East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, August 17, 2018, Image 14

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Newspaper Page TextPage 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Ureña’s pitch “seemed pretty blatant to me.” — Aaron Boone, Yankees manager Friday, August 17, 2018 Teams use new ways to keep NFL players cool in camp By TERESA M. WALKER Associated Press AP Photo/John Bazemore Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr., right, reacts after being hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins’Jose Ureña during the first inning of a baseball game Wednes- day, Aug. 15, 2018 in Atlanta. Both dugouts emptied and Ureña was ejected. Marlins catcher J.T. Realmu- to is at rear. Intentional plunkings come under fire after Ureña hits Acuña By JAKE SEINER Associated Press NEW YORK — Aaron Judge saw Jose Ureña’s plunking of Ronald Acuña Jr. before the Yankees played a day game Thurs- day, and he felt Acuña’s pain. The reigning AL home run leader knows that with so many big flies comes a risk that some dis- gruntled pitcher may try burying a fastball in your ribs. “Oh yeah, it’s happened before,” New York’s star slugger said. Throwing at a bat- ter for hitting home runs? That’s what many think Ureña did, including Mets broadcaster and former big league first baseman Keith Hernandez, who defended Urena’s plunking of Atlan- ta’s breakout rookie. Mostly, though, players and coaches around the game seem to want noth- ing to do with this murky unwritten rule. The Miami right-hander sparked a benches-clearing fracas in Atlanta when he drilled Acuña in the elbow with the first pitch of a game Wednesday. Acuña had homered leading off three consecutive games and gone deep four times in the first three games of the series against the Marlins. Acuña had a CT scan that revealed his elbow was normal, and X-rays also were negative. He was back in Atlanta’s lineup Thursday night against Colorado. Ureña claimed he was just pitching Acuna inside and missed his spot with a “bad pitch.” He was sus- pended six games and fined an undisclosed amount on Thursday. The Braves — as well as the game’s umpires — believed the plunking was intentional. Braves All- Star Freddie Freeman said it “was just completely classless on Jose Ureña’s part,” and manager Brian Snitker was near the front of a line of Atlanta players charging out of the dugout toward the mound. “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like that in a baseball uniform,” Snitker said. At least one prominent baseball voice thought Ureña would be right to intentionally drill Acuña, though. Hernandez, the 1979 NL co-MVP, said during the Mets broadcast Wednesday night that in this case, “you got to hit him.” “They’re killing you,” Hernandez said. “You lost three games. He’s hit three home runs. You got to hit him. I’m sorry, people aren’t going to like that. You know, you got to hit him, knock him down.” Hernandez’s words weren’t well received by the Braves. Reliever Peter Moylan tweeted that Her- nandez was a “clown,” and Hall of Famer Chip- per Jones tweeted that the comments were “waaay off base!” “So by this way of thinking, Jacob deGrom should get drilled cuz he’s the hottest pitcher on the planet? NO!” Jones wrote. Players and coaches around the majors were asked about intentional plunkings Thursday, and it’s clear that Hernandez’s opinion falls among the minority. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Ureña’s pitch “seemed pretty blatant to me.” “It had a bad look to it,” he said. Rays veteran Kevin Kiermaier thinks plunk- ings have a time and a place. He recalled being a rookie when Tampa Bay unintentionally hit Yan- kees star Derek Jeter twice in the same game. Kier- maier was the first batter up for Tampa Bay the next inning. “I knew I was going to get thrown at,” Kier- maier said. “Guy ended up missing. I had no problem with it. He got thrown out, whatever.” But Kiermaier also sus- pects at least one pitcher has thrown at him inten- tionally because the speedy center fielder tried to bunt for a hit in the first inning of a game, and that experience infuriated him. Kiermaier, who is expect- ing a child in November, doesn’t want any part of pitchers throwing at him for just playing the game. He called Ureña’s pitch “classless.” “You’re hitting good, and they want to hit you to hit you, then I got a prob- lem with that,” Kiermaier said. Retired seven-time All- Star Michael Young said on Twitter that “you don’t drill people for doing their jobs” and “that’s not old school.” He also said the concept of brushback pitches — throwing a fast- ball inside to scare a batter off the plate and make him uncomfortable — doesn’t work against major league hitters. “You can’t make a good hitter uncomfort- able,” Young said. “He’s been there, done that. He’s laughing in his head because your heaters inside are simply teeing him up with a 2-0 count. Then he’s going to torch you.” NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans running back Dion Lewis has been so focused on football with his new team that he didn’t realize until a few days into training camp just how spe- cial the benches on each sideline really are. Now he takes a couple of minutes whenever possi- ble during practice to sit and cool off. Literally. “It’s great,” said Lewis, who spent the past three years with New England. “It’s real hot ... so when- ever you use anything to make you cool down a little bit, I think it’s a great tool. It’s been here for the whole time, but I just realized it like probably last week. So defi- nitely take advantage of that whenever I get a chance.” Keeping football players cool during the sweltering days of training camp is crit- ical, especially in the wake of the heat-related death of Minnesota offensive tackle Korey Stringer in August 2001 and the June death of Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair. An attorney for the McNair family says a preliminary death certificate indicates the cause of death was heatstroke. Old-fashioned tubs filled with water and bags of ice await NFL players, even for teams staying at their head- quarters this time of year. A few minutes provides a quick, but very wet, recov- ery once practice is over. The Titans and New Orleans Saints both decided to give players a chance to cool off during practice, improving both safety and the workouts. With a new coach in Mike Vrabel, the Titans put a bench on each side of their three practice fields, giving players a chance to recover when the temperature during morning practices can feel like 90 degrees. “I don’t think our players have done a good enough job of taking advantage of it, but, we’re trying it out,” AP Photo/Mark Humphrey Tennessee Titans running backs Dion Lewis (33) and Derrick Henry (22) rest on a cooling bench during NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Nash- ville, Tenn. The Titans put a bench on each side of their three practice fields, giving players a chance to recover when the temperature during morning practices can feel like 90 degrees. Vrabel said. “Going to Miami and Jacksonville in the early games here, if there’s any- thing we can do to keep our guys as fresh as possible on the sideline, we’re going to try.” In hot and humid Jack- sonville, the Jaguars have had such cooling benches for years in the shade and near huge fans to use during breaks. The New Orleans Saints have used a cooling tent for years, even when holding training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, Missis- sippi. With the tent kept off to the side of the football fields, it wound up too far away for the Saints to slip over during practices. This August, an 18-wheeler dropped off what looks like a massive storage trailer. Inside, it’s actually a chilly 25 degrees featuring dim lighting and black padded folding chairs. The Saints can walk in for a quick refresher or sit down to drop the body tem- perature. If needed, coach Sean Payton can put a whole position group inside at once, especially effective for big men such as offen- sive or defensive linemen. “As bodies go in there, it goes to 28,” Payton said. “But it’s almost three times colder than a tent.” Payton said colleges such as LSU and Alabama are among those already using the cooling trailer. Being in muggy Louisiana, the Saints didn’t have to go far to find a company that could help them out. Payton said when the temperatures soar, teams can’t cool players down enough. The trailer allows New Orleans to keep the Saints refreshed enough to practice, not just survive until the final horn signals a blissful end. “You want to not just be running plays, and then you also have an answer if some- one is going through a sec- ond-level heat illness or God forbid something more serious,” Payton said. “But, the first thing we want to be able to do is cool the core temperatures down. We’ve always taken a lot of breaks, so we’ve han- dled the heat well. We’ve had to. But if you went back to Millsaps even, we had a cool tent. This is just much colder.” The Tampa Bay Buc- caneers don’t use cooling benches. For the first time, they are making good use of an indoor practice facility — complete with air con- ditioning — that was com- pleted earlier this year. Despite playing in Flor- ida, the Buccaneers had never had an indoor prac- tice field before now, and coach Dirk Koetter has used it liberally. He’s started several prac- tices outdoors before going inside where the Bucs even installed bleachers for fans attending open sessions. Koetter also keeps the Bucs inside for walkthroughs to avoid the heat. Just standing near the cooling bench is comfort- able enough to watch an entire practice without even needing to sit on the chilled aluminum seats. Titans run- ning back Derrick Henry tested the cooling bench last weekend and liked what he found. A big man at 6-foot- 3, Henry says he won’t use it too much to avoid stiffen- ing up. Walking by to cool off? “It feels good, especially because it’s hot out here,” Henry said. “It’s camp, and we got to put it to use. It’s a good tool for us to cool our body off, so we’re ready when we go back out there.” ———— AP Sports Writers Brett Martel in Louisiana and Fred Goodall in Florida contributed to this report. SCOREBOARD Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Boston 86 36 .705 — New York 75 46 .620 10½ Tampa Bay 62 59 .512 23½ Toronto 55 66 .454 30½ Baltimore 36 85 .298 49½ Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 69 51 .575 — Minnesota 57 63 .475 12 Detroit 50 72 .410 20 Chicago 44 76 .367 25 Kansas City 37 84 .306 32½ West Division W L Pct GB Houston 74 47 .612 — Oakland 72 49 .595 2 Seattle 70 52 .574 4½ Los Angeles 62 61 .504 13 Texas 54 69 .439 21 ——— Thursday’s Games Tampa Bay 3, N.Y. Yankees 1 Texas 8, L.A. Angels 6 Minnesota 15, Detroit 8 Kansas City 6, Toronto 2 Friday’s Games Toronto (Stroman 4-8) at N.Y. Yankees (Lynn 8-8), 4:05 p.m. Baltimore (Hess 2-6) at Cleveland (Carras- co 14-6), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Stanek 1-3) at Boston (John- son 3-3), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Despaigne 2-0) at Texas (Minor 9-6), 5:05 p.m. Detroit (Boyd 7-10) at Minnesota (Gibson 6-9), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Junis 6-11) at Chicago White Sox (Shields 4-14), 5:10 p.m. Houston (Morton 12-3) at Oakland (Jack- son 4-2), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 5-4) at Seattle (LeBlanc 7-2), 7:10 p.m. Wild Card Standings W L PCT GB New York 75 46 .625 +3 Oakland 72 49 .595 — Seattle 70 52 .574 2½ NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 68 52 .567 — Philadelphia 67 54 .554 1½ Washington 61 61 .500 8 New York 52 68 .433 16 Miami 48 75 .390 21½ Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 70 50 .583 — Milwaukee 68 55 .553 3½ St. Louis 66 56 .541 5 Pittsburgh 61 61 .500 10 Cincinnati 52 69 .430 18½ West Division W L Pct GB Arizona 67 55 .549 — Colorado 65 56 .537 1½ Los Angeles 65 57 .533 2 San Francisco 61 61 .500 6 San Diego 48 76 .387 20 ——— Thursday’s Games N.Y. Mets 24, Philadelphia 4, 1st game Chicago Cubs 1, Pittsburgh 0 Washington 5, St. Louis 4 Colorado 5, Atlanta 3 Philadelphia 9, N.Y. Mets 6, 2nd game Arizona 5, San Diego 1 Friday’s Games N.Y. Mets (Syndergaard 8-2) at Philadel- phia (Nola 13-3), 3:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Hamels 7-9) at Pittsburgh (Williams 10-8), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Straily 4-5) at Washington (Scher- zer 15-5), 4:05 p.m. San Francisco (Kelly 0-1) at Cincinnati (DeSclafani 6-3), 4:10 p.m. Colorado (Freeland 10-7) at Atlanta (New- comb 10-5), 4:35 p.m. Milwaukee (Peralta 5-3) at St. Louis (Flaherty 6-6), 5:15 p.m. Arizona (Ray 3-2) at San Diego (Lucchesi 6-6), 7:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 5-4) at Seattle (LeBlanc 7-2), 7:10 p.m. Wild Card Standings W Milwaukee 68 Philadelphia 66 St. Louis 66 Colorado 65 Los Angeles 65 Pittsburgh 61 San Francisco 61 L 55 54 56 56 57 61 61 PCT GB .553 +½ .550 — .541 1 .537 1½ .533 2 .500 6 .500 6 MiLB NORTHWEST LEAGUE North Division W L Pct. GB Vancouver (Blue Jays) 13 8 .619 — Spokane (Rangers) 12 9 .571 1 x-Everett (Mariners) 10 11 .476 3 Tri-City (Padres) 8 13 .381 5 South Division W L Pct. GB x-Hillsboro (D-Backs) 13 8 .619 — Salem-Keizer (Giants) 11 10 .524 2 Eugene (Cubs) 10 11 .476 3 Boise (Rockies) 7 14 .333 6 x-first-half division winner ——— Thursday’s Games Tri-City 6, Vancouver 0 Salem-Keizer 7, Boise 4 Spokane 3, Everett 2 Eugene 2, Hillsboro 1 Friday’s Games Hillsboro at Salem-Keizer, 6:35 p.m. Spokane at Vancouver, 7:05 p.m. Boise at Eugene, 7:05 p.m. Everett at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m. LITTLE LEAGUE Little League World Series At South Williamsport, Pa. All games televised on ESPN Networks and online at ESPN+ Double Elimination Thursday, Aug. 16 Game 1: Seoul (South Korea) 4, Guayama (Puerto Rico) 2, 9 innings Game 2: Staten Island (N.Y.) 5, Des Moines (Iowa) 2 Game 3: Matamoros (Mexico) 3, Gold Coast (Australia) 2 Game 4: Houston (TX) 3, Coventry (R.I.) 1 Friday, Aug. 17 Game 5: Barcelona (Spain) vs. Kawaguchi (Japan), 11 a.m. Game 6: Grosse Pointe Woods (Mich.) vs. Coeur d’Alene (Idaho), 1 p.m. Game 7: Arraijan (Panama) vs. Surrey (British Columbia), 3 p.m. Game 8: Peachtree City (Ga.) vs. Hono- lulu, 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18 Game 9: Guayama (Puerto Rico) vs. Gold Coast (Australia), 10 a.m. Game 10: Des Moines (Iowa) vs. Coven- try (R.I), Noon Game 11: Game 5 loser vs. Game 7 loser, 3 p.m. Game 12: Game 6 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 19 Game 13: Seoul (South Korea) vs. Matam- oros (Mexico), 6 a.m. Game 14: Staten Island (N.Y.) vs. Houston (TX), 8 a.m. Game 15: Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 10 a.m. Game 16: Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 11 a.m. Football NFL PRESEASON Week 2 AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF New England 2 0 0 1.000 63 N.Y. Jets 1 1 0 .500 30 Miami 0 1 0 .000 24 Buffalo 0 1 0 .000 23 South W L T Pct PF Houston 1 0 0 1.000 17 Indianapolis 1 0 0 1.000 19 Jacksonville 0 1 0 .000 20 Tennessee 0 1 0 .000 17 PA 37 15 26 28 PA 10 17 24 31 North W Baltimore 2 Pittsburgh 1 Cleveland 1 Cincinnati 1 West W Oakland 1 Denver 0 Kansas City 0 L.A. Chargers 0 L 0 1 0 0 L 0 1 1 1 T Pct 0 1.000 0 .500 0 1.000 0 1.000 T Pct 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 0 .000 PF 50 65 20 30 PF 16 28 10 17 PA 23 65 10 27 PA 10 42 17 24 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA Dallas 0 1 0 .000 21 24 Washington 1 1 0 .500 32 39 N.Y. Giants 0 1 0 .000 10 20 Philadelphia 0 2 0 .000 34 68 South W L T Pct PF PA Carolina 1 0 0 1.000 28 23 New Orleans 1 0 0 1.000 24 20 Tampa Bay 1 0 0 1.000 26 24 Atlanta 0 1 0 .000 0 17 North W L T Pct PF PA Green Bay 2 0 0 1.000 82 51 Minnesota 1 0 0 1.000 42 28 Detroit 0 1 0 .000 10 16 Chicago 0 2 0 .000 43 47 West W L T Pct PF PA San Francisco 1 0 0 1.000 24 21 Arizona 1 0 0 1.000 24 17 Seattle 0 1 0 .000 17 19 L.A. Rams 0 1 0 .000 7 33 ——— Thursday’s Games New England 37, Philadelphia 20 Washington 15, N.Y. Jets 13 Green Bay 51, Pittsburgh 34 Friday’s Games N.Y. Giants at Detroit, 4 p.m. Kansas City at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Miami at Carolina, 4:30 p.m. Buffalo at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. Arizona at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Saturday’s Games Jacksonville at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Oakland at L.A. Rams, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at Dallas, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Tennessee, 5 p.m. San Francisco at Houston, 5 p.m. Chicago at Denver, 6:05 p.m. Seattle at L.A. Chargers, 7 p.m. Monday’s Games Baltimore at Indianapolis, 5 p.m. Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA Atlanta United FC 14 4 6 48 50 28 New York 15 6 2 47 45 23 New York City FC 14 5 5 47 48 31 Columbus 11 7 6 39 31 29 Philadelphia 9 11 3 30 32 39 Montreal 9 13 3 30 31 41 New England 7 8 8 29 38 38 Orlando City 7 15 2 23 37 57 Toronto FC 6 12 5 23 39 44 Chicago 6 14 5 23 35 49 D.C. United 6 9 6 23 37 39 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA FC Dallas 12 5 6 42 37 30 Sporting K.C. 11 6 6 39 42 30 Los Angeles FC 11 7 6 39 47 39 Portland 10 5 7 37 35 31 LA Galaxy 10 8 7 37 48 42 Real Salt Lake 10 10 5 35 34 43 Vancouver 9 9 6 33 38 47 Seattle 9 9 5 32 26 26 Minnesota United 9 13 2 29 38 48 Houston 7 10 6 27 39 34 Colorado 6 12 6 24 31 40 San Jose 3 13 7 16 33 43 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Saturday’s Games LA Galaxy at Seattle, 1 p.m. New York at Vancouver, 4 p.m. New York City FC at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Chicago at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota United at FC Dallas, 5 p.m. Portland at Sporting K.C., 5:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Houston, 6 p.m. Toronto FC at San Jose, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Games Columbus at Atlanta United FC, 1 p.m. New England at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Los Angeles FC, 7 p.m. Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB x-Atlanta 22 10 .688 — x-Washington 20 11 .645 1½ x-Connecticut 19 13 .594 3 Chicago 12 20 .375 10 New York 7 24 .226 14½ Indiana 5 26 .161 16½ WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB x-Seattle 24 8 .750 — x-Los Angeles 19 13 .594 5 x-Phoenix 18 14 .563 6 x-Minnesota 17 15 .531 7 Dallas 14 18 .437 10 Las Vegas 13 18 .419 10½ x-clinched playoff spot ———— Friday’s Games Minnesota at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Washington, 4 p.m. Las Vegas at Dallas, 5 p.m. Atlanta at Phoenix, 7 p.m. New York at Seattle, 7 p.m. Golf PGA TOUR WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP Thursday At Sedgwfield Country Club Greensboro, N.C. Purse: $6 million Yardage: 7,127; Par 70 (35-35) First Round Leaderboard Brandt Snedeker 27-32—59 Ryan Moore 30-33—63 John Oda 32-31—63 Martin Flores 32-32—64 D.A. Points 32-32—64 Brett Stegmaier 31-33—64 David Hearn 32-32—64 Abraham Ancer 30-34—64 Ollie Schniederjans 30-34—64 Jonathan Byrd 32-32—64 Corey Conners 31-34—65 Nick Taylor 31-34—65 Aaron Baddeley 32-33—65 Ryan Armour 32-33—65 Sung Kang 32-33—65 Notables Jim Furyk 32-33—65 Sergio Garcia 31-35—66 -11 -7 -7 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 LPGA TOUR INDY WOMEN IN TECH CHAMPIONSHIP Thursday Site: Indianapolis. Course: Brickyard Cross GC. Yardage: 6,456. Par: 72. Purse: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000. First Round Leaderboard Lizette Salas 31-31—62 -10 Nasa Hatoaka 32-32—64 -8 Angel Yin 28-36—64 -8 Danielle Yang 33-32—65 -7 Carolina Hedwall 32-33—65 -7 Jin Young Ko 31-34—65 -7 Jane Park 32-33—65 -7 Brianna Do 34-32—66 -6 Xiyu Lin 32-34—66 -6 Lydia Ko 33-33—66 -6 Notables Lexi Thompson 32-36—38 -4 Cristie Kerr 35-34—69 -3 Brooke M. Henderson 32-38—70 -2 Paula Creamer 39-35—74 +2 Auto Racing NASCAR CUP SERIES BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE Site: Bristol, Tennessee Schedule: Friday, practice 7:30 a.m. & 9:40 a.m., (NBCSN); qualifying 2:40 p.m., NBCSN; Saturday, race 4:30 p.m., NBCSN. Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.526 miles). Race distance: 266.5 miles, 500 laps. Last year’s winner: Kyle Busch.