following behind
him and we trust him fully.”
Thrust into a role as Oregon’s
starting quarterback as a freshman
last season when graduate transfer
Dakota Prukop struggled, Herbert
would go on to play in nine games,
throwing for 1,936 yards with 19
touchdowns.
Herbert goes into this season
knowing he’s the starter. The
Ducks open at home on Saturday
afternoon against Southern Utah.
It will be the Oregon debut for
Taggart, who is looking to rebuild
a team that went 4-8 overall for the
Ducks’ fi rst losing season since
2004.
Taggart comes to Eugene after
four years at South Florida, where
he guided the Bulls from a 2-10
record his fi rst year to a 10-2
mark last year and a spot in the
Birmingham Bowl. Before that
he spent three seasons at his alma
mater, Western Kentucky, inher-
See HERBERT/3B
FORT COLLINS, Colo. —
There’s a long way to go for the
Oregon State defense.
The Beavers had moments
against Colorado State, but the more
experienced Rams
made too many
plays and handed
OSU a 58-27
defeat.
The Beavers
gave ground for
most of the game but did come
up with a few key stops and kept
the Rams out of the end zone and
kicking fi eld goals, but the game got
away late.
Inside
linebacker
Manase
Hungalu called the defensive
performance horrible.
“(We) made too many mistakes,
we got guys doing missed assign-
ments. It was just lack of hustle,”
Hungalu said. “It’s just something
we can fi x. We basically just went
out there and beat ourselves.”
Said cornerback Xavier Craw-
ford: “It wasn’t a good perfor-
mance. It was a lot of people (using)
bad eyes and guys not doing their
assignments. And one person not
doing their assignment leads to big
plays and we’ve seen that today.”
Both players pointed to a lack of
communication.
The Rams piled up 525 total
See BEAVERS/3B
Flooding forces Texas pro teams to move home games
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Hurricane Harvey
has forced both the Houston Astros and
Houston Texans to play home games
miles away from the fl ood-stricken city
with players wondering when they will
be able to come back.
The Astros will play a three-game
series against the Texas Rangers at
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg,
Florida, this week, starting Tuesday,
and the Texans will wrap up their
preseason schedule against the
Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in
Arlington instead of NRG Stadium.
“You have to go about your busi-
ness and handle it,” Texans cornerback
Johnathan Joseph said Monday as the
schedule for the week became clear
and the misery of Harvey continued
unabated. “But it’s kind of hard at the
same time to kind of sit there and play
football and then think about your
family that’s back home when there’s
constantly updates going on around the
clock about things that are going on
back in your hometown.”
Both the Astros and Rangers fl ew
to Dallas after games in California on
Sunday to await news of where the
series would be held. After an off day
Monday, they will now head to St.
Petersburg, where the Astros will have
“home” games far away from home,
just like they did in the wake of Hurri-
cane Ike in 2008 when they played two
scheduled home games in Milwaukee.
The team also said a three-game
series against the New York Mets
that begins on Friday may also be
played at Tropicana Field, the home
of the Tampa Bay Rays. A person with
knowledge of the decision told The
Associated Press that the decision has
already been made and shared with
the players, though there was no word
from the team or Major League Base-
ball. The person spoke on condition of
See FLOODING/2B
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Rescue boats fi ll a fl ooded street at fl ood victims are
evacuated as fl oodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rise
Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston.
Sports shorts
Bills trade former second-round pick
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) Linebacker
Reggie Ragland will get a fresh start in Kansas
City after the Chiefs acquired the second-year
player in a trade with the Buffalo Bills.
In exchange, the Bills acquired a fourth-
round pick in the 2019 draft.
The Chiefs land a player with
the potential of being an upgrade
for Josh Mauga, who was released
earlier in the day. Ragland also
gets a chance to play in a three-
lineman, four-linebacker-styled
defense, which he was accustomed
Ragland
to at Alabama.
For the Bills, they cut ties with
a 2016 second-round draft pick who was in
jeopardy of being cut this weekend when teams
establish their 53-player roster.
Ragland missed all of last season after tearing
a ligament in his left knee during training camp.
“As professionals, you
can’t get above yourself
and think the job is done.
The job is never done.
There are bigger things at
stake than your confi dence
in one game. We know
nothing is guaranteed and
our approach as players
matches as if this can be
your last game.“
— Tim Ream
U.S. Men’s National soccer team
defender on the United States’
team confi dence heading into
another round of World Cup
qualifying after winning the
CONCACAF Gold Cup in July.
Lions make QB Matt Stafford
highest-paid NFL player
DETROIT (AP) — Matthew Stafford has
agreed to a fi ve-year contract extension with
the Detroit Lions.
The team announced Monday night the
deal keeps the quarterback under
contract through the 2022 season.
Stafford was entering the
last season of his $53 million,
three-year contract. He stood to
get quite a raise and perhaps a
deal richer than the $125 million,
fi ve-year contract the Oakland
Stafford
Raiders gave Derek Carr this
summer.
Stafford said last week he hadn’t decided
whether he would allow negotiations to drag
into the season.
Detroit drafted Stafford No. 1 overall in
2009. He helped the Lions reach the playoffs
last season for the third time in six seasons.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1974 — Moses Malone,
19, signs with the Utah Stars
of the ABA, the fi rst player to
go directly from high school
into major professional
basketball.
2015 — Usain Bolt
anchors Jamaica to a fourth
successive
4x100-meter
title and adds to his record-
breaking personal haul
of world championship
gold medals to 11. Bolt
completes the gold medal
trifecta in the 100, 200 and
4x100-meter relay for the
fi fth time. American Ashton
Eaton breaks his world
record in the decathlon by
six points.
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