Digital Sports Desk

The online destination for sports purists

Sale for Sox

by

Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins

When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote

Embed from Getty Images

The Boston Red Sox finished last in the American League in home runs in 2017 but are finding their power again in 2018 and rank second in the majors in homers behind the rival New York Yankees. The Red Sox will try to keep the power flowing when they visit the Minnesota Twins for the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.

Boston pounded out three home runs in a 9-3 victory at Seattle on Sunday to earn a split of a four-game series and keep pace with the Yankees atop the AL East. Joining in the power barrage on Sunday was third baseman Rafael Devers, who belted a three-run homer among two hits and is providing some punch from the bottom half of the lineup while pulling out of a deep funk with hits in 11 of the last 12 games. The Twins just finished up a series win over a first-place team by taking two of three at Cleveland over the weekend and will play the next six games at home, where they own a 17-17 record. Minnesota will try to get around one of the best arms in baseball when lefty Chris Sale gets the call for the Red Sox on Tuesday opposite Twins right-hander Jose Berrios.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FS North (Minnesota)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (6-4, 2.75 ERA) vs. Twins RH Jose Berrios (7-5, 3.51)

Sale was strong in his last two outings, allowing a total of two runs and eight hits over 14 innings while striking out 19 against the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore. The Florida native issued just 43 walks in 214 1/3 innings last season but is already up to 26 in 2018 after handing out four free passes at Baltimore on Wednesday. Sale won both of his starts against Minnesota last season, surrendering a total of five runs and eight hits in 12 1/3 innings while striking out 19.

Berrios is dominating opponents of late while yielding two or fewer runs in five of his last six outings. The Puerto Rico native followed up a complete-game win over the White Sox on June 7 by allowing one run across six frames at Detroit on Wednesday and owns 91 strikeouts against 15 walks on the season. Berrios lost his lone start against Boston in 2017, surrendering four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Twins INF Eduardo Escobar doubled three times on Sunday and leads the majors with 30.

2. Boston RHP Brandon Workman allowed a run on Sunday, snapping a string of six scoreless appearances since being recalled from the minors at the beginning of June.

3. Minnesota OF Robbie Grossman left Sunday’s game due to heat illness and is day-to-day.

Porter Ready for NBA Draft Work

by

NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – Michael Porter Jr. is willing to accept invitations for workouts with NBA teams unconvinced the former Missouri forward has overcome health concerns. Porter missed all but three games of his freshman season at Missouri after injuring his back last November, which required him to have surgery on his L3 and L4 spinal disks. He returned in March and went 9 of 29 from the field.

Embed from Getty Images

Michael Porter Jr. (left)

***

After the NCAA Tournament ended for the Tigers, Porter said he put basketball aside and focused on rehab, strengthening his core and slowly working his way back onto the court.

But the top college recruit in the country last summer continued to face health concerns. Last week, just one week before the 2018 NBA Draft, Porter was forced to cancel a second pro day workout designed to show teams his physical progress. Porter’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, decided to cancel the session, per reports.

Porter said Monday in an ESPN Radio interview that he’s good to go physically and willing to showcase his health to any team that asks.

“I feel good,” Porter said. “I got evaluated. I let the doctors come in and do all their tests on me. I’m feeling good. I think the teams are comfortable but I might get a couple workouts in.”

The NBA Draft will be held Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Porter turns 20 on June 29.

Porter said the soreness in his hip last week that led to the cancellation of his pro day was overblown.

“It was just a little sore, so I told [Bartelstein] my hip was kind of sore and he just wanted to shut it down for a couple of days,” Porter said. “And then people took that and kind of ran with it, saying, you know, my hip was injured, I couldn’t get out of bed. … None of that was really true. I was just sore and I wanted to take a couple of days off. So that’s all that was.”

–Field Level Media

Puma Signs Ayton, Jay-Z

by

WESTFORD – (Mass) – (Wire Service Report) – Puma is making a major play to get back in the world of basketball, and the company took a big step on Monday by inking possible No. 1 overall draft pick DeAndre Ayton to an endorsement deal. Ayton, who is considered the favorite to be the Phoenix Suns’ choice with the first overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, said part of the company’s appeal to him was its presence in the Caribbean, where Puma-signed stars Usain Bolt (Jamaica) and Rihanna (Barbados) are from, and where Ayton (Bahamas) was born and lived until age 12.

Embed from Getty Images

“Puma is pretty popular in the Bahamas,” Ayton said. “I’ve always seen the brand growing up. [Bolt] is one of the first people I saw with the brand. It’s important to me that someone I identify with and admire as an athlete is with the same brand.

“…As I’ve been in the States, I’ve seen what they do with entertainers and always liked that. I see someone like Rihanna recently — who is a lot like me, we have a similar background — and she’s putting her stamp on the brand. That’s something that appeals to me from a creative side. Eventually I want to be a part of bringing this new style of Puma to my people.”

The news of Ayton’s signing comes three days before the 2018 NBA Draft kicks off in Brooklyn, a few days after fellow top prospects Marvin Bagley III and Zhaire Smith signed with Puma, and on the same day that the company announced rapper and business mogul Jay-Z as its new president.

Jay-Z, who founded the agency Roc Nation in 2013, is expected to play a major role in marketing and pursuing players as future endorsers.

Puma’s sudden commitment to basketball is its first action in the sport since it signed Vince Carter to a 10-year deal in 1998, though that deal lasted only two years. The company also re-signed perhaps its most famous basketball player from past decades, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, to a lifetime contract earlier this week and launched a modernized version of Frazier’s old shoe from 1973.

“We’re making a serious statement about the entry of the category, that we want to be a performance brand, but then also very culturally focused,” Adam Petrick, the company’s global director of brand and marketing, told Complex.

Bagley and Smith have each signed multi-year shoe deals with Puma, and the company is expected to pursue other top prospects as well as established NBA players after inking Ayton.

Bagley is considered a likely top-three pick on Thursday, while Smith could be a lottery selection.

–Field Level Media

Brady: “And Now, the End is Near …”

by

NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said he intends to play football “as long as I’m still loving it,” but added he sees his retirement getting closer, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday.

“I think about it more now than I used to,” Brady said. “I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming, sooner rather than later.”

Embed from Getty Images

After Winfrey asked if that would mean age 43 or age 45, Brady, who turns 41 in August, said, “As long as I’m still loving it.”

“As long as I’m loving the training and preparation and willing to make the commitment,” he continued. “But it’s also — I think what I’ve alluded to a lot in the [“Tom vs. Time”] docuseries was there’s other things happening in my life too.

“I do have kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there driving my kids to their games. I think my kids have brought a great perspective in my life, because kids just want the attention. You better be there and be available to them, or else they’re going to look back on their life and go, ‘Dad didn’t really care that much.’”

Brady has an 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter with his wife, Gisele Bundchen, as well as a 10-year-old son with actress Bridget Moynihan.

Among other topics covered in the interview was Brady’s relationship with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, which has been the subject of reports over the last six months suggesting there is friction between the two.

When asked if there is “something going on” between he and Belichick, Brady replied, “Umm, no.”

“I mean, I love him,” he continued. “I love that he’s an incredible coach, mentor for me. And he’s pushed me in a lot of ways. Like everything, we don’t agree on absolutely everything. But that’s relationships.”

Embed from Getty Images

One of the points of tension, according to reports, has been Brady’s alternative approach to maintaining his health, including his preference to work out with personal trainer Alex Guerrero. Brady — along with tight end Rob Gronkowski, who also has trained extensively with Guerrero in recent years — was absent for the entirety of the Patriots’ offseason program except for mandatory minicamp earlier this week.

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is appealing a four-game performance-enhancing drug suspension, also trains with Guererro.

Brady was asked if he trains separately from the rest of the team.

“No, I wouldn’t say that, but I probably do some of my own techniques differently from the rest of the team,” Brady said. “The team, I would say, like most teams are very systematic in their approach. And what I learned, I guess, is different from some of the things that are systematic but that work for me.

“It’s nothing that I don’t talk about with my coach and owner [about]. ‘This is what I want to do; this is what I need to be the best player I can be and hopefully you can support that.’”

–Field Level Media

Is “One-and-Done” – Done?

by

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Administrators at the NBA league office sent a memo to all 30 teams on Friday saying the draft’s “eligibility rules” could change as soon as 2021 based on a review of issues “related to player development and the corruption investigation in college basketball,” according to an ESPN report.

Embed from Getty Images

***

According to ESPN, the memo does not specifically mention the league’s one-and-done rule — which currently prevents players from entering the NBA until age 19 or a year removed from high school graduation — but it indicates that rule could be eliminated “prior to the 2021 or 2022 draft.” The memo presented the information in the context of next week’s NBA Draft, serving as a reminder to teams that could be considering a trade of future picks in the lead up to the draft.

According to USA Today, the league does not anticipate changes to its eligibility rules before the 2021 or 2022 drafts, but nevertheless noted the possibility in the memo.

No changes will happen before 2021, according to multiple reports.

The elimination of the one-and-done rule would very likely make the ensuing draft — whether in 2021 or beyond — much more talent-rich than a typical draft by featuring much of the top talent from consecutive high school classes in one draft.

Only one unprotected first-round pick from the 2021 draft has been traded so far — from the Heat to the Suns — and two others could change hands — one from the Grizzlies to the Celtics and one from the Bucks to the Suns — depending on whether picks fall within protected ranges in 2019 and 2020. No 2022 first-round picks have been traded as of yet.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBA players association director Michele Roberts have each said in recent months that removing the one-and-done rule at some point is likely. Any such change would have to be collectively bargained, but it would not have to wait for the current CBA to expire in 2024.

Headed by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Commission on College Basketball recommended in April that the NBA remove the rule, asking for action as soon as this year. The commission also suggested it would look at making changes on the NCAA side of things if the NBA rule doesn’t change.

The league is expected to discuss eligibility rules and other potential approaches to combat issues with one-and-done recruits at its summer meetings in Las Vegas.

–Field Level Media

MLB: Five Potential All-Stars

by

WASH DC – Baseball fans won’t be surprised to see Bryce Harper playing on his home field opposite Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout at this summer’s All-Star Game at Nationals Park in Washington.

Embed from Getty Images

Scooter Gennett

***

They will, however, find themselves scratching their head at some of the names taking the field for each of the star-studded sides. That isn’t to say these players aren’t deserving to take part in the showcase — in fact, many will have been more worthy of starting spots than those the fans will be voting for over the course of this month.

As balloting is already underway and the Midsummer Classic nears, here are five under-the-radar names, each of whom has never been an All-Star before, to familiarize yourself with as deserving All-Star candidates:

5. Scooter Gennett: Gennett, 28, put himself on the map with a four-homer, 10-RBI, 5-for-5 performance against the St. Louis Cardinals last June, but playing for the Cincinnati Reds has a funny way of taking a player out of the spotlight. Yet here Gennett is, tied for the National League lead in batting average at .340 and adding 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. The 5-foot-10 second baseman, who was placed on waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of spring training last year, has turned himself into a bona fide slugger — his .932 OPS is tied for fifth in the NL and ranks first among all major league second basemen, almost 100 points higher than the OPS of reigning American League MVP Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros.

4. Aaron Nola: Thought the Philadelphia Phillies signed Jake Arrieta this spring to be their ace? Truth is, they already had one. Nola had shown flashes of brilliance his first three years in the majors, though he’s finally putting it all together this season. The 25-year-old right-hander’s 2.35 ERA is sixth in the NL, and his 0.96 WHIP is tied for third. Even more impressive is his WAR — Nola is No. 1 among all major league pitchers at 3.9, and behind only Trout, Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez and Boston’s Mookie Betts when considering position players. The Phillies have a winning record, and Nola is the key reason why.

3. Eddie Rosario: The Minnesota Twins have been a disappointment this season, but that’s not Rosario’s fault. After hitting a career-high 27 home runs last season, Rosario is already halfway to a new personal record at 14. The 26-year-old sports a .313 batting average and a .909 OPS, placing him in the top 10 in both categories among AL hitters. Rosario recorded the second three-homer game of his career earlier this month and is outslugging the likes of Oakland’s Khris Davis, the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton and many other power-hitting left fielders.

2. Matt Chapman: Chapman’s offensive numbers (.245 average, 10 HRs, 26 RBIs) don’t jump off the page, but his elite defense at third base for the Oakland Athletics should not go unnoticed. According to WAR, Chapman is the most valuable defensive player in the majors by a long shot — his 2.04 defensive WAR is leagues ahead of Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (1.37) in second place. Combined with his offensive WAR (1.5), Chapman is among the top 10 players in overall value, ahead of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and many other household names.

1. Josh Hader: As Chris Devenski showed with the Astros last season, relievers should never be discounted when it comes time to assemble All-Star rosters. What Hader is dong for the Brewers this season is unprecedented — the left-hander has 70 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings out of the bullpen and is on pace for 177 K’s in 89 1/3 innings. Considering the most punchouts in a season for a full-time reliever is 181 by Dick Radatz, who needed 157 innings to accomplish the feat in 1964, Hader’s sophomore campaign could etch a permanent place in baseball lore.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour to Minny

by

BLAINE, MINN – (Wire Service Report) – For the first time in 50 years, Minnesota will host an annual PGA Tour event.

Embed from Getty Images

Tiger Woods at 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, MN

***

The Tour and sponsor 3M announced Monday that they have reached a seven-year agreement to host an annual stop beginning next summer, the 3M Open. Though the dates have yet to be announced, the 3M Open will be played at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.

It will be the first time the Tour will play a regular event in Minnesota since the St. Paul Open/Minnesota Golf Classic was last played in 1969. It will also be a bittersweet partnership for some, however, as the addition of the 3M Open also means the end of the 3M Championship, a Champions Tour event dating back to 1993.

The final 3M Championship Champions Tour event in Minnesota will be played Aug. 3-5 this year. That event will also be played at TPC Twin Cities. The state has occasionally hosted Tour events since 1969, most recently the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Chaska.

“We are delighted to partner with 3M for this new PGA TOUR event in the Twin Cities, a community that has shown tremendous support for professional golf over the years with PGA Tour Champions, the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, and has deservedly played host to the biggest events in sports — Super Bowls, Final Fours, among them,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement Monday.

Koepka: Back-to-Back at Open

by

SOUTHAMPTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – There was a time during the second round on Friday at the 118th U.S. Open Championship that Brooks Koepka was at 7-over-par and appeared hopelessly out of the race to repeat as champion at this tournament. But no one believes in himself more that Koepka, and there’s little — not a huge deficit, or a left wrist injury, or even the toughest conditions imaginable in which to play golf on arguably the biggest stage — that can affect that confidence.

Embed from Getty Images

Brooks Koepka

***

Koepka fired a 2-under-par 68 in the final round on Sunday to finish at 1-over-par 281 to capture the title by a stroke over Englishman Tommy Fleetwood at the demanding Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southhampton, on the East End of Long Island.

Koepka, who won last year at Erin Hills Golf Club in Wisconsin, became the first golfer to take back-to-back U.S. Opens since Curtis Strange accomplished the feat in 1988-89. Koepka is the seventh player to win America’s national championship of golf in consecutive years.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. This is incredible,” Koepka said. “You know, I don’t think I could have dreamed of this — going back-to-back. It’s truly special and I’m so honored.”

Fleetwood carded a 63, becoming the sixth player to record that score at the U.S. Open and just the second to do it in the final round. He teed off almost 2 1/2 hours before — and six strokes behind — third-round leaders Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger and Tony Finau on Sunday and soared up the leaderboard with four consecutive birdies on holes 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Fleetwood missed a nine-foot putt for birdie and a record 62 at the closing hole. His round was even more impressive considering he didn’t birdie either of the layout’s par 5s.

“I honestly never really thought I was out of it,” Fleetwood said after his round. “I just needed a good start. You never know what’s going to happen. Obviously, we knew they would have made it a bit softer today, and looking at the pins, you knew they were going to be more accessible.

“I knew I was kind of in it teeing off, but you still have to get off to that good start. I was 4 under through seven, and it was game on.”

Johnson, who was tied for the lead after the first round and four strokes clear of the field after 36 holes, finished alone in third two shots behind Koepka at 3 over after an even-par 70 in the final round.

Reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed finished fourth at 4 over after a 68 in the final round, while Finau (72) double-bogeyed the final hole to finish in fifth, another stroke back at 5 over.

In a statement released Sunday morning, the USGA said that it watered Shinnecock Hills’ greens an “appropriate level” and slowed down the putting surfaces.

“Over the four days it almost seemed like there were four different golf courses we played, which is fine.” Reed said. “I don’t mind. And, you know, it’s supposed to be tough out there.

“…You knew that they were going to water the heck out of the greens, that they’re going to be soft. And when that happens, you’re taking out a lot of the bite of the golf course.”

Koepka trailed Johnson by six strokes after the first round and by five after the second round, even after he torched the course for a 66 in the afternoon gloaming. He shot a 72 in nearly unplayable conditions on Saturday when Johnson stumbled to a 77 to climb back into the mix and was steady and often spectacular over the final 18 holes.

“I just had to keep going and give myself a chance,” Koepka said about making up his huge Friday deficit. “I made a couple of birdies, and I was able to make up a lot of ground. I felt like I was hitting it well and putting it well and just needed to keep grinding.”

Koepka racked up three birdies in his first five holes on Sunday to grab the championship by the throat, but gave back a shot with a bogey on the sixth.

“I got off to a great start and got some rhythm going and carried that over to the rest of the round,” Koepka said.

Super-Sox-ic!

by

Boston 9, Seattle 3

When: 4:10 PM ET, Sunday, June 17, 2018
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle
Attendance: 46,462
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

Embed from Getty Images

Rafael Devers

***

Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in a five-run third inning as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 9-3 Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field.

Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts homered in a three-run seventh for the Red Sox, who earned a split of the four-game series. Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (9-1) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out nine.

Mariners right-hander Mike Leake (7-4) didn’t allow a run in five of his six innings, but still took the loss. Leake allowed eight hits, walked one and struck out one.

The Red Sox broke a scoreless tie with a five-run rally with two outs in the third inning.

After Bradley flew out to center field and Mookie Betts grounded out to third, Andrew Benintendi lined a single to center to get things started. Bogaerts grounded a single to right and J.D. Martinez walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Mitch Moreland grounded a two-run single to center to break the tie and Devers followed with his 11th homer of the season, a three-run shot to right field.

The Mariners got a run back in the fourth on Nelson Cruz’s leadoff home run, his 17th, to left-center field on a 3-2 count.

Seattle loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth on a ground-rule double by Ben Gamel, an infield single by David Freitas and a bunt single by Dee Gordon. Jean Segura grounded into a run-scoring fielder’s choice to make it 5-2, but Rodriguez got Mitch Haniger to fly out to right field and Cruz to foul out to first to end the inning.

Bradley led off the seventh with a homer to center field, his fourth, off right-hander Chasen Bradford. An out later, Benintendi lined a single and Bogaerts followed with a two-run shot to left-center field, his 12th, to make it 8-2.

The Red Sox got their final run in the eighth on Benintendi’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

The Mariners’ Ryon Healy hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the inning off right-hander Brandon Workman after one-out walks to Haniger and Cruz for the final margin.

–Field Level Media

Sox Scout:

by

Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners

When: 4:10 PM ET, Sunday, June 17, 2018
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote

Embed from Getty Images

No team has played nearly as many one-run games as the Seattle Mariners have this season, and they have established time and again they are comfortable in tight spots. After notching consecutive one-run victories in the showdown between two of the American League’s best teams, the Mariners eye their 23rd win in 29 outings Sunday, when they host the finale of their four-game series with the Boston Red Sox.

Wade LeBlanc worked 7 2/3 scoreless innings – retiring 22 batters in a row after allowing a single to begin the game – and Seattle got all the offense it needed when Nelson Cruz hit the last of three singles in the third inning to drive in the only run in Saturday’s 1-0 triumph. In addition to remaining one-half game behind red-hot Houston in the AL West, the Mariners improved to 23-10 in one-run affairs. Boston began its 10-game road trip earlier this week with a three-game sweep of Baltimore before handing Seattle a taste of its own medicine with a one-run victory on Thursday, but back-to-back defeats have caused it to fall one game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. Outside of a six-run third inning in Friday’s 7-6 setback, the Red Sox’s offense has been virtually nonexistent at Safeco Field, scoring a total of two runs – including none over the last 15 innings.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Eduardo Rodriguez (8-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Mike Leake (7-3, 4.26)

Rodriguez has yielded fewer than three runs while winning each of his last five turns but managed to produce only one quality start over that time as a result of going over the 100-pitch mark each time. Such was the case again for the 25-year-old Venezuelan in Tuesday’s victory at Baltimore, where he permitted two runs on eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Jean Segura is 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles against Rodriguez, who is 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA in three career starts versus Seattle.

Leake has registered five consecutive quality starts and won for the third time during that stretch Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up only a solo homer among the four hits he allowed in six frames. After going 3-2 with a 6.48 ERA in April, the Arizona State product is 4-1 with a 2.87 mark in eight trips to the mound since. Xander Bogaerts is 4-for-9 versus Leake, who gave up 10 runs in two starts versus Boston last season and is 0-2 with a 6.56 ERA in four career outings against the Red Sox.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Mariners’ 33 one-run games are five more than another team has played, while their 23 victories in such contests are seven more than second-place Milwaukee.

2. Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, Boston will leave Safeco Field without a series win in its last five trips to the venue.

3. Seattle (46-25) is 21 games over .500 for the first time since the final game of the 2003 season.

Shinnecock: “No Place to Hide”

by

SOUTHAMPTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – There was no place to hide during the third round of the U.S. Open, not even for the world’s No. 1 golfer, Dustin Johnson, who stumbled to a 7-over-par 77 on Saturday at harder-than-nails Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, in the highly-toned enclave of Long Island’s East End.

Despite the disappointing round, Johnson, who won this championship in 2016 at Oakmont outside Pittsburgh, is still among those on top of the leaderboard after 54 holes.

Embed from Getty Images

Ian Poulter on 17th at Shinnecock Hills GC

***

His three-day total of 3-over 213 is tied with Daniel Berger, Tony Finau and defending champion Brooks Koepka after a day when the course and the windy conditions on Long Island took its pound of flesh from virtually every one of the best golfers in the world.

“I didn’t feel like I played badly at all,” Johnson said. “Seven over, you know, usually is a terrible score, but, I mean, with the greens the way they got this afternoon … they were very, very difficult.

“I had seven or eight putts that easily could have gone in the hole that didn’t, you know, and that’s the difference between shooting 7 over and even par.”

Berger and Finau each carded a 66 in the morning round after beginning Saturday tied for 45th and 11 shots off Johnson’s overnight four-stroke lead. They both finished their rounds before Johnson even teed off and will play in the final pairing on Sunday, right after Johnson and Koepka.

The golfers playing in the afternoon got the worst of the conditions, and it showed in the scores. How difficult were things on Saturday? The 36-hole cut was made at 8 over; the players at that number after three rounds are tied for 16th.

“Some of these pins are three off the edges, where you hit one by, three feet past the hole and it’s going 40 yards away from the green,” Berger said in an interview that was conducted before the real carnage of the day began. “I think to get out there early and play a good round really was to my benefit.”

Saturday’s scoring average of 75.33 was the highest for a third round in the U.S. Open since 2000 at Pebble Beach.

“I would say in 18 holes I played today, I don’t think there was one gettable pin,” Berger explained. “I hit plenty of really good shots in there. I hit one on the par 5, No. 5, that I landed 10 feet from the hole, and it ended up 50 yards away. So that’s just how it is out here.”

Justin Rose of England is alone in fifth, one stroke behind the leading foursome, with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in sixth another shot in arrears.

Eleven players are within four strokes of the leaders heading into the final round.

“I think more than six is going to be too far back, but I do think you can make five or six shots up on this golf course,” Finau said. “If I can feed off the energy I had late in today’s round and continue that momentum into tomorrow, it will be fun.

“You know, this is what we play for. This is what we practice for. To put ourselves in contention and just in a good position going into Sunday. Just to have that opportunity going into today — I mean, I barely made the cut. Going into today, I needed something special to happen to even have an outside chance.”

Johnson was 6-over par on his first eight holes on Saturday — with a double bogey on the second and bogeys on the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth holes — but didn’t give up the sole lead until a three-putt bogey on the 18th because of the carnage that was going on ahead of him.

“I just need to go out and play like I did the first couple days, even like I did today,” Johnson said when asked what he has to do to win on Sunday. “I felt like I hit a lot of great shots out there today. Need to putt a little better tomorrow.”

Koepka had a chance to tie Johnson for the lead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th but missed. He then missed the five-foot comebacker as well and bogeyed the hole.

“There was no break — I mean, you can’t lay off the gas pedal at all,” Koepka said. “You’ve just got to keep going, keep firing, play to your spots, play to the center of the green. Sometimes the center of the green isn’t very good on some holes. And if you start putting downhill, downwind, you’ve got no chance.”

Berger’s and Finau’s 66 tied England’s Tommy Fleetwood for the low score posted through the first 2 1/2 rounds of the tournament. Berger, Finau and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand (68) were the only players to break par Saturday, and they all played in the morning wave.

Conversely, Kevin Chappell (78), Ross Fisher of England (79) and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An (81) carded disastrous rounds during the morning wave. Even worse was the play in the afternoon from Rickie Fowler, who was ninth starting the day and shot an 84, the worst score on the day, to drop into a tie for 61st.

Phil Mickelson put himself into a controversial spot on the 13th hole when he chased down and hit his ball as it was rolling past the hole and down a hill before it stopped. He was given a two-stroke penalty for hitting a moving ball and carded a 10 on the par-4 hole on the way to an 81 for the round.

Embed from Getty Images

“I don’t mean disrespect by anybody — I know it’s a two-shot penalty,” Mickelson said. “At that time I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that, I just finally did it.”

–Field Level Media

Scoreless in Seattle

by

Seattle 1, Boston 0

When: 8:15 PM ET, Saturday, June 16, 2018
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle
Attendance: 44,151
Special to Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media

Embed from Getty Images

SEATTLE – Wade LeBlanc allowed two hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings as the host Seattle Mariners defeated the Boston Red Sox 1-0 Saturday night at Safeco Field.

LeBlanc (3-0) didn’t walk a batter and struck out a season-high nine, one shy of his career best of 10 set Sept. 23, 2011, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when the left-hander was a member of the San Diego Padres.

LeBlanc allowed a leadoff single to Mookie Betts in the first inning, but then got Andrew Benintendi to ground into a double play. That started a streak of 22 consecutive batters retired by LeBlanc until Eduardo Nunez poked a two-out single into right field with two outs in the eighth.

Right-hander Alex Colome replaced LeBlanc and got pinch hitter Mitch Moreland to pop out to third base to end the inning.

Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth, getting Betts to end it, for his major league-leading 27th save of the season.

LeBlanc, 33, in his second stint with the Mariners, hasn’t lost in 17 starts for Seattle, tied for the fourth-longest such streak for a pitcher starting his tenure with a team in the live ball era. LeBlanc is tied with former New York Yankees pitcher Jim Coates (17 starts in 1959-60), trailing only the Yankees’ Whitey Ford (22, 1950-53), Montreal’s Kirk Rueter (22, 1993-94) and Cincinnati’s Brooks Lawrence (18, 1956).

Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright (2-1), who hadn’t allowed an earned run in his first two starts of the season, nearly matched LeBlanc.

Wright, a right-hander, allowed one run on five hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out four.

The game’s only run came in the bottom of the third inning.

With one out, Dee Gordon lined a single to left field. After Jean Segura flew out to center field, Mitch Haniger and Nelson Cruz both grounded singles to left, with the speedy Gordon scoring easily from second on the latter.

Cruz’s hit was the first Wright allowed with a runner in scoring position this season, snapping an 0-for-15 run.

–Field Level Media

Copyright 2018

www.digitalsportsdesk.com