Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 12, 2018
BRIEFLY
Mariners game
postponed, DH on
Saturday
DETROIT (AP) — The
Detroit Tigers and Seattle
Mariners have been rained
out and are set to play a
doubleheader Saturday.
The game was called
Friday night before a
single pitch was thrown
— about 40 minutes after
the scheduled start time.
Bad weather has
been a problem for the
Tigers this year. They’ve
already played three
doubleheaders, two of
which were at home, and
they have another one
scheduled against the New
York Yankees in early
June.
Saturday’s twinbill is
scheduled to start at 4:10
p.m., with the second
game beginning about
30 minutes after the
conclusion of the first.
Ovechkin has goal and
assist, Capitals beat
Lightning 4-2
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — Alex
Ovechkin had a pow-
er-play goal and an assist
in his Eastern Conference
finals debut, leading the
Washington Capitals to a
4-2 victory over the Tampa
Bay Lightning on Monday
night.
Braden Holtby stopped
19 shots and Michal
Kempny, Jay Beagle and
Lars Eller also scored for
the Caps, who are alive
beyond the second round
of the playoffs for the first
time in Ovechkin’s bril-
liant 13-year career.
Steven Stamkos and
Ondrej Palat scored for
Tampa Bay, which trailed
4-0 heading into the third
period.
Game 2 is Sunday night
at Amalie Arena, where
Tampa Bay also lost Game
1 in the second round
against Boston.
The Capitals dominated
in improving to 6-1 on the
road this postseason, with
Kempny giving them an
early 1-0 lead.
Ovechkin made it 2-0
a mere 5 seconds after the
Lightning thought they had
tied it in the closing sec-
onds of the opening period.
But Nikita Kucherov’s
would-be breakaway goal
was waved off because
Tampa Bay had too many
men on the ice.
T.J. Oshie won the ensu-
ing faceoff in the Light-
ning zone, getting the puck
to Evgeny Kuznetsov,
who fed Ovechkin for the
Washington
superstar’s
ninth goal this postsea-
son — 55th overall in 110
career playoff games — at
19:54 of the first.
ROUNDUP: Stanfield
baseball wins EOL title
Continued from 1B
(45.66) and Christian Has-
kell in javelin (141-05).
Stanfield’s lone qualifi-
ers were Chelsy Lemmon
in 200 meters (second,
27.68), Brook lopez in pole
vault (second, 8-06) and
4x100 relay team of Mayra
Cardona, Kylee McClure,
Lemmon and Lopez.
BASEBALL
STANFIELD
6-18,
VALE 2-14 — In Friday’s
doubleheader in Vale, the
Stanfield Tigers snagged
the Eastern Oregon League
title with a sweep over the
Vikings.
Stanfield took Game 1,
6-2, and came back with
another four-run victory in
Game 2, 18-14.
In the first outing, Justin
Keeney and Brody Woods
led the Tigers’ (20-5 over-
all, 13-1 EOL) offense.
Both hitters went 2-for-4 at
the plate and each scored
once. Woods, along with
Damien Curial, brought in
two RBIs to help propel
Stanfield over the second
place Vikings (14-9, 10-4).
Woods was awarded
the win after six innings
of work on the mound. He
gave up a lone run and no
hits while striking out 16
batters and walking seven.
Matt McBride took the loss
for Vale.
In Game 2, eight differ-
ent Tigers helped bring in
the 18 runs with three have
three-RBI days. Adrian
Renner, Makiah Blanken-
ship and Woods did the
brunt of the work with
Blankenship leading the
offense after going a per-
fect 4-for-4 at bat.
Shayne Keltz earned
the win for Stanfield. He
pitched two innings surren-
dering only one hit while
walking one and striking
out zero. Karson Brown
was handed the loss for the
Vikings.
IRRIGON
10-23,
RIVERSIDE 2-12 — At
Boardman, the visiting
Irrigon Knights completed
the sweep over the home
Pirates. Irrigon took Game
1, 10-2, and then put up
over 20 runs in the second
outing to win 23-12.
In the opener, Irri-
gon’s offense took a while
to get going against Riv-
erside’s starting pitcher
Artemis Corpus, and the
Knights (15-8 overall, 9-5
Eastern Oregon League)
and Pirates (7-17, 2-12)
were tied 2-2 after four
innings. But in the fifth,
the Knights finally heated
up and scored six runs in
the inning to take control
of the game.
All nine starters for the
Knights finished with at
least one hit, with Johnny
Phillips leading the team
with three hits. Joe Vande-
car and Caleb Adams each
had two hits with a double,
and Mathew Moreno added
a double and two RBI.
Zack Henrichs picked up
the victory on the mound
after striking out six batters
in five innings while allow-
ing only three hits and two
runs. Riley Gorham led the
Pirates’ offense with two
hits.
In Game 2, nearly the
entire Irrigon lineup saw
some action at the plate
with Lino Covarrubia lead-
ing the efforts on a five-
RBI day. Dalton Schnei-
der also brought in four
runs for the Knights and
four others pitched in two
or more RBIs.
Riverside had some
good at bats and strung
together six runs over the
third and fourth inning to
try and stay in the game.
A late six-run rally in the
bottom of the sixth wasn’t
enough to keep the game
going, and Irrigon ended
the day by enforcing the
10-run rule.
SOFTBALL
IRRIGON
17-13,
UMATILLA 5-2 — On
Friday in Umatilla, the
Irrigon Knights secured
the second and final play-
off spot in the 3A Special
District 1 with a sweep of
Umatilla.
The Vikings (0-14 over-
all, 0-10 SD1) totaled just
seven runs over the two
games, while the Knights
(12-13, 8-4) put up dou-
ble-digits to win by over
10 runs in each outing.
In Game 1, Irrigon
won 17-5 and in Game 2,
the Knights handed the
Vikings a 13-2 loss. The
sweep kept Umatilla win-
less on the season.
AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
Driver Matt Kenseth stands in the garage following a failed car inspection during a practice round for this week-
end’s NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway Friday, May 11, 2018, in Kansas City, Kan.
Kenseth ready for season
debut at Kansas Speedway
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan.
(AP) — It was about a
year ago that Matt Kenseth
thought he would be spend-
ing the year driving a school
bus.
He is back to driving
something with a little more
horsepower.
Kenseth returned to
NASCAR’s top series on
Friday when he climbed into
the No. 6 Ford for Roush
Fenway Racing, practic-
ing and qualifying for Sat-
urday night’s race at Kan-
sas Speedway. The former
series champion agreed to a
deal last month to split time
in the car with Trevor Bayne
the rest of the year.
“The last few weeks have
been fun, just trying to get
a little bit caught up and
re-acclimated with the sys-
tem and people and what’s
changed,” Kenseth said Fri-
day morning. “I’ve been
anxious about today and get-
ting through tech and on the
track in time. I’m pretty anx-
ious to see where we’re at.”
Kenseth was anxious for
a much different reason the
last time he was at Kansas.
It was toward the end of
last season and Kenseth had
lost his ride with Joe Gibbs
Racing, which had decided
to move forward with Erik
Jones as part of a youth
movement. The 46-year-old
Kenseth knew he had the
talent to keep driving at the
Cup level, but there were no
competitive rides available.
At least, none that could
afford his salary.
So, the self-assured
Kenseth mused about the
possibility of driving a
school bus, since he already
took his own kids to school
most days. And while steer-
ing a big yellow bus never
happened, Kenseth said he
did enjoy the time away
from NASCAR’s week-
to-week grind, and that he
wouldn’t have returned to
such a pressure-cooker if it
wasn’t the right opportunity.
Team owner Jack Roush
ended up giving him a call.
Kenseth began his Cup
career with Roush in 1998,
winning a series title and
two Daytona 500s. But his
move to Joe Gibbs Rac-
ing in 2013 created a bit of
a rift, and in the intervening
years, a program that was
once considered one of the
gold standards of NASCAR
began to slide.
Roush’s five-car stable
had dwindled to two, and
while Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
won two races and made
the playoffs last year, Bayne
has struggled to live up to
expectations after his own
Daytona 500 win.
So, Roush picked up the
phone and made the offer:
Kenseth would share time
with Bayne the rest of the
season, providing his opin-
ions and expertise for a pro-
gram searching for some
results.
“We see a potential for
Matt being involved with the
company and race team past
his driving,” Roush said last
month, when the deal was
announced. “It’s a chance to
look at our cars and find out
if there’s something glaring
that Matt will see from his
experience.”
Kenseth confirmed Fri-
day that he will drive the
next five weeks, which
means the All-Star race,
Charlotte, Pocono and Mich-
igan. He is also expected
behind the wheel for the
remaining races with Wyn-
dham Rewards as the spon-
sor for Indianapolis, Dover,
Phoenix and the season-end-
ing race at Homestead.
More will be added to
the schedule, though Bayne
— who was admittedly
miffed by the ride-share
— is expected to drive the
eight races remaining with
AdvoCare as the primary
sponsor. Bayne did make
the trip to Kansas, showing
some maturity in supporting
Kenseth’s return.
“Short-term, I hope to
help the organization. That’s
why Jack and I decided to do
this,” Kenseth said. “They
wanted to get their perfor-
mance up and I hope I can
do that.”
Kenseth is a two-time
winner at Kansas, though
he struggled to find speed
early on, turning a fast lap
of 179.706 mph in what
became one long practice
session because of weather
and track issues.
That put him 28th among
the 38 drivers who took part
in practice.
“You know, profession-
ally I don’t know that I
really have a long-term goal.
I don’t feel like I have any-
thing to prove, either,” he
said. “I’m not thinking very
far out at the moment, to be
honest with you. I’m just
trying to concentrate on this,
do well this weekend, evalu-
ate and do better next week.”
HARVICK TAKES THE
POLE
Fresh off his fourth win
of the season last week
at Dover, Kevin Harvick
turned a best lap of 188.811
mph Friday night to easily
claim the top starting spot.
Ryan Blaney was a distant
second in 187.825 mph,
with Kyle Busch, Aric Almi-
rola and Chase Elliott round-
ing out the top five.
It was Harvick’s fourth
pole at Kansas, his most at
any track on the Cup Series
circuit yet the perfectionist
in him was left ruing a cou-
ple of bobbles that could
have made his lap even
better.
Kenseth did not make it
through tech for qualifying
and will start 35th.
SCOREBOARD
Local slate
PREP BASEBALL
Saturday
Joseph at Umatilla (DH), 3 p.m.
La Grande at Mac-Hi (DH), 3 p.m.
Monday’s Games
Pendleton at La Grande, 4:30 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
Saturday
Union at Pilot Rock (DH), 11 a.m.
Grant Union at Echo, 11 a.m.
Heppner at Culver (DH), 1 p.m.
La Grande at Mac-Hi (DH), 3 p.m.
Tuesday’s Games
Riverside at Umatilla (DH), 2 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Union, 4 p.m.
PREP TRACK & FIELD
Saturday
Helix, Echo, Arlington, Ione, Condon/
Wheeler at Districts (Moro), 10:30 a.m.
Mac-Hi at GOL Districts (Milton-Freewa-
ter), Noon
Umatilla, Irrigon, Riverside at EOL
Districts
PREP TENNIS
Saturday
Hermiston, Pendleton (boys) at Districts
(Hermiston), 8 a.m.
Mac-Hi, Umatilla, Riverside, Weston-McE-
wen, Stanfield, Ione, Helix at Districts
(Ontario), 9 a.m.
Hermiston, Pendleton (girls) at Districts
(Bend), 10 a.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Saturday
Big Bend at BMCC (DH), 1 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Monday, May 14
EOU at Oklahoma City (NAIA Champion-
ships Opening Round), 11 a.m.
COLLEGE TRACK & FIELD
Saturday
Cascade Collegiate Conference Champi-
onships (at Hermiston), all day
Prep Standings
Through May 10
PREP BASEBALL
5A COLUMBIA RIVER CONFERENCE
LG Ovr RS RA Rnk
Pendleton 10-2 16-8 178 119
4
Hood River 8-4 14-11 152 117 12
Hermiston 3-9 7-17 100 170 22
The Dalles 3-9 6-17 84 196 23
4A GREATER OREGON LEAGUE
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
La Grande 10-0 16-2 173 53
3
Ontario
7-5 14-10 200 116 10
Baker
5-7 10-13 137 181 24
Mac-Hi
0-10 6-15 91 192 32
3A EASTERN OREGON LEAGUE
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
Stanfield 13-1 20-5 297 166
2
Vale
10-4 14-9 216 140 11
Joseph
9-3 16-5 191 85
5
Irrigon
9-5 15-8 220 159 12
Burns
7-7 9-14 153 184 16
Umatilla
3-9 7-10 126 135 28
Riverside 2-12 7-17 159 262 27
Nyssa
1-13 1-25 61 371 33
2A/1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 6
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
Pilot Rock 11-1 16-2 168 45
4
Sherman
9-0 14-2 175 62
6
Grant Union 7-5 13-11 166 115 16
Culver
6-3 10-8 122 91 12
Elgin
6-6 7-7 64 61 29
W-McEwen 4-8 6-16 146 210 30
Heppner
3-6 8-13 198 231 27
Union
2-10 3-15 89 204 38
Dufur
0-9 2-16 62 223 37
PREP SOFTBALL
5A COLUMBIA RIVER CONFERENCE
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
Pendleton 11-1 23-2 252 52
1
Hood River 6-6 18-6 192
74
5
Hermiston 6-6 15-9 176 155
7
The Dalles 1-11 8-17-1 140 221 18
4A GREATER OREGON LEAGUE
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
La Grande 10-0 17-4 193 55
3
Mac-Hi
8-2 16-7 180 120
5
Ontario
1-9 11-11 189 110 23
Baker
1-9 6-17 151 257 27
3A SPECIAL DISTRICT 1
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
Echo
9-3 18-5 269 81 11
Irrigon
8-4 12-13 172 191 15
Riverside
6-4 9-8 114 97 12
W-McEwen 5-7 6-14 173 221 23
Umatilla
0-10 0-14 66 261 37
2A/1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 6
Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk
Union
9-1 18-3 216 95
5
Pilot Rock 9-1 17-2 242 52
4
Heppner
2-8 8-11 104 171 14
Culver
0-10 0-21 64 322 28
Basketball
NBA PLAYOFFS
CONFERENCE FINALS
(Best-of-7)
Sunday’s Game
Game 1: Cleveland at Boston, 12:30 p.m.
(ABC)
Monday’s Game
Game 1: Golden State at Houston, 6
p.m. (TNT)
Hockey
NHL PLAYOFFS
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
CONFERENCE FINALS
(Best-of-7)
Friday’s Game
Washington 4, Tampa Bay 2 (WSH leads
1-0)
Saturday’s Game
Vegas at Winnipeg, 4 p.m.
Baseball
MLB
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
W
L
Boston
26 12
New York
26 12
Toronto
21 18
Tampa Bay
15 20
Baltimore
11 27
Central Division
W
L
Cleveland
18 19
Minnesota
16 18
Pct GB
.684 —
.684 —
.538 5½
.429 9½
.289 15
Pct GB
.486 —
.471
½
Detroit
Kansas City
Chicago
West Division
15
13
9
21 .417 2½
25 .342 5½
26 .257
8
W
L Pct GB
Los Angeles
23 15 .605 —
Houston
24 16 .600 —
Seattle
21 15 .583
1
Oakland
19 19 .500
4
Texas
16 24 .400
8
———
Friday’s Games
Seattle at Detroit, ppd.
Chicago Cubs 11, Chicago White Sox 2
Baltimore 9, Tampa Bay 4
Oakland 10, N.Y. Yankees 5
Toronto 5, Boston 3, 12 innings
Kansas City 10, Cleveland 9
Texas 1, Houston 0
Minnesota 5, L.A. Angels 4
Saturday’s Games
Oakland (Triggs 3-1) at N.Y. Yankees
(German 0-1), 1:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Shields 1-3) at Chica-
go Cubs (Lester 2-1), 2:20 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Archer 2-2) at Baltimore (Hess
0-0), 3:05 p.m., 1st game
Boston (Price 2-4) at Toronto (Estrada 2-2),
4:07 p.m.
Kansas City (Junis 4-2) at Cleveland
(Clevinger 2-0), 4:10 p.m.
Seattle (Gonzales 3-2) at Detroit (Boyd
1-3), 4:10 p.m., 1st game
Tampa Bay (Andriese 0-1) at Baltimore
(Cobb 0-4), 7:05 p.m., 2nd game
Texas (Fister 1-3) at Houston (Morton 4-0),
7:10 p.m.
Seattle (Hernandez 4-3) at Detroit (Fulmer
1-2), 7:40 p.m., 2nd game
Minnesota (Gibson 1-1) at L.A. Angels
(Tropeano 1-2), 9:07 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
W
L Pct GB
Atlanta
22 15 .595 —
Philadelphia
22 16 .579
½
Washington
22 18 .550 1½
New York
19 17 .528 2½
Miami
14 24 .368 8½
Central Division
W
L Pct GB
St. Louis
22 14 .611 —
Milwaukee
23 16 .590
½
Pittsburgh
22 16 .579
1
Chicago
20 15 .571 1½
Cincinnati
12 27 .308 11½
West Division
W
L Pct GB
Arizona
24 14 .632 —
Colorado
21 18 .538 3½
San Francisco
19 20 .487 5½
Los Angeles
16 22 .421
8
San Diego
14 26 .350 11
———
Friday’s Games
Chicago Cubs 11, Chicago White Sox 2
N.Y. Mets 3, Philadelphia 1
Pittsburgh 11, San Francisco 2
Miami 6, Atlanta 3
Milwaukee 11, Colorado 10, 10 innings
Washington 3, Arizona 1
Cincinnati 6, L.A. Dodgers 2
St. Louis 9, San Diego 5
Saturday’s Games
Chicago White Sox (Shields 1-3) at Chica-
go Cubs (Lester 2-1), 2:20 p.m.
Washington (Strasburg 4-3) at Arizona
(Scribner 0-0), 4:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Syndergaard 2-1) at Philadel-
phia (Eflin 1-0), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Samardzija 1-2) at Pitts-
burgh (Kuhl 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Atlanta (Soroka 1-1) at Miami (Garcia 1-1),
7:10 p.m.
Milwaukee (Anderson 3-3) at Colorado
(Freeland 2-4), 8:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Wacha 4-1) at San Diego (Ross
2-3), 8:40 p.m.
Cincinnati (Bailey 0-5) at L.A. Dodgers
(Stripling 0-1), 9:10 p.m.
Soccer
MLS
Friday’s Game
Houston 2, Vancouver 2
Saturday’s Games
San Jose at Minnesota United, 11 a.m.
Philadelphia at Montreal, 12 p.m.
LA Galaxy at FC Dallas, 12:30 p.m.
Chicago at Columbus, 4:30 p.m.
Toronto FC at New England, 4:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m.
New York at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Seattle at Portland, 1 p.m.
Atlanta United FC at Orlando City, 3 p.m.
New York City FC at Los Angeles FC,
5:30 p.m.
Golf
PGA Tour
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday
At TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium)
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Purse: $11 million
Yardage: 7,189; Par 72
Second Round
Webb Simpson
66-63129
Charl Schwartzel
68-66134
Patrick Cantlay
66-68134
Danny Lee
68-66134
Chesson Hadley
66-69135
Charles Howell III 68-67135
Alex Noren
66-69135
Jason Day
69-67136
Steve Stricker
67-69136
Xander Schauffele 68-68136
Jimmy Walker
69-68137
Matt Kuchar
66-71137
Sergio Garcia
68-69137
Bryson DeChambeau 70-67137
Dustin Johnson
66-71137
Adam Scott
69-68137
Billy Horschel
68-70138
Jon Rahm
68-70138
Henrik Stenson
68-70138
Harold Varner III
71-67138
Brice Garnett
69-69138
C.T. Pan
68-70138
Rory Sabbatini
67-71138
Keegan Bradley
69-69138
Ollie Schniederjans 68-71139
Tom Hoge
70-69139
Lucas Glover
68-71139
Jhonattan Vegas
67-72139
Ian Poulter
70-69139
Bubba Watson
68-71139
Si Woo Kim
67-72139
Cody Gribble
68-71139
Beau Hossler
70-69139
Patrick Reed
72-68140
Also
Tiger Woods
72-71143
-15
-10
-10
-10
-9
-9
-9
-8
-8
-8
-7
-7
-7
-7
-7
-7
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-4
-1