East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, August 16, 2018, Page 1B, Image 9

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    SPORTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018
TIMBERS
FALL TO
DC UNITED
2B
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
MARINERS BASEBALL
Gordon’s homer helps
Seattle avoid sweep
MLB
By MICHAEL WAGAMAN
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Dee
Gordon doesn’t have many home
runs this season. Two to be exact.
So when Seattle’s light-hitting util-
ity player muscled up in the 12th
inning, he celebrated by kissing
both biceps as he stood in the dug-
out after crossing home plate.
It was a good-natured gesture
toward a few of Gordon’s team-
mates who were ribbing him as
he rounded the bases. It was also
an expression of relief for the
Mariners, who lost the first two
Mariners
Athletics
2
0
games of this series after sweeping
first-place Houston on the road.
Gordon homered off Yusmeiro
Petit to break a scoreless tie, and
the Mariners beat the Oakland Ath-
letics 2-0 on Wednesday to avoid a
three-game sweep.
“I got lucky,” Gordon said. “It’s
evening out. I’ve been lining out so
much the last month.”
Jean Segura had four hits to
help the Mariners close within 2½
games of the A’s for the second AL
wild-card spot.
“We needed to get this ballgame
today,” Seattle manager Scott Ser-
vais said. “It’s not going to get any
easier, but we’re starting to play
with our confidence again and
have some swag to our team.”
Seattle’s Mike Leake pitched
eight innings of two-hit ball with
six strikeouts and one walk. Oak-
land’s Brett Anderson went 7 2/3
innings without allowing a run in
See MARINERS/3B
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Seattle Mariners’ Dee Gordon, right, celebrates with Jean Segura
after hitting a two-run home run that scored Mike Zunino against
the Oakland Athletics during the 12th inning.
HERMISTON
College football
Boise State leads
way as Mountain
West begins
season No. 20
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
to get better every day, it’s an
awesome thing,” Hermiston
coach David Faaeteete said.
As Hermiston begins its
journey into a new confer-
ence and a new state ath-
letic association, the team
will also have plenty of new
faces on the field this fall. On
offense, Hermiston returns
only four starters overall with
senior quarterback Andrew
James, senior receiver Jor-
dan Ramirez, senior offen-
sive lineman Jacob Liebe and
junior offensive tackle Chase
Bradshaw. And while the
coaches feel pretty confident
with the new guys on the line,
there are a lot of unknowns at
the skill positions still to be
figured out in camp.
With
the
likes
of
Dayshawn Neal, Joey Guti-
errez and Jonathan Hinkle
lost to graduation, Hermis-
DENVER — Boise State could very
well make this a memorable 20th season
for the Mountain West Conference.
Extremely memorable, perhaps.
Because if things go just right and break
just so, the Broncos may be in the conver-
sation for the College Football Playoff.
That’s big preseason talk, but not out
of the realm of feasibility given the return
of seasoned quarterback Brett Rypien,
a stalwart offensive line and a formida-
ble defense. The strength of schedule is
favorable as well, with games at Troy and
Oklahoma State. They look like a major
contender for the New Year’s Six bowl
spot that’s saved for the best conference
champion from outside the Power Five.
Boise State earned that during the first
year of the CFP when it went to the Fiesta
Bowl and beat Arizona.
Still, Broncos coach Bryan Harsin is
tapping the brakes on all the expectations
surrounding his squad, which is the favor-
ite to win the Mountain side of the divi-
sion. There are plenty of potential pitfalls
in the way, including resurgent Fresno
State — the pick to win the West half of
the league. Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford
orchestrated quite a turnaround in 2017,
taking a 1-11 Bulldogs team and turning
it into a 10-4 squad that beat Houston in
the Hawaii Bowl.
“From what I see and the competition
we play and the league we’re in and the
success our teams have, if you’re fortu-
nate to win those games, you probably
have a good shot,” Harsin said of an MW
team reaching a big-time bowl game.
“It’s exciting. We’re trying to compete in
this league, in this division and make sure
we take care of business here.
“If you do, you probably have a good
shot at being mentioned in one of those
games.”
How times have changed over the last
two decades in the Mountain West: The
Broncos weren’t in the conference pic-
ture when the league played its first game
on September 16, 1999, with Brigham
Young beating Colorado State 34-13.
There were eight teams in those days.
Now, it’s expanded to a dozen.
A constant: Rocky Long.
He’s still coaching in the conference,
going from head coach at New Mexico to
defensive coordinator at San Diego State
to taking over as the Aztecs’ head coach
See HERMISTON/2B
See BOISE/3B
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez, right, prepares for a defensive drill against teammate Andrew James, left, during
Wednesday’s practice. The team was forced to practice indoors due to the smoke from Northwest wildfires.
A NEW ERA BEGINS
Hermiston begins
practices for
inaugural season as
WIAA members
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
ERMISTON — A new
era in Hermiston High
School football offi-
cially began this week, as the
Bulldogs began their first full-
team practices as members of
the Washington Interscholas-
tic Activities Association.
Wednesday marked the
first day of sanctioned prac-
tices for WIAA members,
and all kids on Hermiston’s
2018 roster strapped on their
helmets and stepped out on
the Kennison Field turf for
the first time in the morning
for the first practice of the
day. The Bulldogs met back
H
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Hermiston head coach David Faaeteete, center, instructs
his players during a drill at Wednesday’s practice at
Hermiston High School.
on the field later in the after-
noon, though that session
ended indoors in the gym-
nasium as the smoke from
Northwest wildfires contin-
ued to roll in and made the air
unsafe to continue outdoors.
But the Bulldogs did not
let the change of scenery
dampen their excitement to
be back playing football as
they begin preparation for
their Week 1 meeting with
Pasco in just 16 days.
“Any time you can get a
group of young men that want
Sports shorts
Manziel placed under
concussion protocol
MONTREAL (AP) — Johnny
Manziel was placed under the
Canadian Football League’s con-
cussion protocol Wednesday.
The Montreal Alouettes quar-
terback was hit at the goal line last
weekend, leading to a fumble that
a teammate recovered for a touch-
down in a 24-17 loss at Ottawa.
Manziel completed the game, but
missed practices Tuesday and
Wednesday as the team prepares
to play at Edmonton on Saturday
night.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Seattle ace James
Paxton placed on DL
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)
— The Seattle Mariners have
placed ace James Paxton on
the disabled list with a fore-
arm bruise, one day after the
left-hander was struck by a line
drive.
Paxton was facing the third
batter in the first inning Tuesday
night when Jed Lowrie lined a
ball back up the middle, hitting
the pitcher hard.
After the game, Paxton
told reporters he felt tight-
ness in his arm and could not
grip a baseball. X-rays were
negative.
Paxton is 10-5, including
a no-hitter against Toronto, and
a 3.68 ERA. Felix Hernandez,
who allowed two runs over 5
2/3 innings, is likely to take Pax-
ton’s turn in the rotation.
Right-hander Christian Berg-
man was recalled from Triple-A
Tacoma to fill Paxton’s roster
spot.
1954 — The first Sports Illus-
trated magazine is issued with
a 25-cent price tag. The scene
on the cover was a game at
Milwaukee’s County Stadium.
Eddie Mathews of Braves was
swinging with Wes Westrum catch-
ing and Augie Donatelli umpiring.
1998 — Jeff Gordon drives into
the record book, becoming the sev-
enth driver in modern NASCAR
history to win four straight races
as he comes from far back to take
the Pepsi 400.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com