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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2018)
SPORTS THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2018 118TH U.S. OPEN TEES OFF 2B 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS North America will host the 2026 World Cup Canada, Mexico and the United States win a joint bid, beats Morocco By ROB HARRIS AND GRAHAM DUNBAR Associated Press MOSCOW — North Amer- ica will host the 2026 World Cup after FIFA voters overwhelmingly opted Wednesday for the financial and logistical certainty of a United States-led bid over a risky Moroc- can proposal for the first 48-team tournament. The soccer showpiece will return to the U.S. for the first time since 1994 after gaining 134 votes, while Morocco got 65 at the FIFA Congress in Moscow, where the 2018 tournaments starts on Thursday. “Thank you for entrusting us with this privilege,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cord- eiro told the congress. “The beau- M’s sweep Angels on Haniger’s walk-off tiful game transcends borders and cultures.” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted after the victory : “Con- gratulations, - a great deal of hard work!” While Trump has been feud- ing with Canadian Prime Minis- ter Justin Trudeau over tariffs and policy after the G-7 meeting and with Mexican leaders about his proposed border wall, the heads See WORLD CUP/3B AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin Delegates of Canada, Mexico and the United States celebrate after winning a joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup at the FIFA con- gress in Moscow, Russia. PENDLETON Win one, lose one By TERRY BLOUNT Associated Press SEATTLE — Something about the big moments brings out the best in Mitch Haniger. His two-run home run in the ninth on Wednesday, after a stellar defensive play in the top of the inning, gave the Seattle Mariners an 8-6 victory and sweep of the three-game series over the Los Angeles Angels. “We have such a powerful lineup,” Haniger said. “On any given night it can be somebody else and that’s kind of the vibe. There’s no panic.” Haniger, who has 16 home runs this season and 52 RBIs, has an MLB-best 11 game-winning hits — including his sec- ond game-ending homer on Wednesday. After Jean Segura singled to center off reliever Oliver Drake (0-1), Haniger sent a pitch over the left-field wall off to end it. Nelson Cruz and Ryon Healy also homered for Seattle, and Healy’s upper- deck shot in the eighth inning tied the game at 6-6. Cruz hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his fourth in his last five games and 16th of the season. The home run by Haniger, who was 2-for-5 and scored two runs, was his second big play of the ninth inning. He also made an outstanding defensive play in right field for the second consecutive game. With one out and a runner at first, Martin Maldonado hit fly ball to deep right that was tailing away from Hani- ger. However, he raced to make the catch before throwing it on the fly to Healy in the infield. Healy ran to first to double off Jabari Blash, who was pinch running for Albert Pujols. The Mariners have won six of their last seven games and 11 of their last 13. Roenis Elias (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief, and Seat- tle starter Marco Gonzales allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings. Wednesday’s game had plenty of drama — including two times when the game was tied and two lead changes. “I don’t know where to start with this game,” said Seattle manager Scott Ser- vais. “It had a little bit of everything in it.” Seattle built a 4-1 lead in the third inning and led 4-3 before the Angels came back to tie it in sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Luis Valbuena. Home runs by Nolan Fontana and Chris Young gave the Angels a 6-4 lead in the seventh. The Angels had won six consecutive games before coming to Seattle. “It says a lot the way our guys came See MARINERS/3B Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hodgen Distributing’s Ty Beers slides into home plate as Hanford catcher Luke Stutesman missed the throw on Wednesday in Pendleton. Hodgen Distributing splits doubleheader with Hanford By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian P ENDLETON — Hodgen Distrib- uting split an afternoon double- header with the Hanford Flames on Wednesday, with Hanford winning the first game 13-9 and Hodgen taking the second game 8-3 in come-from-behind fashion. In the first game, Hodgen (6-1) and Hanford had a pretty good battle going through the first six innings. Hodgen’s Ty Beers led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run that he ripped over the right field fence, putting the home team on top, 1-0. Hanford answered the run and added one in its the next at-bat with the help of a Hodgen error and an RBI single by Mitch Powers for a 2-1 lead. Hodgen then tied the game in the bottom half of the third when Beers singled and then scored on an RBI single to left field by Chris Large. In the fourth, Hanford once again re-took the lead on an RBI groundout by Mateo Coghlan for a 3-2 advantage and then Hodgen re-tied the game at 3-3 on an infield single RBI by Matt Demianew in the bottom half. Later in the sixth with Hanford lead- ing 6-4, Hodgen again tied the game Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hodgen Distributing’s Tanner Sweek throws from the mound in their 13-9 loss to Hanford on Wednesday in Pendleton. when Kyle Field drew a bases-loaded walk and Quinn Doherty a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Curtis Simons gave Hod- gen its second lead of the game when he blooped a single into shallow right field to score a run for a 7-6 advantage. Hodgen came to the seventh needing three outs from its pitcher, Demianew, to get its sixth straight win. However, Han- ford sent eight batters to the plate before it recorded an out and pushed across seven runs to take a commanding 13-7 lead. Hodgen gave it one last push in the seventh, loading the bases with one out when Doherty crushed a two-run double to the right-center field gap to make it a 13-9 game, though that was as close as Hodgen would get. Beers finished the game a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with four runs scored and Rudy Esparza was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. Doherty was 1-for-2 with his double and three RBI, but also walked once and was hit by a pitch twice. In the second game, Hanford scored once in the first, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead on Hodgen Distribut- ing. In the bottom of the fourth, though, Hodgen was finally able to break through. With two outs and the bases loaded, Tanner Sweek was hit by a pitch to bring in Hodgen’s first run, and then Cooper Roberts, Simons and Beers followed with three consecutive singles to push Hodgen in front with a 5-3 lead. In the fifth a sac- rifice fly RBI by Tucker Zander and an RBI single by Demianew increased Hod- gen’s lead to 7-3. Finally, Doherty had a RBI double in the sixth — his fifth dou- ble in seven games — for a final insur- See HODGEN/2B Sports shorts Unions seek player safeguards as sports gambling expands (AP) — Unions representing professional athletes are starting to lobby states that are consider- ing legal sports gambling, seeking protection for athletes from threats and harassment. In a document being circulated to state and federal lawmakers, attorneys for five players’ unions are urging states to approve laws and regulations that protect play- ers who report contact with people seeking to influence games. THIS DATE IN SPORTS NCAA eases rules on athlete transfers (AP) — College athletes will no longer need permission from their coach or school to transfer and receive financial aid from another school. The NCAA Division I Council approved the change effective Oct. 15 on Wednesday. The council also decided that D-I football players will be allowed to play in up to four games in a season without losing a year of eligibility if they can no longer play because of injuries “or other factors.” Snyder Sutton AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File Last spring at Kansas State, reserve receiver Corey Sutton said he was blocked from transferring to 35 schools by coach Bill Snyder before the school finally relented after public pressure. 1990 — Vinnie Johnson scores 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a 15-footer with sev- en-tenths of a second left, to give the Detroit Pistons a 92-90 win and the NBA title over Portland in five games. 2005 — Michelle Wie becomes the first female player to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Association championship, tying for first place in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tourna- ment at Belle Vernon, Pa. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
