AP-NW–Sports Right Now/1041
ASTROS-MARINERS
Altuve, McHugh pace Astros past Mariners
SEATTLE (AP) — Jose Altuve homered among his four hits and drove in three runs, Collin McHugh escaped a pair of bases-loaded jams to pitch six scoreless innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 8-1 on Sunday.
Altuve had a two-run homer and three singles in five at-bats to raise his American League-leading average to .346. McHugh (6-6) allowed four hits and walked four, striking out 10 to win for the first time in eight starts since his last victory on May 30th.
Carlos Gomez added his second career grand slam in the seventh inning off Nathan Karns to put the Astros up 8-0.
Kyle Seager singled home Seattle’s only run in the eighth off Chris Devenski.
Mike Montgomery (3-4), making his second start this season after 30 relief appearances, allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, walking two and striking out seven.
SKY-STORM
Delle Donne, Sky start fast, hold off Storm 91-88
SEATTLE (AP) — Elena Delle Donne made a 3-pointer with a second left to give the Chicago Sky a 91-88 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday night.
Delle Donne scored Chicago’s final nine points and finished with 35 on 14-of-24 shooting. She also had 11 rebounds.
Seattle’s Sue Bird made a short jumper and then a 3-pointer to cap a 14-2 run that made it 88-all with 18.9 seconds left, but Delle Donne dribbled the clock down before pulling up, in front of the out-stretched arm of Breanna Stewart, from near the top of the arc to win it.
The 10th-ranked Storm scored 56 points and shot 67.6 percent in the second half to tie it.
Bird scored 24 points, including four 3-pointers, and Stewart had 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots for Seattle (8-14). Jewell Loyd added 12 points and 10 assists.
MLS-SOUNDERS-TIMBERS
Valeri scores twice, Timbers beat Sounders 3-1
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Diego Valeri scored goals on either side of halftime to give the Portland Timbers a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Valeri’s first came on the brink of halftime, as Lucas Melano threaded a pass through three Seattle defenders into the path of Valeri, who sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
The lead was doubled five minutes into the second half with Valeri’s ninth goal of the season. After receiving a cross-field pass from Jermaine Taylor, Valeri worked past defender Joevin Jones near the goal line and sliced a shot with the outside of his foot over Frei, off the far post, and in.
In the 59th minute, Seattle’s Chad Marshall headed in Andreas Ivanschitz’s corner kick for his third goal. But Portland restored the two-goal advantage five minutes later on Fanendo Adi’s goal.
Seattle was missing suspended captain and national team star Clint Dempsey.
BBM-COLORADO SPRINGS-TACOMA
Tacoma tops Colorado Springs 7-3 in Pacific NW
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Patrick Kivlehan homered twice as the Tacoma Rainiers topped the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 7-3 on Sunday. With the victory, the Rainiers swept the four-game series.
Tacoma took the lead in the first when it exploded for five runs, including a two-run home run by Kivlehan.
The Rainiers later tacked on a run in both the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Kivlehan hit a solo home run, while D.J. Peterson hit a solo home run in the fifth.
Tacoma right-hander Joe Wieland (7-5) picked up a quality start and the win after allowing three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. Opposing starter Jorge Lopez (1-7) took the loss in the Pacific Coast League game after a rough outing in which he allowed seven runs and nine hits over four innings.
DAVIS CUP
Davis Cup: Croatia rallies to stun US 3-2 in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Borna Coric beat Jack Sock 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to give Croatia a 3-2 comeback victory over the United States on Sunday in their Davis Cup quarterfinal match.
Marin Cilic set up the deciding fifth match by beating John Isner 7-6 (11-9), 6-3, 6-4 in the first reverse singles match on the Tualatin Hills hard courts.
After the United States swept the singles matches Friday, Cilic and Ivan Dodig kept Croatia alive Saturday with a four-set victory over twins Bob and Mike Bryan in doubles.
Croatia will host France in the World Group semifinals on Sept. 16-18. It is Croatia’s first semifinals appearance since 2009.
The U.S. lost for the fourth time in 161 tries when leading 2-0 lead in a Davis Cup tie.
NCAA-PAC 12-AUSTRALIA SEASON OPENER
Cal coach talks preparing for season opener in Australia
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California coach Sonny Dykes has prepared for the travel challenges associated with a season-opening game in Sydney.
Dykes has spoken with NFL coaches who have taken their teams to London, prepared onboard exercises for players and consulted Nike for compression apparel they can wear during the flight when the Golden Bears depart the Bay Area on Aug. 20 and arrive down under on August 22nd.
But for a real understanding of how taxing travel to and from Australia can be, Dykes could have just asked Oregon State punter Nick Porebski.
“When I first did it, I was jet-lagged for about two days,” the Melbourne-born Porebski said at Pac-12 media days. “It is a tough flight. You’re sitting there for a long time. Your legs are going to get heavy.”
Porebski is one of a growing number of Australians to find success playing what his countrymen call American football, fueling growth in the sport back home.
A Cal spokesman said approximately 70,000 tickets have been sold for the August 27th game against Hawaii at the 83,500-capacity ANZ Stadium, the first college football game to be played in Australia since BYU defeated Colorado State in 1987.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
