A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
NBA
NFL Draft | Starts Thursday, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Morant, Grizzlies
beat Blazers again
Draft of mystery
Unorthodox offseason means
unusual, unpredictable picks
BY ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
A
bout the only certainty in the con-
founding 2021 NFL draft is Trevor
Lawrence going to the Jaguars with
the first overall pick.
Beyond that, it’s really anybody’s
guess following the most unorthodox of run-
ups to the league’s annual parade of prospects.
COVID-19 opt-outs and shortened or
shelved seasons in the fall were followed by the
combine cancellation and the elimination of
in-person interviews this spring because of the
pandemic.
Teams had to rely on Zoom calls to get to
know players.
“I’ve said this before: what we’re doing is ed-
ucated guessing,” Giants general manager Dave
Gettleman said. “So, this makes us a little more
uneducated, not having this personal touch
with these players.”
See NFL Draft / A6
— Associated Press
MLB
About the only certainty in the confounding 2021 NFL draft
is former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence going to the
Jaguars with the first overall pick Thursday in Cleveland. This year’s
NFL draft is like none other because teams weren’t able to meet face-
to-face with the pool of prospects outside the lucky few who got to
play in the Senior Bowl after a season that was marked by opt-outs
and cancellations. John Bazemore/AP file
NASCAR CUP SERIES
PGA TOUR
Keselowski claims 6th win at
Talladega with overtime pass
Aussies win
Zurich Classic
in a playoff
BY JOHN ZENOR
Associated Press
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brad Kes-
elowski did it exactly right this time
and finally got that last-lap victory,
winning in overtime Sunday at Tal-
ladega Superspeedway.
Keselowski is the ninth driver to
win through 10 NASCAR Cup races
this season and avenged the embar-
rassing Team Penske gaffe in the
season-opening Daytona 500 when
he and teammate Joey Logano trig-
gered a last-lap crash as Keselowski
tried to pass Logano for the victory.
Keselowski led just one lap, the
last one, in a race that featured 35
lead changes among 27 drivers.
“The whole race I had a couple
opportunities to take the lead, but I
just kept thinking, ‘Man, keep your
car in one piece,’” Keselowski said.
Logano was involved in an air-
borne wreck and called on NA-
SCAR to change to dangerous
racing conditions at Daytona and
Talladega.
“On one hand, I am mad about
being in the crash and on the other,
I am happy to be alive,” Logano
said. “On another hand, I am won-
dering when we are going to stop
because this is dangerous doing
what we are doing. I got a roll bar in
my head. That is not OK. I am one
hit away from the same situation
Ryan Newman just went through. I
just don’t feel like that is acceptable.”
Newman escaped serious injury
BY BRETT MARTEL
Associated Press
Butch Dill/via AP
Brad Keselowski celebrates after winning the Geico 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto
race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in Talladega, Alabama.
racing for the win on the final lap of
the 2020 Daytona 500.
The victory, Keselowski’s sixth at
Talladega, came after team owner
Roger Penske pulled the three Team
Penske drivers and affiliate Matt
DiBenedetto onto a call this week
to discuss his expectations on how
they should race Sunday. Penske
refused to accept another Daytona
disaster when Logano or Kesel-
owski should have won the race but
instead of working together the two
triggered a fiery crash that also col-
lected a third Penske car.
William Byron was second, Day-
tona 500 winner Michael McDow-
PORTLAND — Ja Mo-
rant had 28 points and
the Memphis Grizzlies
beat the Portland Trail
Blazers for the second
time in three days, 120-
113 on Sunday.
Jonas Valanciunas,
back after missing three
games because of con-
cussion protocol, added
21 points and 10 re-
bounds.
CJ McCollum had
27 points for the Blaz-
ers. They have lost five
straight and nine of its
last 11 to fall to seventh in
the Western Conference
— a half-game ahead of
Memphis. Jusuf Nurkic
had 16 points and 19 re-
bounds.
Sunday’s contest was
the second of three meet-
ings between the two
teams in less than a week.
Morant had 33 points and
13 assists in a 130-128
Memphis victory over the
Blazers on Friday night.
Memphis stretched
the lead to as many as 16
points in the third quar-
ter but Portland closed
the gap to 94-92 on Car-
melo Anthony’s pullup
3-pointer with just over
10 minutes left.
Portland rallied, get-
ting to 114-111 on Nur-
kic’s layup and free throw
with 58.3 seconds left.
After Morant’s free
throws, Norman Powell’s
layup made it a three-
point game. Morant
added another pair of
free throw before Da-
mian Lillard missed on a
3-point attempt that all
but ended it.
Lillard finished with 23
points.
ell third and Kevin Harvick a sea-
son-high fourth.
DiBenedetto, who led 28 laps,
finished fifth but gave away the win
with a late lane change that allowed
to Keselowski to surge to the front.
Kaz Grala finished a career-best
sixth and was followed by Tyler
Reddick and Austin Dillon in a trio
of Chevrolets.
Ford drivers took spots nine
through 13 and the highest finish-
ing Toyota driver was Christopher
Bell in 17th.
Keselowski tied Dale Earnhardt
Jr. and Jeff Gordon with six wins
each at Talladega.
AVONDALE, La. — Cameron Smith and
Marc Leishman outlasted Louis Oosthui-
zen and Charl Schwartzel to win the Zurich
Classic in a playoff that capped a tight and
tense final round Sunday.
Smith and Leishman won with a par on
their second trip up the par-5 18th after
Oosthuizen pushed his tee shot into the water
and narrowly missed an 11-foot putt for par.
The Australians forced the playoff by
shooting a 2-under 70 in alternate-shot play
at the PGA Tour’s lone regular-season team
event. Oosthuizen and Schwartzel began the
round with a one-stroke lead, but shot a 71
with three pars and two bogeys.
It’s Smith’s third career victory — second
at the Zurich team event — and best result
since tying for second at the pandemic-de-
layed 2020 Masters last November. It’s also
was his sixth top 10 since the current tour
season started last October.
Smith’s last victory came at the 2020 Sony
Open in Hawaii.
It was Leishman’s sixth career victory, his
best result since tying for fifth at the Masters
this month and his first win since the 2020
Farmers Insurance Open.
The climactic finish capped off a compel-
ling duel between two teams that teed off to-
gether in the final grouping and took turns
holding leads that never grew to more than
two strokes.
Peter Uihlein and Richy Werenski shot a
67, with six birdies and one bogey, to shoot
up the leaderboard from 18th to third.
E-Rod leads Red
Sox past Mariners
BOSTON — After a lost
year due to COVID-related
heart problems, Eduardo
Rodriguez is back atop
the Red Sox rotation.
The Boston left-hander
struck out eight Mariners
in six innings to beat Se-
attle 5-3 on Sunday and
remain unbeaten on the
season. The Red Sox had
lost three of four since his
previous outing.
“That’s what aces do,”
Red Sox manager Alex
Cora said. “They put their
team on their back and
they carry us to a ‘W.’”
Rodriguez (4-0) gave
up six hits — five of them
doubles — and no walks
to help the Red Sox earn
their major league-lead-
ing 11th comeback vic-
tory of the season. He
won 19 games in 2019
and then missed all of last
season with inflamma-
tion in his heart muscles
as a result of COVID-19.
Rodriguez has lasted
at least five innings in 32
straight starts dating to
May of 2019. The Red Sox
have won his last eight
outings and the team is
49-12 in his starts since
the beginning of the
2018 season.
J.D. Martinez had two
more doubles, giving him
10 for the year — the
most in baseball. He also
ended the game tops in
hits, 30, tied with Xan-
der Bogaerts, who had a
double of his own to help
the Red Sox split the four-
game series and improve
to .500 at Fenway Park.
Seattle starter Nick
Margevicius (0-2) got
just one out while allow-
ing four runs in the first
inning. He faced seven
batters and walked four
of them — two with the
bases loaded — while
also allowing two hits.
— Associated Press