Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 28, 2017
World Series
Astros start fast, top Dodgers for series lead
Game 3
By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
HOUSTON — A perfect
fit in their own place, the
Houston Astros are halfway
home.
George Springer and the
Astros broke out the bats
early this time and kept up
their big run at Minute Maid
Park in October, beating the
Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3
Friday night for a 2-1 lead in
the World Series.
The ballpark was booming
from the start, with cheers,
chants and a loud train
whistle echoing beneath the
closed roof. A sellout crowd
stood much of the evening —
deep in the heart of football
country, with every Houston
batter getting either a hit or
walk, the fans enjoyed the
Friday Night Sights.
Yuli Gurriel homered to
begin a four-run burst in the
second inning that sent Yu
Darvish to the shortest start of
his career. Astros curveballer
Lance McCullers wobbled,
but protected the lead into
the sixth. Brad Peacock rose
to the occasion with 3 2/3
innings of hitless relief.
Coming off a dramatic
rally to win Game 2 at
Dodger Stadium, the Astros
improved to 7-0 at home
this postseason. Jose Altuve
& Co. have dominated, too,
outscoring the Red Sox,
Yankees and Dodgers 36-10
Los Angeles
Houston
3
5
AP Photo/Eric Gay
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Houston Astros pitcher
Brad Peacock celebrates
after earning the save in
Game 3 of the World Series.
in that span.
Springer lined a leadoff
double in the first and the
Astros went on to win a home
game for the first time in the
World Series. They were
swept by the White Sox in
2005, and this win put them
two victories from a most
elusive championship.
Game 4 will be Saturday
night when Charlie Morton
starts for Houston. Left-
hander Alex Wood pitches for
the Dodgers, facing a lineup
that has put at least one runner
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve tags out Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig after Puig tried to stretch a single into a
double during the fourth inning of Game 3 of baseball’s World Series Friday in Houston.
on in 14 straight innings.
McCullers left in the
sixth as Los Angeles scored
twice to cut into a 5-1 deficit.
Peacock followed, and shoul-
dered the load for a shaky
bullpen by posting his first
major league save. Peacock
was nearly perfect, walking
one and striking out four.
On a night when a lot
went right for Houston, also
credit third base coach Gary
Pettis, who’s been having
quite a postseason. He boldly
sent Josh Reddick careening
home on a wild throw by
reliever Tony Watson for a
two-out run in the fifth.
The Astros rode the
momentum of a thrilling
victory Wednesday night in
Los Angeles, where Marwin
Gonzalez hit a tying a homer
in the ninth on an 0-2 pitch
from closer Kenley Jansen,
and Houston hit three homers
in extra innings before
hanging on to win 7-6 in 11.
This wasn’t nearly as
dramatic, not that the home
crowd minded.
Fans were revved up from
the start when injured Houston
Texas defensive end J.J. Watt
— who has raised more than
$37 million for relief efforts
after Hurricane Harvey —
wobbled out to the mound on
crutches to throw the first ball.
Soon, it was time for the
Houston hitters to take over.
Gurriel homered into
the Crawford Boxes in left
to begin the second — he
became the 13th hitter already
to homer in this Series.
Reddick followed with a
double and Evan Gattis, the
designated hitter with the
game in an American League
park, drew a walk.
Marwin
Gonzalez
launched a drive off the wall
in left and wound up with an
RBI single when Gattis held at
second, seeing if the ball would
be caught. Brian McCann
singled home another run, and
Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly
made it 4-0.
When Altuve doubled,
Darvish was done after 1 2/3
innings.
Last month, Darvish and
several Dodgers players
wore Houston Strong T-shirts
to raise money for hurricane
relief. The four-time All-Star
who previously played in
Texas also contributed to the
relief efforts.
On Thursday, Darvish
kidded that maybe his good-
will would lead to good luck.
“Since I made that
donation, maybe I can use a
ball that doesn’t have much
pop in it,” he said through a
translator.
College Football
Freshman Burmeister set for fourth start for Ducks
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
EUGENE — While Justin
Herbert’s appearance in pads
at practice this week was
tantalizing, a more pressing
matter for Oregon was
preparing for Utah.
Herbert started the season
at quarterback for the Ducks
but fractured his collarbone
in a 45-24 victory over Cali-
fornia on Sept. 30. Oregon
(4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) has lost
three straight without him.
The Ducks have turned
to
freshman
Braxton
Burmeister, who has had to
learn on the job. He threw for
74 yards with an interception
last weekend in Oregon’s
31-14 loss at UCLA, but
ran for two touchdowns.
Overall, Burmeister has one
touchdown pass with five
interceptions.
Coach Willie Taggart
hasn’t ruled Herbert out for
the game but it’s more likely
that Burmeister will make his
fourth straight start against
the Utes (4-3, 1-3) as the
Ducks try to turn their season
around.
Taggart said Burmeister is
about where he’d expect an
Pac-12
Utah
Oregon
Utes
Ducks
(4-3)
(4-4)
• Sat., 2:45 p.m. (TV: PAC12)
• at Autzen Stadium
inexperienced freshman to be
without a lot of reps.
“Last week I thought he
got better,” Taggart said. “I
thought he did some good
things for us but he has to
continue to come along and
I said this before, and it’s so
true, but guys around him
have to step their game up
and help the kid.”
Utah has also lost three
straight and has also had
injury issues at quarterback.
Starter Tyler Huntley missed
a pair of games with a right
arm injury before returning
last week — and struggling in
a 31-10 loss to Arizona State.
He threw four interceptions.
Coach Kyle Whittingham
said he’s sticking with
Huntley while he shakes off
the injury.
“Obviously, he was a little
rusty,” Whittingham said. “I
anticipated Tyler to have a
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File
In this Oct. 21, 2017, file photo, Oregon quarterback
Braxton Burmeister gets set to pass during the second
half of a game against UCLA in Pasadena, Calif.
little more effective game,
but he was a little rusty and
not 100 percent.”
The good news for both
teams is there’s still time
— albeit not a lot of it — to
become bowl eligible.
Other things to watch for
on Saturday:
CARRINGTON’S
RETURN: Utah receiver
Darren Carrington is making
his first appearance at
Autzen Stadium since he was
dismissed from the Ducks
this summer following his
arrest on a misdemeanor
charge of driving under the
influence.
Carrington has thrived in
the Utes’ system, leading the
Pac-12 with 92.7 receiving
yards per game. He’s on pace
to post the third-most recep-
tions and receiving yards
in a single season in school
history.
He insists he has no hard
feelings over his dismissal
and he’s looking forward to
seeing old friends.
“It’s kind of like a high
school game,” Carrington
said. “Your boys (from) right
down the street or you hung
out with them for so long, but
they just went to a different
school than you. It’s just
going back to play them.”
ROYCE
ROLLS:
Oregon’s Royce Freeman
became the school’s all-time
leading rusher last weekend
when he piled up 160 yards
in the loss to UCLA. He
has 5,103 career yards to
rank second on the Pac-12’s
all-time list. He still needs
one more touchdown to break
LaMichael James’ record for
total touchdowns at Oregon,
and 57 yards rushing to join
James as the only Ducks
to have three 1,000-yard
seasons.
Following the loss to the
Bruins, Freeman was more
focused on righting the Ducks
than his individual records.
“We’ve just got to keep the
fighting mentality,” he said.
SEARCHING
FOR
IDENTITY: Whittingham
said that in the past the
Utes have been known as a
physical “run-the-ball-down-
your-throat-with-some-play-
action” team.
“Right now, we’re still
searching for who we are.
Seven games in, you say how
can that be? I’m asking the
same question,” the coach
said. “We have to figure out
what we do best and hitch our
wagon to that.”
SECOND
HALF
WOES: Oregon hasn’t
scored in the second half in
each of the past three games.
In fact, the Ducks have been
outscored 58-0 over that
span.
“We’re in our own way,
we gotta get out of our own
way and not lose focus on
what we have to do,” Taggart
said. “Moving the ball is not
the issue, it’s again, us getting
in our own way whether we
make the wrong read, run the
wrong route, whatever it is,
those things that we just can’t
do.”
FOR KICKS: Kicker
Matt Gay, who was a walk-on
for the Utes this season, leads
the nation in field goals with
an average of 2.43 per game
and total field goals made
with 17. He also leads the
Pac-12 in scoring with 10.1
points per game. He made a
56-yard field goal earlier this
season, which is tied for the
longest of the year nationally.
Pro Soccer
Defending champs start playoffs again without Dempsey
tainty surrounding forward
Jordan Morris, who has been
out since early September
with a hamstring injury.
Morris has been doing work
on the side, but has yet to
resume full training.
Vancouver did have
success at home this season
against Seattle, winning in
April and taking a 1-1 draw
in August. But the Whitecaps
were routed 3-0 in Seattle in
late September. Vancouver
lost three of its final five
regular-season matches prior
to Wednesday’s 5-0 rout of
San Jose in the knockout
round.
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
TUKWILA, Wash. — For
the second straight season,
the Seattle Sounders will
begin the MLS Cup playoffs
with Clint Dempsey as a
spectator.
Unlike last year’s champi-
onship run by the Sounders,
this absence by Dempsey
will last only one game.
Dempsey was suspended
for Sunday’s first-leg of the
Western Conference semifi-
nals against Cascadia rival
Vancouver after picking up a
red card in the regular-season
finale against Colorado.
Dempsey was sent off early
in the first half of Seattle’s
3-0 victory last week that
clinched the No. 2 seed in
the West for the defending
champs.
“We are no longer the
underdog,” Seattle midfielder
Cristian Roldan said. “We’ve
accepted that. We’ve felt that
way throughout the season
because of MLS Cup and
being champions. It’s a big
deal and teams are gunning
for you.”
The other semifinal
matchup in the West features
No. 1 seed Portland facing
Houston. In the East,
Supporters’ Shield winners
Toronto FC will face the
New York Red Bulls, while
No. 2 seed New York City
AP Photo/Danny Karnik
Columbus Crew forward Adam Jahn and goalkeeper
Zack Steffen celebrate the game-winning goal after the
shootout of an MLS playoff soccer game against Atlan-
ta United, in Atlanta, Thursday.
FC will take on Columbus.
Both the conference semifi-
nals and finals are decided by
two-game aggregate scoring.
The loss of Dempsey
for the first-leg against the
Whitecaps is amplified for
Seattle because of the uncer-
Portland (1) vs.
Houston (4)
• First leg: Monday, Oct.
30, BBVA Compass Stadium
• Second leg: Sunday,
Nov. 5, Providence Park
Portland earned the top
seed in the West thanks to
a 2-1 win over Vancouver
in the regular-season finale,
capping a six-week run where
the Timbers won four of six
matches to claim the top
spot. Portland has been led
all season by MVP-worthy
Diego Valeri, who has 21
goals and 11 assists. Key for
Portland will be the health
of striker Fanendo Adi, who
missed the final two months
of the regular season with a
hamstring injury.
Houston
outlasted
Sporting Kansas City 1-0 in
extra time in the knockout
round. The Dynamo are in
the playoffs for the first time
since 2013, led by Alberth
Elis, Erick Torres, Mauro
Manotas and Romell Quioto,
who combined for 41 of 57
goals in the regular season.
But the Dynamo suffered a
big setback losing defender
A.J. DeLaGarza in the regu-
lar-season finale to a knee
injury.
The loss to Toronto was
the last time New York stum-
bled. The Red Bulls won two
of their final three to close the
regular season then routed
Chicago 4-0 in the knockout
round on Wednesday.
The Red Bulls have fans
on every Western Confer-
ence team. The only way a
team from the West can host
MLS Cup is if the Red Bulls
advance to the final.
Toronto FC (1) vs.
New York Red Bulls (6)
• First leg: Monday, Oct.
30, Red Bull Arena
• Second leg: Sunday,
Nov. 5, BMO Field
Toronto was clearly the
class of MLS this season,
running away with the
Supporters’ Shield in domi-
nating fashion. Toronto took
the disappointment of losing
to Seattle in last year’s title
match and posted the highest
point total in league history,
finishing the season with 69
points and 20 victories in 34
matches.
The Reds stumbled in late
September with consecutive
losses to Montreal and New
England — both of which
missed the playoffs — but
recovered with victories
in two of their final three
matches, including a 4-2 win
over the Red Bulls on Sept.
30.
New York City FC (2) vs.
Columbus Crew (5)
• First leg: Tuesday, Oct.
31, Mapfre Stadium
• Second leg: Sunday,
Nov. 5, Yankee Stadium
Led by David Villa and
emerging youngster Jack
Harrison, NYCFC posted its
finest season with 57 points
and a second-place finish in
the East. Villa finished the
year with 22 goals and likely
will be in the middle of the
MVP discussion. But the big
difference for NYCFC was
its improved defense that
allowed 14 fewer goals than
last season.
Columbus rode the goal-
keeping of Zack Steffen to
oust the expansion Atlanta
United on penalties in
the knockout round. The
stunning victory continued
the Crew’s surge to close
out the season. Columbus is
now unbeaten in 11 straight
matches dating to Aug. 5.