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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2018)
SPORTS FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS MARINERS BASEBALL AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File Seattle Mariners players celebrate a two-run walk-off home run by Mitch Haniger in a 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on June 13 in Seattle. DROUGHT OVER? The Mariners are sitting at 58-39 and hold a three- game lead for the second wild-card spot heading into the second half of the season. What makes that remark- able is the Mariners have overcome enough obstacles thus far to derail most teams. Five different starting position players have spent time on the disabled list and catcher Mike Zunino is currently on his second stint on the DL. Their bull- pen has seen another four key arms go down at various times all the way back to spring training, And that doesn’t take into consideration the 80-game suspension of second baseman Robinson Cano. Rather than disrupt what Seattle had going, Cano’s suspension seemed to galvanize the team. Seattle is 36-22 since Cano’s suspension started. “I think just team chemistry carries a team further than a lot of people think and just when guys are all on the same page and fighting for one another ... that’s the big picture and it keeps everyone focused on that instead of their own individual performances and stuff like that,” outfielder Mitch Haniger said. Seattle’s success in the first half was based around beating the bad teams in the American League. The Mariners were 51-22 against the rest of the AL not named the Red Sox, Astros or Yankees. They are third in the AL in batting average, and fifth in both slugging and OPS. Their staff ERA is fifth and At the break, Mariners in position to end 16-year playoff drought By TIM BOOTH Associated Press S EATTLE — At some point it’s going to end. The feeling of imminent failure among some Seat- tle fans is going to manifest on the field and this unexpected season is going to start crumbling until it’s just like each of the previous seasons since the Mariners last made the playoffs in 2001. It has to, right? That feeling is what nearly two decades without postseason baseball has created in the Pacific North- west. While there is genuine excitement for what Seat- tle accomplished in the first 3½ months of the season there’s also a sense of dread among the most fatalistic fans who have seen promising seasons go south before, and it won’t go away until the Mariners officially end the longest current postseason drought in any of the four major pro sports. Lucky for the doubters, this team is showing the type of resilience needed to do just that. “I think the thing I’m most proud of, I guess, with this group is the ability for them to be as tight as they are,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “I think there’s a special bond within our team and it plays out on the field.” A fan in the stands wears a paper bag on his head during a game in the 2010 season. PENDLETON Legion baseball Hodgen Distributing wins twice in La Grande East Oregonian Hodgen Distributing started its final tournament of the summer season in La Grande on Thurs- day on a positive note, as it won 10-8 over Hermiston and 8-6 over Baker. In the win over Hermiston, Hodgen Distributing (22-15) put the pressure on the opponent in the top of the first with a six-run inning. Ty Beers led off the game with a double and then scored on a Hermiston error, and he was fol- See MARINERS/2B lowed by Jimmy Jones and Kyle Field scoring on errors for a 3-0 lead just four batters into the game. After Jordan DeGeer and Blake Swanson both scored on ground- outs, Hodgen added another run with a two-out RBI single by Matt Demianew to bring home Cooper Roberts to make it 6-0. Hermiston (9-24) got some of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, with an RBI single from Alexis Rosales and a two-run See LEGION/2B 10U All-Stars win opener at state tournament Murphy, Jenness combine for no-hitter East Oregonian Following in the footsteps of the 12U team, Pendleton’s 10U All-Star softball team began the 2018 state tournament with a big- time victory, thumping Beau- mont/North Portland 18-1 in four innings in the tournament opener on Thursday afternoon at U.S. Cel- lular Community Park in Medford. Pitchers Kendall Murphy and Josey Jenness combined to pitch a no-hitter, as Murphy went three innings and struck out nine batters and Jenness threw one inning and struck out three. Beaumont scored its only run in the fourth inning when Jenness walked a batter with the bases loaded. Pendleton scored four runs in the top of the first inning and cruised from there. In the sec- ond, Jenness hit an RBI single to right, Murphy hit a two-run triple to right and Reese Furstenberg hit a three-run inside-the-park home run to give Pendleton a 10-0 lead. Then in the third, Avery Quae- mpts hit a three-run inside-the- park home run of her own and Furstenberg later scored from third on an error to make it 14-0. An RBI groundout by Quaempts, RBI single by Furstenberg, a passed ball and a Beaumont error allowed four more runs to score in the inning to end Pendleton’s scoring with 18 runs. Furstenberg was 3-for-4 bat- ting with four RBI to go with her home run, while Jenness was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Murphy was 2-for-2 with a home run, a tri- ple and two RBI. Addison Kosey, Ella Watson, Isabella Estrada and Quaempts each had one hit for Pendleton. Pendleton next plays on Satur- day morning at 9 a.m. Sports shorts Angels’ Ohtani cleared to begin throwing ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels say two- way star Shohei Ohtani’s elbow ligament is continuing to heal and he has been medically cleared to begin a throwing progression. The team said Ohtani was given a six-week evaluation Thursday by Dr. Steve Yoon at the Kerlan Jobe Institute. The Angels said they would release specifics about his progress and rehabilita- tion schedule at another time. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1858 — Fans are charged for the first time to see a baseball game. Approximately 1,500 fans pay 50 cents to see the New York All-Stars beat Brooklyn 22-18 at Fashion Race Course on Long Island. 1975 — Sandra Palmer wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf champi- onship by four strokes. 2002 — Tiger Woods, trying to win the third leg of the Grand Slam, shoots his worst round (81) as a professional, knocking him- self out of contention. Cleveland bolsters bullpen with Hand SAN DIEGO (AP) — With an eye on October and beyond, the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indi- ans scooped up All-Star closer Brad Hand and fellow reliever Adam Cim- ber from the rebuilding San Diego Padres in exchange for switch-hit- ting catching prospect Francisco Mejia. The Indians need Hand, a lefty, and Cimber, a rookie right-handed sidearmer, to shore up a bullpen that has been without left-hander Andrew Miller since late May and has a 5.28 ERA, second-worst in the majors. The Padres claimed Hand off waivers from Miami early in the 2016 sea- son and he developed into a two- time All-Star. Known for his slider, he has 24 saves in 29 chances, with a 3.05 ERA and 65 strike- outs. The Padres gave Hand a $19.75 million, three-year contract in the offseason. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
