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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, October 7, 2017 Extra special: Indians edge Yankees 9-8 in 13 MLB PLAYOFFS CLEVELAND (AP) — They’ve won this season in almost every way imaginable: comebacks, walk-offs, blow- outs, nail-biters. No. 104 for the Cleveland Indians topped them all. Yan Gomes singled home Austin Jackson from second base with none out in the 13th inning as Cleveland rallied from five runs down to stun the New York Yankees 9-8 on Friday and snatch a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series. Despite an atrocious start by ace Corey Kluber, losing slugger Edwin Encarnacion with a severely sprained ankle in the first and facing the possibility of playing their final game at home, the Indians, with some help from a call that went their way, continued a charmed season growing more and more special by the day. “The tendency of this team is to never give up,” Kluber said. “Even when we were down 8-3, we didn’t believe the game was over. We never feel like we’re out of a game.” Jackson drew a leadoff walk in the 13th from Dellin Betances and stole second. Gomes went to a full count before pulling his bouncer just inside the third-base bag, easily scoring Jackson and touching off another one of those wild celebrations inside Progressive Field, where the Indians have been so good AP Photo/David Dermer Cleveland Indians’ Jay Bruce, left, and Francisco Lin- dor celebrate after the Indians defeated the New York Yankees 9-8 in Game 2 of baseball’s American League Division Series Friday in Cleveland. while running away with their division and winning 22 straight. As Jackson sprinted home, Cleveland’s players poured out of the dugout and mobbed Gomes at the conclusion of a wild, 5-hour, 8-minute thriller that featured 14 pitchers and a call that may haunt Yankees manager Joe Girardi for months. “We just were supposed to win,” said Indians outfielder Jay Bruce, who hit a game- tying homer in the eighth. “No words, honestly. I’m speechless.” Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the sixth to rally Cleveland, which will try for a sweep in Game 3 Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Carlos Carrasco will start for the Indians against Masahiro Tanaka, who will try to extend New York’s season. The Yankees had their chances late, but they stranded the go-ahead run at third in the ninth and 10th — and had pinch-runner Ronald Torreyes picked off second in the 11th by Gomes from the behind the plate. Josh Tomlin, who had been scheduled to start later in the series, pitched two perfect innings for the win as Francona ran out of relievers in a game started by his best pitcher. Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer off Kluber and Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird hit two-run shots for the Yankees, who may have caught a bad break before Lindor’s homer. New York’s Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 and is hitless in seven at-bats in the series with five strikeouts. CUBS 3, NATIONALS 0 — In Washington, Kyle Hendricks goes about things completely differently than Stephen Strasburg does on the mound. The kid from Dartmouth relies on a fastball that on a good day reaches 88 mph — about 10 mph slower than Strasburg’s — and a deceptive changeup. Instead of power, he gets by on precision, guile and smarts. Hendricks outpitched Strasburg in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, giving up only two hits in seven innings to help the Chicago Cubs open defense of their first World Series title in 108 years by beating the Wash- ington Nationals. “That’s why we call him Professor,” Chicago second baseman Javier Baez said about Hendricks. “He knows what he’s doing.” Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo produced RBI singles with two outs in the sixth inning for the first two hits off an otherwise-dominant Strasburg. Rizzo added a run-scoring double in the eighth off Ryan Madson. ASTROS 8, RED SOX 2 — In Houston, Carlos Correa homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Jose Altuve got two more hits and the Houston Astros hammered the Boston Red Sox to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series. George Springer also homered to back Dallas Keuchel in Houston’s second straight romp by the exact same score. The Astros will go for a sweep in the best-of-five matchup Sunday at Fenway. A day after Altuve hit three home runs in the playoff opener, he got things going with a two-out single in the first inning off Drew Pomeranz. Correa, who went 0 for 4 on Thursday, made it 2-0 when he launched a towering shot onto the train tracks atop left field. DODGERS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 5 — Justin Turner homered and drove in five runs, Clayton Kershaw won despite giving up four homers and the Los Angeles Dodgers roared to a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night in their NL Division Series opener. Turner hit a three-run homer and Yasiel Puig added an RBI double before the Dodgers made their first out against Arizona starter Taijuan Walker, who lasted just one inning in his playoff debut. Turner added an RBI single in the fourth and another in the eighth. The red-bearded slugger tied a Dodgers record for most RBIs in a postseason game, sharing it with Pedro Guerrero and Davey Lopes. College Football No. 11 Washington State heads to Oregon or first road trip By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press Heading into the half-way mark of the season, 11th-ranked Washington State hits the road for the first time for Saturday’s game against the Oregon Ducks. Due to fluky scheduling, the Cougars played their first five games at home in Pullman. Coach Mike Leach was asked this week whether it’s weird to be leaving Martin Stadium for the first time in October. “Yeah a little bit, I think Pac-12 Wash. State Oregon Cougars Ducks (5-0) (4-1) • Sat., 5 p.m. (TV: FOX) • at Autzen Stadium everybody’s kind of anxious for it at this point, you know, and looking forward to it,” Leach said. “This is a funny conference, teams on the road play well.” The Cougars (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) are coming off a statement-making 30-27 victory over then-No. 5 USC last Friday. Washington State has opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2001 and the team is enjoying its highest ranking since the end of the 2003 season. Oregon (4-1, 1-1) is also coming off a win, but it was costly. The Ducks lost starting quarterback Justin Herbert in the first quarter with a broken collarbone in a victory over California. Backup quarterback Taylor Alie left the game against Cal in the fourth quarter, paving the way for true freshman Braxton Burmeister to make his first appearance in a game. They combined for 90 total yards passing, with the Ducks turning to their running game. Alie and Burmeister prac- ticed this week. Coach Willie Taggart was confident in both quarterbacks. “We’re not going to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. Washington State, or anyone else, is not going to feel sorry for us. Next guy up and go practice. Make sure we’re ready to play,” Taggart said. FALK STOCK: Wash- ington State quarterback Luke Falk’s profile was raised — again — against USC, when he threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns. With the Heisman buzz growing louder, the senior has thrown for 16 TDs with just two interceptions this season. He’s ranked fifth nationally with 1,178 passing yards, an average of 343.6 per game (sixth nationally). WOUNDED DUCKS: In addition to Herbert, the Ducks lost running back Royce Freeman and receiver Dillon Mitchell to injury in the first half against Cal. Both Freeman and Mitchell are starters. Oregon was already missing receiver Charles Nelson because of a right ankle sprain. Taggart officially listed those players as “day-to-day” earlier in the week, although Freeman practiced on Thursday. Herbert’s broken collarbone will keep him out for “a while,” the coach said. Junior linebacker Kaulana Apelu fractured his ankle against the Golden Bears and is out for the season. Beavers head south to face Trojans Rams face big test with Seahawks By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Southern California won its final nine games last season after losing at Utah in quar- terback Sam Darnold’s first start. The No. 14 Trojans will aim for another streak after falling at No. 11 Washington State. They play lowly Oregon State on Saturday. Coach Clay Helton has spent the last week emphasizing that every goal USC wants to accomplish can still be achieved. “For us as a team, we’re in a great situation right now. You are always trying to improve year in, year out, and I remember this time last year we’re sitting at 2-3,” Helton said. But to meet those expec- tations, injury-riddled USC (4-1, 2-1 Pac-12) will need to get healthy. Right guard Viane Talamaivao is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle that requires surgery, and his likely replacement, freshman Andrew Vorhees, was held out of practice Thursday with a tight back. However, Pac-12 Oregon State #14 USC Beavers Trojans (1-4) (4-1) • Sat., 1 p.m. (TV: Pac-12) • at Los Angeles Coliseum he’s still expected to play. Right tackle Chuma Edoga is doubtful with a high-ankle sprain. The list of bumps and bruises seems to get longer every week. Helton couldn’t help but ruefully laugh when recounting how linebacker Jordan Iosefa and wide receiver Jalen Greene were injured when they accidentally collided during pregame warmups against the Cougars. “I’ve never seen it in 23 years,” Helton said. “It was a bad deal. We’ve had some bad luck lately. That’s about as much as I can take as far as injuries go.” USC will handle those injuries without a bye week during the regular season. The struggling Beavers (1-4, 0-2) might be the closest thing to a win because of their own injury woes. Running back Ryan Nall is a game-time decision after spraining his ankle in a loss to Washington last week, and quarterback Jake Luton remains out indefinitely with a thoracic spine fracture. Redshirt junior Darrell Garretson will start for Oregon State. In nine games since transferring from Utah State, Garretson has completed 50.6 percent of his passes for 711 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Oregon State has been outscored 200-71 in its four games against FBS teams. However, USC said it is not overlooking a team that will be desperate for an upset. “USC is a lot of people’s Super Bowl, especially a team like Oregon State, so we just got to stick to what we do,” USC safety Chris Hawkins said. LA COLISEUM: Oregon State hasn’t beaten USC in Los Angeles since 1960 and has lost 23 straight games at the Coliseum. Only five of those games have been decided by one possession, while USC has been ranked in the Top 25 in all but six of those meetings. By GREG BEACHAM Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams are 3-1 for the second straight season. They even beat the Seattle Seahawks at the Coliseum during that start last year, but it quickly degenerated into a 4-12 fiasco of a home- coming. Both the Rams and their opponents seem to think their current 3-1 record is no mirage. The latest visit from Seattle should tell them a whole lot more. “It’s very early in the season, four games in,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “We’re happy with what we’ve done, but a lot of work to do and a long season ahead.” The Seahawks (2-2) revive this burgeoning West Coast rivalry on Sunday against coach Sean McVay’s Rams, who are leading the NFL in scoring . That’s a stunning turnaround for a team that had the NFL’s worst offense for the past two seasons, and the long- time NFC West powerhouse up north has noticed. NFL Seattle Los Angeles Seahawks Rams (2-2) (3-1) • Sun., 1:05 p.m. (CBS) • at Los Angeles Coliseum “The schemes don’t look so much different, but the production is just there,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “Their tempo is really good. It seems to have played into Jared’s strengths. He had a great offseason. He had one of the great fresh- man-sophomore jumps that you can have.” While the Rams have new left tackle Andrew Whitworth and a revamped receiving corps, Seattle’s veteran defense is even more impressed by Goff’s improvements — and Todd Gurley’s revitalization as one of the NFL’s most productive running backs. The Seahawks didn’t allow a touchdown by the Rams in their two meetings last season, but these Rams aren’t the same pushovers, even if some things appear similar to cornerback Richard Sherman. “Honestly, they look a lot the same,” the Compton, California native said. “They’re just executing. The O-line is blocking better. Gurley has got a lot more room to run. They’re using him more than they did in the past, and they’re playing with purpose.” The Rams’ start includes victories over rebuilding San Francisco and Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis, but last week’s win at Dallas added an air of legitimacy to McVay’s quick turnaround effort. Seattle presents the Rams’ most daunting challenge yet, despite the Seahawks’ early-season road losses to Green Bay and Tennessee. “We have a whole lot of respect for the Dallas Cowboys, but it is still four games, and we’ve got 12 games left,” McVay said. “While we certainly appre- ciate the nice words, we know it really doesn’t mean anything if we don’t follow it up with a good performance against an excellent Seattle team this week.” Soccer U.S. back on track for World Cup, Pulisic leads rout of Panama By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer AP Photo/John Raoux United States’ Jozy Altidore celebrates in front of fans after scoring a goal against Panama during the first half of a World Cup qualifying soccer match, Friday in Orlando, Fla. ORLANDO, Fla. — Christian Pulisic burst up the field, scoring with a brilliant touch to complete an 11-second, breakneck, field-length attack just eight minutes in. Then his cross found Jozy Altidore’s right foot like an arrow striking a bull’s-eye , leading to a two-goal lead in the 19th minute. Exhale, U.S. fans. Altidore converted a penalty kick with a chip in the 43rd after Bobby Wood was fouled, Wood added a goal in the 63rd and the World Cup Qualifier United States Panama 4 0 United States routed Panama 4-0 on Friday night to put the Americans back on track to reach next year’s World Cup. “We needed a win, but the job’s not done,” Pulisic said. The U.S. ended a three- match winless streak in qualifying and with 12 points moved two ahead of Panama into third place — the last automatic berth — in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. Honduras has nine points going into its match Saturday at Costa Rica, which is second with 15. Goal difference means the Americans put themselves in great shape to reach an eighth straight World Cup, almost certainly with a win Tuesday in their finale at already elim- inated Trinidad and Tobago and likely with a draw against the Soca Warriors if Honduras fails to win Saturday. The U.S. is plus-five to minus-two for Panama and minus-seven for Honduras. “We’re well positioned to hopefully qualify for Russia. The game in Trinidad is not going to be an easy one,” said coach Bruce Arena, who led the U.S. at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, then returned after the Americans opened the hexagonal last fall with two losses under Jurgen Klinsmann. “This team went from 0-2 in November with a minus- five goal differential, we’re now at plus-what, five, right?” Arena said. “I know everyone thought we were going to qualify in whatever, six games in 2017. It doesn’t happen that way. So I think we’re moving along well. We’ve advanced from sixth to third position with goal differential. Now we have to finish it off on Tuesday in Trinidad.”
