Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2018)
SPORTS Saturday, July 28, 2018 East Oregonian M’s acquire Tuivailala to bolster bullpen SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners bolstered their bullpen on Friday by acquiring right-handed reliever Sam Tuivailala from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for minor-league pitcher Seth Elledge. Tuivailala is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 31 appearances for St. Louis this season, his second full season in the big leagues. He’ll immediately jump into the playoff race with Seattle holding a one- game lead over Oakland for the second wild card in the American League. Tuivailala also gives Seat- tle versatility. He’s worked more than one inning in eight of his 31 appearances. He’s held right-handed bat- ters to a .230 average and has not allowed a run in 21 of 31 outings. He also helps fulfill general manager Jerry Dipoto’s goal of acquiring players that will be control- lable for years to come. Tui- vailala isn’t arbitration eligi- ble until 2020. “Sam is in the midst of his second consecutive solid big league season, and has pitched in parts of four AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File major league seasons but has barely two years of ser- vice time,” Dipoto said. “We view this as a move for our present and our future.” Tuivailala will join a bullpen that’s been worked extensively in numerous close ball games. Seattle is 27-13 in one-run games this season. Elledge has quickly risen among the rankings of minor-league prospects in the Mariners organiza- tion. Elledge was recently rated as the No. 10 prospect in Seattle’s organization and was 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA and nine saves in 31 games for Single-A Modesto. MARINERS: Cruz hits 23rd HR, has only 2 in July Continued from 1B double with the bases loaded in the second inning to give the Angels their first runs of the game. David Fletcher brought another home in the second on a sacrifice fly. Mike Zunino hit a fifth-in- ning home run for the Mari- ners, his 13th and first since June 29. He spent time on the disabled list over that stretch with a left ankle bone bruise. Cruz added a solo shot in the seventh, his 23rd. Cruz has just two homers in July. The Mariners tied the game in the eighth inning on Guillermo Heredia’s bloop RBI single to right field. Zun- ino started the inning with a double that was misplayed by Angels left fielder Justin SEAHAWKS: Return of Ken Norton Jr has linebackers feeling good Continued from 1B The Seattle Mariners have bolstered their bullpen by adding Sam Tuivailala from the Cardinals, in exchange for minor-league pitcher Seth Elledge. Tuivailala is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 31 appearances for St. Louis this season, his second full season. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill Seattle Mariners’ Dee Gordon, left, is tagged by Los Angeles Angels catcher Jose Briceno while trying to steal home during the 10th inning. Upton. The Angels’ three-run second inning started on a 299 TACOMA $ NEW 2018 SR5 DBL CAB V6 4X4 leadoff double from Albert Pujols. It was the 3,061st hit of Pujols’ career, moving him into sole possession of 24th place ahead of Houston Astros great, Craig Biggio. defensive line and the type of chaos Michael Bennett and others created on — and sometimes off — the field. Then there was Wagner and fellow linebacker K.J. Wright. They have been regarded as two of the best in the league at their posi- tions and sometimes have received that level of rec- ognition. But they were often relegated to a sec- ondary role on their own team in terms of recog- nition even with Wagner being voted first-team All- Pro three times and Wright being a Pro Bowl selection. “The attention has gone elsewhere, I guess,” Wright said. “Nothing will change. We’ll still be the bad-ass linebackers on this team. We’ll still lead the way. Stuff will still be run in order. We’ll still make plays and it’ll be fun out there.” Seattle’s offseason defensive overhaul saw Bennett, Richard Sherman and Sheldon Richardson find new homes; Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor step away from the game due to neck injuries, and Earl Thomas hold out in search of a new contract. There are changes everywhere across Seattle’s defensive alignment, with the excep- tion of the linebackers. Wagner has been calling Seattle’s defense from the moment he arrived in the NFL and became a starter as a rookie. His partner the entire time has been Wright. With the depar- tures, those voices they’ve used together for the past six seasons will be even louder. “Yeah, they had the name, they got a lot of the attention and now the attention may shift to the linebackers,” Wagner said. “But we pride ourselves on being the guys that lead this team and that has been my mindset since I stepped in. I had coach Norton teach me the way.” Ken Norton Jr. has returned to Seattle to be the defensive coordinator. He was a mentor for Wag- ner and Wright as the line- backers coach when both arrived in the NFL. Now he’s returned with an even bigger imprint on what Seattle does defensively. “He’s the linebackers guy and he put that respon- sibility more on us. He calls on me in the meet- ing room to answer most of the questions, calls on Bobby to answer the ques- tions because he knows that we’re all on the same page,” Wright said. “He knows that we’re the guys that can share our lead- ership abilities, share our knowledge of the game. He’s putting that on us.” There may also be some schematic tweaks that give Wagner and Wright more freedom defensively. Wright said he believes the adjustments will make Seattle more fundamen- tally sound defensively and the linebackers could be the benefactors. “I think this defense is hungry,” Wright said. “We have a lot to prove. Myself, the secondary with all the guys leaving, the (defen- sive) line with the guys leaving. It’s going to be fun because you’ve got guys who want to come and show who they are.” ———— For more AP NFL cov- erage: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/ APNFL /MO proved On Approved Credit stk# 18H821. New 2018 Toyota Tacoma. MSRP $35,563. $1,000 Toyota Financial Service Rebate. 36month/12k miles per year lease = $299/mo. $350 disposition fee due at lease end. On approved credit. Net cap cost: $35,504.88. Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. No security deposit required. Offer expires 7/31/18. NEW 2018 CAMRY SE 296 $ /MO On Approved Credit stk# 18H682. New 2018 Toyota Camry se. MSRP $26,774. $500 Toyota Financial Service Rebate. 12k miles per year lease with $0 cash down = $296/mo. $350 disposition fee due at lease end. On approved credit. Net cap cost: $25,081. Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. No security deposit required. Offer expires 7/31/18. Page 3B ALL NEW 2018 RAV4 AND RAV4 HYBRIDS IN STOCK! , 500 3 REBATES $ Includes $1,000 TFS Customer Cash plus $2,500 Cash Back directly from Toyota Motor Sales On approved credit. Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. Offer expires 7/31/18.
