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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Tuesday, August 7, 2018 SEAHAWKS FOOTBALL Ifedi must cut down mistakes By TERRY BLOUNT Associated Press Sean Meagher /The Oregonian via AP Dairon Asprilla, left, of Portland Timbers vies for the ball in an MLS soccer match against Philadelphia Union at Providence Park in Portland. Timbers extend unbeaten streak with 3-0 win over Union By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND — Diego Valeri and Dairon Asprilla each scored on a pen- alty kick, and the Port- land Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to 15 games with a 3-0 vic- tory over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night. Portland improved to 10-0-5 since its last loss on April 8 at Orlando. The undefeated run matches the club’s MLS record of 15 games set in 2013. “We are doing well,” said Valeri, the league’s reigning MVP who leads Portland with eight goals this season. “I am very happy about the run we’re having.” Philadelphia rested many of its starters — including captain Alejan- dro Bedoya — in anticipa- tion of Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal. David Guzman also scored for the Timbers on a header in the 87th minute. Valeri’s penalty came after Philadelphia’s Fabinho pulled down Alvas Powell in the 58th minute. Warren Creavalle tripped Valeri in the box for Asprilla’s PK in the 84th. “It’s a part of the game, you get punished some- times and you have to move on,” goalkeeper Andre Blake said. The Timbers (10-3- 7) improved to second in the Western Conference behind FC Dallas. The Union (8-11-3) sit in sev- enth in the East. “I thought after we found the first goal, then the guys were able to dom- inate possession,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “I thought we were very good defensively in the second half and we didn’t allow them to get into good spaces.” It was Portland’s first match without Fanendo Adi, who signed with FC Cincinnati this week. Adi, who had been with the Timbers since 2014, scored a late goal that gave Port- land a 2-1 victory over Houston last weekend. FC Cincinnati, currently with the lower-tier USL, will join Major League Soccer as an expansion team next season. The Timbers were without Sebastian Blanco because of yellow card accumulation. Samuel Armenteros, who was listed as questionable with a sore back, started for Portland. Bedoya was listed as a sub for the match but entered in the 66th minute after Valeri’s goal. AP Photo/Sam Hodde Seattle Mariners’ Ryon Healy (27) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rang- ers, Monday, Aug. 6, 2018, in Arlington, Texas. MARINERS: Gordon back in lineup after missing two games Continued from 1B outs before speedy lead- off hitter Dee Gordon hit a grounder that turned into a nifty double play. Second baseman Rouged Odor made a back- handed pick of the short hopper, stepped on the bag and then threw with his body falling away from the base. First baseman Jurick- son Profar snagged the one-hop relay while slid- ing into a split, though a run did score for a 3-0 lead. TRAINER’S ROOM Mariners: Gordon was back in the lineup after missing two games because of a sore right ankle. Gor- don twisted the ankle try- ing to turn a double play Thursday against Toronto. He played Friday, but not Saturday or Sunday. UP NEXT A matchup of strug- gling former AL Cy Young Award winners when 45-year-old Rangers hurler Bartolo Colon (5-10, 5.18 ERA) goes against Seat- tle and Felix Hernandez (8-9, 5.49). The last vic- tory for both right-handers was June 30. Colon, the 2005 Cy Young winner while with the Angels, has lost five consecutive starts since his 246th career win that matched Dennis Mar- tinez for the most by a player born in Latin Amer- ica. The 32-year-old Her- nandez, who won the Cy Young with the Mariners in 2010, is 0-3 with a 7.64 ERA his last four starts. RENTON, Wash. — Germain Ifedi was back with the first unit in train- ing camp Monday, two days after Seattle coach Pete Carroll yanked the start- ing right tackle from the lineup during the Seahawks’ scrimmage. The embattled offensive lineman is hoping to keep his starting spot, but didn’t help his cause in Saturday’s scrimmage when he was flagged for a false start and a holding penalty. Carroll had seen enough. “Yeah, I was real dis- appointed in that,” Carroll said. “Real disappointed.” Penalties plagued Ifedi last season when he was flagged 20 times, the most penalties for any player in the NFL. New offensive line coach Mike Solari had a long conversation with Ifedi on the sidelines after he was pulled from the scrimmage. “We want Germain to be disciplined,” Solari said Monday. “It was unaccept- able. Just unacceptable and he knows it. We want to give him immediate feedback. It’s just concentration.” Ifedi was a first-round draft choice out of Texas A&M in 2016, but has yet to live up to the lofty expec- tations. The offensive line overall struggled most of the 2017 season, but Ifedi received most of the ire from the fans for his incon- sistent play. Ifedi knows his must eliminate the same mistakes that resurfaced Saturday. “It was a learning experi- ence,” Ifedi said. “We know AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Seahawks offensive guard Germain Ifedi stands on the field next to offen- sive guard Rees Odhiambo during NFL football training camp. that pre-snap penalties are unacceptable. It’s a lesson. You take the good things you did and move on.” Ifedi said Solari told him he has to stay calm in every situation and that compo- sure will be key. “Coach saw something on the field and he thought it was a good time to take me out and let me cool off. I was fine with it,” Ifedi said. Ifedi was replaced by Isaiah Battle in the scrim- mage. Battle is a fourth-year player from Clemson who was acquired in a trade with Kansas City last season. The Seahawks could also opt to move George Fant to right tackle. Fant missed all last season after suffering a major knee injury in the pre- season and is backing up Duane Brown at left tackle. Solari said last week that the best five players will start on the offensive line. He told Ifedi what he expects of him if Ifedi hopes to remain the starter. “Germain’s a good foot- ball player. He’s working on his technique. For a coach, it’s never quick enough, but we are demanding that he do it right,” Solari said. Solari is expected to use more man-on-man blocking and less of the zone-block- ing concept that predecessor Tom Cable employed. The Seahawks want to return to being more of the pow- er-running team they were with Marshawn Lynch. The Seahawks signed veteran guard D.J. Fluker to improve their run blocking. The other expected start- ers are Brown, second-year player Ethan Pocic at left guard and Justin Britt at center. Seattle also signed veteran guard J.R. Sweezy last week. Sweezy began his career with the Seahawks in 2012 and started on the Super Bowls teams in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The unit’s first test will come Thursday night when Seattle opens the preseason against Indianapolis. And there will be plenty of atten- tion on Ifedi. “It’s a big week for me with a new coach,” Ifedi said. “Mike is a great coach and you can tell he really cares about us. There’s pres- sure every year to get better and step up your game. You have to constantly evolve.” SLOW: Against Kelly’s Ducks, defenses struggled Continued from 1B 2014, teams averaged 2.21 points per drive. Last sea- son, it was 2.23. Multi-tempo has replaced up-tempo for a lot of col- lege offenses. Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead, who was offensive coordinator at Penn State the last two sea- sons, said his offense mostly operates at three speeds. “We want to run the best play possible against the look presented rather than a bad play quickly,” said Moorhead, repeating one of his go-to lines when describ- ing his offensive philosophy. “But at the same time have the ability that if we’re get- ting the right looks and call- ing the right plays to play at that break-neck speed.” This is the hurry-up-and- wait approach. By rush- ing to the line of scrimmage and making no substitutions, offenses get the benefit of forcing defenses to stick with the personnel they have on the field. “They’re getting lined up really fast so they have plenty of time left on the 40-second clock to see what you’re doing defensively,” said Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi, a former defen- sive coordinator. “They all want perfect plays.” Mississippi State defen- sive coordinator Bob Shoop said he believes offenses are looking for more than just formations. “I think the game has changed from going as fast as you can to lining up as fast as you can and trying to steal the defense’s signals,” Shoop said. “I think that’s what you see a lot of teams doing nowadays. Trying to get the defensive coordina- tor, the defensive signal call- er’s signals, and get into the right play in that respect.” Offensive coaches will tell you that signal stealing can go both ways, and other defensive adjustments have pushed them to throttle back. When Oregon’s offense was humming under Kelly, defenses struggled to sim- ply get lined up. The Ducks would run the same basic running play three straight times against defensive line- men who barely had time to get into a stance. The speed alone killed. “I think defensive coaches have adjusted how they practice,” Troy coach Neal Brown said. “Some people use two scout teams and run multiple plays in a row. Even non-tempo teams play with tempo during the spring and fall camp to help the defense practice.” Players who can fill mul- tiple positions are now the norm for defenses, allow- ing coordinators to change formations without chang- ing personnel — because defense can only substitute if the offense does. Every coach is looking for ver- satile players like Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jabrill Pep- pers, first-round NFL draft picks the last two years, who can comfortably move from cornerback to safety to line- backer to edge pass rusher. Defensive coaches as getting their plays in faster, using one- or two-word calls, and building automatic checks into those calls for when the offense changes formations at the line. Defenses are also better at gamesmanship. Sure, teams will still fake injuries to get a rest for winded defenders, but there are less shady ways to tap the brakes, too. If the offense makes a substitution, even if it is one receiver for another and the personnel grouping remains the same, defenses often counter with an automatic sub of a lineman, prefera- bly one far away from his sideline. “The defense is not responsible for sprint- ing onto the field,” Shoop said. “I know the last cou- ple years, where we just substituted a random defen- sive tackle or defensive end into the game just to slow the pace of play down. And in addition we’ve actually worked on and coached that player on the pace that we want him to run on the field.” Another factor could be playing a part in the slow- down. NCAA coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said there was a point of empha- sis nationally last season to have officials be more con- sistent in spotting the ball and, after a clock stoppage on an out-of-bounds play, winding the clock. The idea was to be more conscious of game management, making sure officials and yard-mark- ers on the sideline were set, before letting the offense snap. Shaw said the goal was more consistency across the country in how that mechanic was performed. “Did that shave a second off here or there or not?” Shaw said. “Hard to tell.” For what it’s worth, Shaw said he was not besieged by complaints from coaches about officials slowing their offenses, so that’s a good sign. Where does this go from here? Keep an eye on Kelly’s new team, UCLA, for clues. Kelly has never been one to tip his hand, but if one of the up-tempo pioneers decides to ease off the gas, that’d be a strong sign that the fast-foot- ball craze is officially over. SCOREBOARD Auto racing Hermiston Raceway Week 9 Hornet Main 1st #777 Devin Taylor 2nd #77 David Knowles 3rd #7 Tracy “Snoop” Howell 4th #11 Joe Dunn 5th #12 Kris Marlow 6th #18 Karen Pitzer 7th #13 Ryan Rodabaugh 8th #1 Rob “Ricky Bobby” Cassano 9th #21 Owen Berglund 10th #24 Justus Zamudio 11th #883 Woodrow Pittman 12th #69 Cody McDonald 13th #22 Caroline Barnes 14th #17 Kedric Preston Mini Stock Main 1st #49 Angel Oseguera 2nd #29 Andy Pierce 3rd #71 Logan Blackburn Super Mini Stock Main 1st #11X Patrick Mullins 2nd #11 Chris Kohler 3rd #27 Ron Wilbur 4th #8 Bradd Arneson Bomber Main 1st #17 Kedric Preston 2nd #123 Jeremy Erb 3rd #55 Justin Gage 4th #2 Arlen Calley 5th #N21K Carl Leggett Street Stock Main 1st #77 Jeff Stremcha 2nd #46 Terry Osborn 3rd #28 Kaylynn Jeffery 4th #18 Adam Baker 5th #75 Terry Lydell Legend Main 1st #24Z Jose Zamudio 2nd #81 Ben Matheson 3rd #54 Trace Thompson 4th #13 Donnie Rabbit 5th #43 Bill Kik 6th #2 Jeff Mueller 7th #3 Neena Kik 8th #23 Steve Owen Late Model Main with a special tribute to the #77 Vic Beard 1st #12 Rick Gerrard 2nd #15 Dan Nelson 3rd #3 Ken Bonney 4th #7 Tom Abercrombie Baseball American League East Division W Boston 79 New York 69 Tampa Bay 56 Toronto 51 Baltimore 34 Central Division W Cleveland 62 Minnesota 52 Detroit 47 Chicago 41 Kansas City 34 West Division W Houston 72 Oakland 67 Seattle 65 Los Angeles 56 Texas 49 L 34 42 56 60 78 L 49 59 66 71 78 L 42 46 48 58 65 Pct .699 .622 .500 .459 .304 Pct .559 .468 .416 .366 .304 Pct .632 .593 .575 .491 .430 GB — 9 22½ 27 44½ GB — 10 16 21½ 28½ GB — 4½ 6½ 16 23 Sunday’s Games Chicago White Sox 8, Tampa Bay 7 Cleveland 4, L.A. Angels 3 Minnesota 6, Kansas City 5 Baltimore 9, Texas 6 Oakland 6, Detroit 0 L.A. Dodgers 3, Houston 2 Seattle 6, Toronto 3 Boston 5, N.Y. Yankees 4, 10 innings Monday’s Games Cleveland 10, Minnesota 0 Seattle 4, Texas 3, 12 innings N.Y. Yankees 7, Chicago White Sox 0 Chicago Cubs 3, Kansas City 1 L.A. Angels 6, Detroit 2 Houston 3, San Francisco 1 Tuesday’s Games Houston (Keuchel 9-9) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 4-4), 12:45 p.m. Boston (Pomeranz 1-5) at Toronto (Stro- man 4-8), 4:07 p.m. Baltimore (Cobb 3-14) at Tampa Bay (Glasnow 1-2), 4:10 p.m. Minnesota (Mejia 1-0) at Cleveland (Car- rasco 13-5), 4:10 p.m. Seattle (Hernandez 8-9) at Texas (Colon 5-10), 5:05 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 6-4) at Chicago White Sox (Lopez 4-9), 5:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Montgomery 3-4) at Kansas City (Keller 4-4), 5:15 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Hill 4-4) at Oakland (Manaea 10-7), 7:05 p.m. Detroit (Turner 0-0) at L.A. Angels (He- aney 6-7), 7:07 p.m. National League East Division Philadelphia Atlanta Washington New York Miami Central Division Chicago Milwaukee St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati West Division Arizona Los Angeles Colorado San Francisco San Diego Sunday’s Games W 63 60 57 46 47 W 65 65 58 57 49 W 62 62 60 57 44 L 48 48 54 64 67 L 47 50 55 56 64 L 51 51 52 57 70 Pct .568 .556 .514 .418 .412 Pct .580 .565 .513 .504 .434 Pct .549 .549 .536 .500 .386 GB — 1½ 6 16½ 17½ GB — 1½ 7½ 8½ 16½ GB — — 1½ 5½ 18½ Atlanta 5, N.Y. Mets 4, 10 innings Philadelphia 5, Miami 3 St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1 Washington 2, Cincinnati 1 Colorado 5, Milwaukee 4, 11 innings San Diego 10, Chicago Cubs 6 L.A. Dodgers 3, Houston 2 San Francisco 3, Arizona 2 Monday’s Games Miami 2, St. Louis 1 N.Y. Mets 6, Cincinnati 4 Chicago Cubs 3, Kansas City 1 Colorado 2, Pittsburgh 0 Houston 3, San Francisco 1 Philadelphia at Arizona, late Tuesday’s Games Atlanta (Fried 1-4) at Washington (Rodri- guez 0-1), 1:05 p.m., 1st game Houston (Keuchel 9-9) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 4-4), 3:45 p.m. Atlanta (Newcomb 10-5) at Washington (Scherzer 15-5), 7:05 p.m., 2nd game Cincinnati (Romano 6-9) at N.Y. Mets (Vargas 2-7), 7:10 p.m. St. Louis (Mikolas 11-3) at Miami (Lopez 2-2), 7:10 p.m. San Diego (Richard 7-10) at Milwaukee (Anderson 7-7), 8:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Montgomery 3-4) at Kansas City (Keller 4-4), 8:15 p.m. Pittsburgh (Taillon 8-8) at Colorado (Bettis 5-1), 8:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Pivetta 6-9) at Arizona (Grein- ke 12-6), 9:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Hill 4-4) at Oakland (Manaea 10-7), 10:05 p.m. Wednesday’s Games Cincinnati at N.Y. Mets, 12:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at Colorado, 3:10 p.m. Philadelphia at Arizona, 3:40 p.m. Atlanta at Washington, 7:05 p.m. St. Louis at Miami, 7:10 p.m. San Diego at Milwaukee, 8:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Kansas City, 8:15 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Oakland, 10:05 p.m.
