SPORTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
1B
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MARINERS BASEBALL
SEAHAWKS FOOTBALL
Ex-Vikings
finding
fit with
Seahawks
By CURTIS CRABTREE
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — As the Seahawks
try to keep their defense playing at its tra-
ditionally high level despite the absence
of five former Pro Bowl selections, a
pair of veteran additions from Minnesota
along the defensive line could help steady
the ship.
Seattle added former Vikings defen-
sive tackles Tom Johnson and Shamar
Stephen as veteran pieces along the
defensive front on consecutive days in
March. While Johnson and Stephen don’t
directly replace Cliff Avril, Michael Ben-
nett, Richard Sherman or Kam Chan-
cellor, they are experienced veterans
that played on a Vikings defense that
was among the league’s best last sea-
son. Johnson and Stephen get a chance to
return to Minnesota to face their former
team in Seattle’s third preseason game
Friday night.
“This was the place that kind of
wanted both of us,” Johnson said. “I
ended up telling him I was going to come
here and shortly after he made the deci-
sion to come out. It was a great deal.”
Johnson — one of the few players still
in the NFL to have played in NFL Europe
— brings the ability to rush the passer
from the interior. He posted a career-high
6.5 sacks with Minnesota in 2014 before
netting just two in each of the last two
seasons.
“I wish we found him six or seven years
ago,” coach Pete Carroll said of Johnson.
“He’s one of our guys. He’s got the chip
on his shoulder and he shows it day in
and day out by the way he approaches his
work. ... He’s fantastic and we love the
fact that he’s in that room (and) got a lot
of young guys with him. He’s got a fan-
tastic influence on those guys.”
Stephen is more of a space-eating force
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa (1) races past Seattle Mariners third baseman Robinson Cano to score in the first inning.
M’s come up short
Gonzales roughed up,
Astros hang on for victory
Associated Press
S
EATTLE — Martin Maldo-
nado and Tyler White helped the
Astros build an eight-run lead,
and Houston’s bullpen made it hold
after a little scare in the sixth inning.
MLB
Astros
Mariners
10
7
See SEAHAWKS/2B
Maldonado and White each hom-
ered and had three hits, Roberto Osuna
got his first save with Houston and the
Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 10-7
on Wednesday.
The Astros led 9-1 before the Mari-
ners got one back in the fifth and added
five more in the sixth, all off starter
Charlie Morton (13-3).
After Joe Smith and Tony Sipp
closed out the sixth, Ryan Pressly, Hec-
tor Rondon and Osuna pitched a score-
less inning each.
“You can’t hate how you win if you
win,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
“It was good for us, especially the last
three innings with the guys we threw.
That’s exactly how you draw it up. All
three were dominant. The way those
guys responded and held it down was
pretty nice.”
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales looks out from the dug-
out after being relieved against the Houston Astros in the fourth inning.
Osuna pitched the ninth to earn his
10th save. The closer was acquired from
Toronto last month and joined the team
a week later after finishing a 75-game
suspension for violating Major League
Baseball’s domestic violence policy.
Maldonado had three RBIs and
White had two. Maldonado was
acquired from the Angels on July 26.
“Overall, the way we swung the bats
was pretty impressive,” Hinch said.
“Today it was a complete offense. And
Martin has come over and provided a
nice spark for us.”
Marco Gonzales (12-9) was pitching
on eight days of rest but allowed eight
runs and 11 hits before leaving with
no one out in the fourth. Gonzales has
given up 23 earned runs and 38 hits in
his last 20 innings over four starts.
“I don’t think Marco threw the ball
that badly,” Mariners manager Scott
Servais said. “Obviously, it had been
eight days since he’d been out there.
They put some balls in play, got some
hits, hit a few balls hard. It just wasn’t a
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
Seattle Seahawks defensive tackles
Dion Jordan (95) and Shamar Ste-
phen (98) share a snack during an
NFL football practice.
See MARINERS/2B
Rivalry Week turns intensity up a notch in MLS
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
It’s rivalry week in Major League
Soccer, but there’s one match that
would be important even if there
weren’t rivals involved.
On Friday night, Atlanta United will
visit Orlando City, a matchup that has
grown in intensity in the two seasons
since Atlanta joined the league as an
expansion team.
All eyes will be on United striker
Josef Martinez, who is on the verge of
making MLS history.
Last weekend in a 3-1 United vic-
tory over the Crew, Martinez scored his
27th goal of the season to tie the record
for most in a single season. He joined
Tampa Bay’s Roy Lassiter (1996), San
Jose’s Chris Wondolowski (2012), and
the Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips
(2014).
The 25-year-old Venezuelan was
asked afterward about joining the elite
group.
“I mean, I tied it, but what I really
want is to break it. So once I break it,
I’ll be even more happy,” he said.
Martinez scored in the 31st min-
ute, dedicating his goal to his pregnant
aunt, who lives with him, by tucking
the ball under his shirt.
“I thought about it, and I had thought
about doing it before at some point this
season. But I wanted it to be a special
occasion,” he said afterward.
Martinez is in his second season in
MLS. His first year he scored 19 goals
in 21 matches. His 46 (and counting)
goals in back-to-back seasons are a
league record. His six career hat tricks
See MLS/2B
Martinez
Sports shorts
Ohio St. suspends
Meyer for 3 games
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) —
Ohio State on Wednesday night sus-
pended head football coach Urban
Meyer three games, including Sept. 1
against Oregon State, for mishandling
domestic violence accusations, pun-
ishing Meyer for keeping an assis-
tant on staff for several years after that
coach’s wife accused him of abuse.
The move followed a two-week
investigation into how Meyer reacted
to allegations that former assis-
tant Zach Smith abused his ex-wife,
Courtney Smith.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Mariners, A’s to open 2019 season in Tokyo
NEW YORK (AP) — Major league baseball says
all 30 teams will play on March 28,
the earliest opening day in history,
excluding international openers.
The previous earliest opening
day was March 29 of this year.
MLB released the 2019 sched-
ule Wednesday. It will begin with
the Japan opening series between
the Seattle Mariners and host Oakland
Athletics at the Tokyo Dome on March
20-21.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will
also play the first-ever MLB games in
Europe, June 29-30 in London.
The 2019 season will be the
second under the scheduling for-
mat agreed to as part of the 2017-
2021 basic agreement. That
format adds an additional week-
end at the beginning of the sea-
son and gives each team three to
four additional off days throughout the
season to provide added rest and opportunities for
1947 — The College All-Stars
beat the Chicago Bears 16-0,
before a record crowd of 105,840
at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
2004 — The U.S. softball team
wins its third straight gold medal
with a nearly unblemished romp
through the Olympics.
2015 — Ohio State becomes the
first unanimous preseason No. 1 in
The Associated Press college foot-
ball poll. The defending national
champion Buckeyes receive all 61
first-place votes from the media.
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