SPORTS
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018
1B
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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
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