Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2018)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian BRIEFLY Hermiston High golf fundraiser upcoming The Hermiston High School Golf Association’s annual fundraiser is April 21 at Big River Golf Course in Umatilla. The fundraiser is a two-person scramble tournament that will begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Entry fee for adults is $60 and students is $40. Aside from a day of golf, there will also be hole events, raffle prizes and a putting contest, as well as a barbecue meal after the competition is finished. For more information contact tournament directors Bob Brinkley at 541-571-4647 or Pat Kerrigan at 541-571- 0166, or Big River Golf Course at 541-922-3006. Pendleton man sinks hole-in-one at PCC PENDLETON — On March 30, Russ Heimark, of Pendleton, stepped into the tee box of the par-3 12th hole at Pendleton Country Club hoping for a good shot. Heiman, an amateur golfer, ended up with the best shot he possibly could, as he sank a hole- in-one on the 177-yard hole. Pendleton High golf fundraiser a success PENDLETON — The annual Reggie Brown Memorial Fundraiser and golf tournament was held last weekend at the Pendleton Country Club, and it was deemed a smashing success. More than 50 golfers competed in the two-day tournament and more than $10,000 was raised in the raffle and auction on Sunday, with all proceeds benefiting the Pendleton High School boys and girls golf teams and scholarship fund. For the tournament, the four-person Pendleton team of Greg Roland Jr., Greg Roland, Andy Munsey and Bob Payant were the overall gross winners with a score of 286. The four-person team of Shane Dillavou of La Grande and Pendletonians Cal Tyer, Kurt Hendrix and Carl Peterson were overall net winners with a score of 248.5. NHL Playoffs Flyers topple Penguins to tie series By WILL GRAVES Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Sean Couturier had a goal and two assists, Brian Elliott stopped 34 shots and the Philadel- phia Flyers cooled off the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night to even the first-round series at a game apiece. Shane Gostisbehere, Travis Konecny, Andrew McDonald and Nolan Patrick also scored for the Flyers. They bounced back from an embarrassing 7-0 loss in the opener to beat the Penguins for the first time this season. Game 3 is Sunday in Philadelphia. Patric Hornqvist scored Pittsburgh's lone goal with just over 5 minutes left to avoid the shutout, but the Penguins looked ordinary for long stretches after looking unstoppable in Game 1. Matt Murray's shutout streak dating to the 2017 Stanley Cup finals ended at 226:49 when Gostisbehere scored on the power play late in the first period. Murray finished with 16 saves to lose for just the third time in 17 home playoff starts in his career. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol made no changes to the lineup that was picked apart in the series opener, confident his team would respond the way it did during various parts of an occasion- ally turbulent season. That included staying with Elliott, who was pulled midway through the second period in Game 1 after giving up five goals on just 19 shots. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar Philadelphia Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds (17) collides with Pittsburgh Penguins’ Carl Hagelin (62) during the first period in Game 2 of an NHL first-round hockey playoff series in Pittsburgh, Friday. The Flyers struggled to sustain pressure on Murray but took advantage of what few opportunities they created. Philadelphia went on the power play late in the first period when Pittsburgh's Zach Aston-Reese was called for boarding and the Flyers — who didn't even manage a shot on net during four power plays in Game 1 — needed just one to take the lead. Gostisbehere sent a shot from the point that made its way through a Nolan Patrick screen, between Murray's legs and into the net with 37 seconds left in the opening period to end Murray's shutout streak at 225:49, the fourth longest playoff shutout streak in the last 28 years. It didn't take the Flyers nearly as long to beat Murray again. Less than two minutes actually. Murray actually managed to get his right pad on Coutu- rier's shot from in front but the puck popped up, caromed off Letang and into the net 47 seconds into the second. The Penguins began pressing but Elliott responded. Crosby broke in alone just past the game's midway point but Elliott's glove swallowed up the Pittsburgh captain's backhand attempt. Crosby had another chance in the final moments of the second period but when he couldn't convert from the right post, he smashed his stick over the crossbar in frustration. When Konecny held off Chad Ruhwedel and chipped the puck over Murray's glove 1:21 into the third the Flyers had control of the game. Just over 18 minutes later they had their first victory Pittsburgh in 383 days to go home with the series even. WINNIPEG 4, MINNESOTA 1 WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Paul Stastny, Andrew Copp and Patrik Laine scored in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Confer- ence first-round series. Defenseman Tyler Myers had a goal in the second period and also had an assist. Rookie Jack Roslovic, replacing injured veteran Mathieu Perreault, had two assists in the game that ended with a series of fights. Zach Parise had his second goal of the series when he deflected Mikko Koivu's shot past Connor Hellebuyck to end the goalie's shutout bid with 45 seconds left. The goal came on the power play after Jets forward Brandon Tanev was called for hooking with 59 seconds left. Hellebuyck made 16 saves. Devan Dubnyk stopped 39 shots for Minne- sota. Winnipeg won 3-2 on Wednesday night. Game 3 is Sunday at Minnesota. Winnipeg got its first power play five minutes into the second period when center Mark Scheifele was tripped by Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin, but it wasn't their shots with the man advantage that sparked the crowd. Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien threw two big hits nine seconds apart, the first on Mikael Granlund in front of the Winnipeg bench, the second a slam that rocked Koivu into the boards behind Hellebuyck. Winnipeg only got one shot on goal on the power play, but the momentum carried on for Myers' goal that made it 1-0 at 8:41. BLAZERS: ‘The playoffs is a different animal’ Continued from 1B “We were just starting to find our groove before he went out and when he got hurt it kind of pushed us back,” Davis said. “We were trying to figure out how we wanted to play, and then we figured it out and were able to push through it.” Davis stepped up in Cousins’ absence, averaging 30.4 points and 11.8 rebounds. “When Cousins went down, everybody kind of wrote them off and they’ve done a great job of really competing since then,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “Anthony Davis has been an outstanding player. It’s been a tough matchup for us, games are close.” Lillard, who goes into the game averaging 26.9 points, had 41 points in the final meeting of the season with the Pelicans, a 107-103 Blazers win in New Orleans. “Dame had a hell of a game, but it’s playoffs and you can put everything behind what happened before,” Stotts said. “The playoffs is a different animal.” Other things to watch as the Blazers and Pelicans begin their playoff series: GUESSING THE Busch brothers will start on the front row at Bristol BEARD ISN’T COMING BACK: The Pelicans acquired Nikola Mirotic in a trade after Cousins went out. He initially joined the squad as a sixth man and was incon- sistent. But late this season, he shaved his beard, joined the starting lineup and he’s been thriving ever since, scoring no fewer than 21 points in a game during the Pelicans’ season- ending five-game winning streak. LUCKY THIRTEEN: The Blazers went on a 13-game winning streak, starting with a victory over Golden State just before the All-Star break that boosted their playoff position. And despite their late four-game losing streak, the Blazers still finished 49-33 and clinched the Northwest Division title. “We would have liked to have a 50-win season but you can’t complain about a division championship or 49 wins,” Lillard said. ROAD COURT ADVANTAGE: The Pelicans were just as good on the road (24-17) as they were at home (24-17). “On the road we’ve been really, really good at just locking in and giving ourselves an opportunity to come up with wins ... That’s what you have to do in order to be a playoff team,” coach Alvin Gentry said. HIGH MILEAGE: CJ McCollum topped the NBA for the most miles on the court this season with 218. It was the third straight season he’s led the league in the stat. Jrue Holiday is No. 2 overall with 211.40 miles. GOING FORWARD: Game 2 is set for Tuesday before swinging to New Orleans for games on Thursday and the following Saturday. The “if necessary” games go like this: Tuesday, April 24, in Portland; Thursday, April 26, in New Orleans; and Saturday, April 28, back in Portland. Homers by Haniger, Vogelbach rally Mariners past the A’s 7-4 By TIM BOOTH Associted Press By STEVE REED Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle and Kurt Busch haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. But as years have passed NASCAR’s iciest sibling rivalry has thawed a little bit, at least to the point where they can joke around a little bit. Kurt Busch did just that Friday after Kyle Busch edged him out by 0.002 seconds to take the pole for the Cup Series race Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I can walk up to him and say, ‘Yeah, I let you have it’ and he will giggle. He will actually laugh,” Kurt Busch said. It marks the third time the Busch brothers have started on the front row together, and the first since 2013. In all three cases, Kyle started first and Kurt second. “He always told every- body if you think I’m good, just wait for my younger brother,” joked Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch said he messed up in turn one, which cost him a shot at a second straight Cup Series pole. “If I am going to get beat by somebody if I don’t hit a perfect lap I would rather it be my little brother,” Kurt Saturday, April 14, 2018 AP Photo/Wade Payne Kyle Busch drives during qualifying for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Friday in Bristol, Tenn. Busch said. There was a time when the Busch brothers rarely spoke at all. But Kurt Busch said they do communicate now. “It’s better now with age,” he said of their relationship. “Like wine, it gets better with time. You let it settle.” Last year the Busch finished 1-2 at Sonoma with Kyle Busch holding off his older brother. There is a chance that could happen again Sunday as they were clearly the two fastest cars in all three rounds of qualifying at the half-mile track. “It was tough years ago for a few times, but lately I guess we have been racing each other a little better,” Kyle Busch said. “Overall we just need to keep trying to make sure they are good battles and clean battles and not ugly ones.” Things to watch at the Cup Series race on Sunday: FORDS DOMINATE: Kyle Busch had the only Toyota in the top 10. He was followed by four Fords, with Brad Kesel- owski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five. In all seven, Fords will start in the top 10. HARVICK’S TOUGH BREAK: Kevin Harvick will have to start Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway at the back of the field after crashing in prac- tice. Harvick’s suspension broke on a practice lap in the morning and his car took a right turn into the outside wall. SEATTLE — Mitch Haniger hit a three-run homer and Daniel Vogelbach added a two-run shot — both with two outs in the seventh inning — rallying the Seattle Mariners to a 7-4 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. Seattle took advantage of a breakdown by Oakland’s bullpen for five runs in the seventh. Yusmeiro Petit retired the first two batters before Jean Segura reached on a single with two outs. Lefty specialist Danny Coulombe (0-1) walked Robinson Cano, and Chris Hatcher was summoned to face Haniger. After evening the count at 2-2, Hatcher and catcher Jonathan Lucroy briefly met at the mound to discuss the next pitch to Haniger. Their decision was the wrong one as Haniger clubbed his third homer of the season. Seattle’s big inning wasn’t done as Kyle Seager followed with a single and Vogelbach turned on the first pitch from Hatcher for his first career homer. It was the second time in the young season the Mari- ners put up five runs in an inning. Khris Davis hit two home runs for Oakland, a two-run AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Mariners’ Mitch Haniger watches his three- run home run in front of Oakland Athletics catcher Jonathan Lucroy during the seventh inning Friday’s game in Seattle. shot in the first and a solo homer in the eighth inning. Matt Chapman added a solo homer in the sixth inning, his fifth of the season, off Seattle starter Mike Leake to snap a 2-all tie. Aside from the home runs allowed, Leake pitched well, giving up three earned runs and striking out four over six innings. He was matched by Oakland starter Andrew Triggs, who allowed four straight hits and two runs in the first inning, but settled down to allow just one hit after that point. The difference was Seat- tle’s bullpen. Dan Altavilla (1-1) pitched the seventh, Juan Nicasio allowed Davis’ homer in the eighth but was otherwise untouched, and Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his fifth save. TRAINER’S ROOM Athletics: RHP Liam Hendriks left the game in the eighth inning in the middle of an at-bat due to injury. He faced two batters. ... RHP Ryan Dull has rejoined the club and could be activated from the disabled list as soon as Saturday. Dull has been on the 10-day DL since March 26 with a strained right shoulder. Dull was 2-2 with a 5.14 ERA in 49 games with the A’s last year. Two years ago, he was a top reliever appearing in 70 games with a 2.42 ERA.