SPORTS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON PENDLETON ROUND-UP Staff photo by E.J. Harris Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colorado, leaps from his horse on his way to a 6.6-second time in steer wrestling slack Tuesday at the Pendleton Round-Up. Slack kicks off 107th Round-Up East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Parker Breding of Edgar, Montana, rides Pistol Whipped for 88.5 points on Tuesday during the Pendleton PBR Classic. Breding won the PBR Classic title. Breding wins PBR Classic The 2012 Round-Up champion wins in PBR Classic debut Brock Red- ford of Dewin- ton, Canada, rides Carolina Reaper for 86 points on Tuesday during the Pendle- ton PBR Classic. By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian When Parker Breding entered the short go, there were fi ve other bulls he would have been happy to be paired with. Instead, he drew New West Rodeos’ Blackberry Smoke. If it weren’t for the failed relationship between these two, Breding would have entered the championship round riding high off of the 88.5 points he earned in his fi rst ride. But when the Edgar, Montana native saw his fi nal ride of the Banner Bank Pendleton PBR Classic was on Blackberry Smoke all confi dence was lost. “When I saw I had him it was almost like a let down,” Breding said. “I didn’t have much confi - dence I was just thinking, ‘Gosh dang that bull kind of handled me pretty easily when I got on the fi rst time.’” The fi rst time Breding is referring to was in his home state a month ago when he was atop this same bull but instead of getting a whistle on him, Breding was bucked off. “Amazingly,” he continued, “it turned around.” Staff photo by E.J. Harris See PBR/2B Prep Roundup Buckaroos win league opener Pendleton sweeps defending CRC champ Hood River Volleyball East Oregonian HOOD RIVER — The Pendleton Buckaroos volleyball team showed they may be the team to beat in the Columbia River Conference this season, as they swept defending champion Hood River Valley 3-0 on Tuesday night to begin CRC play. The Buckaroos (5-0, 1-0 CRC) won all three sets by a 25-22 score over the Eagles (2-3, 0-1) and Rylee Gentner was credited with seven kills and Kalan McGlothan had six to lead the team. Lauren Richards also was a team leader with 12 assists. “It was a high-intensity match tonight,” Pendleton coach Amanda Lapp said. “We saw a lot of grit from our girls and then made things happen when it counted most.” Pendleton Hood River 3 0 Pendleton now has a week off until its next game on Tuesday at home against The Dalles at 6:30 p.m. WESTON-MCEWEN 3, WALLA WALLA VALLEY ACADEMY (WA) 1 — At Walla Walla, the TigerScots battled hard on the road and came home with a solid four-set win, beating Walla Walla Valley Academy 3-1 on Tuesday. Alyssa Finifrock was a standout for the TigerScots (10-4), registering a team-high eight kills as well as a 23 of 25 serving mark with 12 aces. Also turning in solid games were Eli Schiedner with 14 assists and six digs, Maddi Muilenburg with See PREPS/2B PENDLETON — Though the 107th Pendleton Round-Up does not offi cially start until 1:15 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, competition kicked off on Monday and Tuesday with slack for timed events. Three-time world cham- pion Tuf Cooper gained some early traction in the race for the coveted Round-Up all-around title with a strong runs in steer roping slack on Monday and tie-down roping on Tuesday. In steer roping, Cooper won the fi rst go round with a time of 13.1 seconds and more than a half-second cushion on second place Shay Good at 13.8 seconds. However Cooper recorded a no-time in his second go in Tuesday’s slack. Then in tie-down roping, Cooper sits in second place after the fi rst go round with a time of 8.7 seconds. He missed fi rst place by two-tenths of a second, where J.C. Malone ($3,597.33) fi nished with a time of 8.5 seconds. Cooper’s fi nishes earned him a payout of $6,896.82. Trevor Brazile marked his return to the Round-Up with a third place fi nish in the fi rst go in steer roping, turning in a time of 14.0 to earn a $2,785.57 payout. And 107th Pendleton Round-Up • Wednesday-Saturday • 1:15 p.m. • at Pendleton Round- Up Arena then on Tuesday, Brazile set the pace with a time of 12.7 seconds in his second go and currently sits atop the leader- board. Brazile also competed in tie-down and team roping Tuesday, recording a no-time with partner Clint Summers in team roping and a time of 21.8 in tie-down after a broken barrier penalty. In team roping it was Clayton Hass and John Robertson that won the fi rst go with a time of 5.6 seconds, edging out Tyler Milligan and Shank Edwards’ time of 5.6 to win the $4,393.57 payout. Bulldoggers got their fi rst shot on Tuesday as well, and it was Hilo, Hawaii native and former Walla Walla Community College rodeo competitor Cody Cabral that took the top spot with a time of 5.3 seconds for a $3,848.75 payout. Defending Round-Up champion Nick Guy was solid in his fi rst run to fi nish second with a time See SLACK/2B MLB Mariners break out bats early Seager hits 150th career home run By STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — Ben Gamel and Kyle Seager both hit three-run homers and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Seattle Rangers 10-3 on Tuesday night in a matchup of wild card hopefuls. T e x a s Texas (72-72) and Seattle (72-73) have split the fi rst two games of their four- game series. The Rangers dropped three games behind 10 3 AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez Seattle’s Mitch Haniger congratulates Kyle Seager, right, on his three-run home run during the third inning of Tuesday’s game in Arlington, Texas. Minnesota for the American League’s second wild card, while the Mariners remained 3 1/2 back after the Twins also won. See MARINERS/2B Sports shorts Messi fi nally conquers Buffon as Barcalona beats Juventus BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi fi nally scored against goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon as Barcelona beat Juventus 3-0 in their fi rst match of the Champions League group stage on Tuesday. Messi grabbed his 95th and 96th goals in the Champions League, breaking the deadlock just before the end of the fi rst half. After he had hit the post and played a part in Ivan Rakitic’s second goal, Messi beat Buffon again to round off the Messi commanding win. Messi’s goals were his fi rst ever against the 39-year-old Buffon, who had kept him without a goal in three previous meetings. Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, Messi has scored eight goals in six games across all compe- titions this season. Juventus eliminated Barcelona from last year’s quarterfi nals. “As a kid growing up in Italy, I always dreamed of my jersey hanging in the Lakers rafters, but I certainly never imagined two of them. The Lakers have bestowed a huge honor on me and I’m grateful for the fans’ enthusiasm around this game.“ — Kobe Bryant The former Los Angeles Laker star will have both his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys retired by the team during its Dec. 18 game against Golden State, the team announced on Tuesday. Cleveland ties AL record with 20th consecutive victory CLEVELAND (AP) — Following a familiar script of scoring fi rst, playing strong defense and riding dominant pitching, the Cleveland Indians extended their winning streak to 20 games and matched the AL mark held by the 2002 Oakland Athletics, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday. Cleveland’s streak, which began on Aug. 24 in Boston, is tied for the majors’ second-longest in 82 years — and the Indians show no signs of stopping. Corey Kluber (16-4) strengthened his Cy Young Award case with a complete game as Cleveland joined the 2002 A’s, 1935 Chicago Cubs (21) and 1916 New York Giants (26) as the only teams to win at least 20 in a row. Francisco Lindor homered leading off the fi rst inning against Matthew Boyd (5-10), and the crowd of 24,654 stood and roared when Kluber sprinted to the mound for the ninth. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1992 — Buffalo’s Jim Kelly and San Francisco’s Steve Young throw for more than 400 yards and neither team punts, the fi rst time in NFL history, as the Bills beat the 49ers 34-31. 2015 — Lydia Ko becomes the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history winning the Evian Championship. The South Korean-born New Zealander closes with an 8-under 63 for a six-stroke victory. Ko, at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days old, eclipses the previous record of American Morgan Pressel, who was 18 years, 10 months and nine days when she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Cham- pionship. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com