A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022 SPORTS MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS OREGON STATE FOOTBALL Beavers nip Stanford in game’s final seconds BY JOSH DUBOW Associated Press Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images-TNS The Seattle Mariners celebrate after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-9, in Game 2 to win the American League Wild Card Series at Rogers Centre on Oct. 8, 2022, in Toronto. Mariners erase 7-run deficit, sweep Blue Jays with 10-9 win Seattle advances to division series BY IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO — Carlos San- tana and J.P. Crawford de- livered before Adam Frazier capped Seattle’s historic come- back with one sweet swing. A little October fun for a new generation of Mariners. Frazier hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the ninth inning, and Seattle erased a seven-run deficit while topping the To- ronto Blue Jays 10-9 on Satur- day, Oct. 8 for a sweep of their AL wild-card series. “Those are the kind of mo- ments you picture yourself in in the backyard when you’re a kid,” Frazier said. It was the biggest road comeback win in playoff his- tory and baseball’s largest comeback victory to clinch a postseason series. Yup, it was quite a day for a franchise making its first playoff appearance since Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez and company were eliminated by the New York Yankees in the 2001 AL Championship Se- ries. Next up for this group of Mariners is Houston in the AL Division Series. sinking liner, but it landed “To go to the World Series, as the two collided. All three you have to go through Hous- runners scored on the double, ton,” manager Scott Servais tying it at 9. said. “They’re really good. We “It seems everything that understand that. We’re really could go wrong did go wrong good.” in a very short period of Seattle got off to a 29-39 time,” interim Blue Jays man- start this sea- ager John son, but it “To go to the World Series, Schneider went 61-33 said. you have to go through from June 21 Bichette on, trailing was able to Houston. They’re really only the As- stay in the good. We understand that. game, but the tros (65-31) among AL 33-year-old We’re really good.” teams over Springer had that span. to be helped —Scott Servais, After win- to his feet be- Mariners manager ning 4-0 in fore he was the opener carted off of the best-of-three se- the field. The four-time All- ries, the Mariners trailed Star encouraged the cheering 8-1 through five innings in crowd as he departed. Game 2. But they roared Schneider said Springer back, tying it with four runs was “doing OK” and would in the eighth. be evaluated further. With two out and the The Blue Jays have lost five bases loaded, Crawford hit a straight postseason games and blooper to center against All- eight of nine. Toronto, which Star closer Jordan Romano. finished one win short of a “I was praying to the base- playoff berth in 2021, heads ball gods to just let that ball into another offseason on a sit,” Crawford said. disappointing note. Center fielder George “It’s going to take some Springer and shortstop Bo time,” Schneider said. “Proba- Bichette went hard after the bly take a vacation or two.” Cal Raleigh, who hit an RBI single for Seattle in the eighth, reached on a one-out double against Romano in the ninth. After Mitch Haniger flied out, Frazier drove in Raleigh with a dou- ble to right. “I’m just glad the ball fell,” Frazier said. Bichette walked, stole second and advanced to third on a grounder in the eighth, but An- drés Muñoz retired Ale- jandro Kirk to end the threat. George Kirby, Seat- tle’s eighth pitcher of the game, handled the ninth for his first ca- reer save. Matt Chap- man walked with one out, but Danny Jansen struck out and Raimel Tapia lined out to end the game. “I figured he would step up, the adrenaline would be going, and he did a great job,” Servais said of Kirby. STANFORD, Calif. — Ben Gulbranson threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Tre’Shaun Harrison with 13 seconds re- maining and Oregon State over- came a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Stanford 28-27 on Saturday night, Oct. 8. “We keep fighting until the last second,” Gulbranson said. “With this team, anything is pos- sible.” The Cardinal (1-4, 0-4 Pac-12) appeared to be in control of the game when they took a 24-10 lead into the fourth quarter with Oregon State (4-2, 1-2) using a backup quarterback. Instead, they collapsed down the stretch and lost their 11th straight game against an FBS opponent. “I’m not going to be all sun- shine about us playing our best game because we have to finish,” coach David Shaw said. “We had a chance to put the game away and didn’t do it.” Gulbranson threw a 21-yard TD pass on fourth down to Silas Bolden on the second play of the fourth quarter to start the come- back. “That was definitely a spark plug for us,” Gulbranson said. “We rode that energy and fin- ished pretty strong.” Damien Martinez added a 43- yard touchdown run to make it 24-22 but the Beavers missed both 2-point tries to keep Stan- ford in the lead. The Cardinal nearly ran out the clock before settling for a 46- yard field goal with 58 seconds left. But Gulbranson needed only three plays to go 76 yards for the win. After two short com- pletions, he took a shot down the sideline for Harrison, who leaped over Ethan Bonner for the catch. Patrick Fields ap- peared in position to make the tackle but Harrison got by him for the score. “I was thinking touchdown,” Harrison said. “Got to score. Got to make a play for the team. That’s all I was thinking. When I saw nobody in front of me, straight green grass. Was think- ing touchdown all the way.” Gulbranson finished 20 for 28 for 250 yards and two TDs in his first collegiate start in place of the injured Chance Nolan. He also authored the third comeback from 14 points down to start the fourth quarter in school history. The only other times it happened, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, came in 1981 against Fresno State and 2018 against Colorado. Tanner McKee threw two long touchdown passes to Brycen Tremayne but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinal, who haven’t beaten an FBS team since top- ping Oregon on October 2, 2021. Stanford set a school record with its 10th straight conference loss. RARE LEAD When the Cardinal drove 78 yards on their opening posses- sion for a 1-yard TD by Casey Filkins, it left them in an unusual spot. It marked the first time since October 30, 2021, against Washington that Stanford led a game at any point against an FBS opponent. The Cardinal had gone seven full games and 431 minutes, 44 seconds of game ac- tion between leads. THE TAKEAWAY Oregon State: After losing back-to-back games against ranked opponents USC and Utah, the Beavers were able to get back on track against an eas- ier opponent. With Nolan (neck) and star tight end Musgrave (knee) sidelined, Oregon State struggled to get going offensively until the fourth quarter but did enough for the win. Stanford: The Cardinal had been outscored 20.4 points per game during the 10-game skid against FBS teams coming into the game as they were rarely competitive. This loss might have been even more painful as they seemed to have the game under control until the end. UP NEXT Oregon State: Hosts Washing- ton State on Saturday, Oct. 15. Stanford: Visits Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 15. GROW YOUR CAREER TODAY! We’re looking for hardworking applicants to fill our open positions in sales, service, administration and parts. Each role is eligible for bonuses listed below: Sign-on bonus $ 2 , 500 Moving bonus up to $ 2 , 500 (terms and conditions apply) Apply online today at www.robbinsfarmeq.com BAKER CITY 800-743-5924 BURNS 877-208-1112 LA GRANDE 877-743-5924 CHRISTMAS VALLEY 541-576-2160 We’ve got what you need to track s. Tire Svc ro B ew L your buck in any terrain. 210 Bridge St. y Cit traction Come see our full B line tires aker of #huntingredneck #gokilladeer #didyougetyourtags LEW BROTHERS LES SCHWAB 210 Bridge Street, Baker City 541-523-3679 Walk-ins Welcome ©2022 AGCO Corporation. Massey Ferguson is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation. AGCO and Massey Ferguson are trademarks of AGCO. All rights reserved.