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Monday, July 19, 2021 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926

Pesky Cardinals shake off Giants

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

ST. LOUIS — A Giants offense that led the National League in home runs and OPS during the first half of the season came out of the All-Star break and relied almost solely on the long ball to score against the Cardinals this weekend.

A three-home run game that featured two from Mike Yastrzemski powered the Giants to an easy victory on Friday, but the lineup struggled against St. Louis southpaw Kwang Hyun Kim on Saturday and didn’t fare much better against fellow lefty Wade LeBlanc in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat.

A sub-.500 Cardinals team has now won a pair of series against the Giants this month as San Francisco will head to Los Angeles for a four-game set against a Dodgers team that can end their six-plus week reign atop the National League West.

The Giants did hit one home run on Sunday as first baseman Darin Ruf took LeBlanc deep in the fourth inning, but the lineup went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and didn’t get a hit in four innings against the Cardinals bullpen.

“Very good offensive teams, very good baseball teams go through periods of time where you’re just kind of dry,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “The runners in scoring position thing, you’re not getting the big hit, you’re hitting into some bad luck, all of those things feel kind of heavy.”

Starter Johnny Cueto held the Cardinals to two hits over five innings, but one was a long solo home run from St. Louis shortstop Paul DeJong that gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the third. Cueto had only thrown 70 pitches when the Giants lifted him in favor of right-hander Dominic Leone, but he still pitched deep enough to become the seventh Dominican Republic native to throw 2,000 career major league innings.

“I’m honored to be in such an elite group of pitchers from my home country,” Cueto said through Spanish language interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I feel very proud to represent the Dominican Republic. I also feel very happy with the support from my fans and my family.”

Kapler’s decision to pull Cueto was a result of general arm fatigue and the Giants’ reluctance to have him face Cardinals stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado for a third time. That Kapler went to Leone in the sixth instead of saving him for the seventh was a mild surprise, but Leone has been used in higher-leverage situations this season and was able to keep the See Giants, Page B8

The 149Th open championship

Chris Trotman/Getty Images/TNS

Open Champion Collin Morikawa of United States celebrates with the Claret Jug after winning The 149th

Open at Royal St George & Golf Club on Sunday in Sandwich, England.

Morikawa eager to savor success after Open triumph

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

LONDON — New Open champion Collin Morikawa intends to take a breather and drink in the history of his achievement – but he will let his caddie choose what gets put in the Claret Jug.

The American, who won the 2020 US PGA Championship on just his second major start, held his nerve to keep compatriot Jordan Spieth at bay on the closing stretch and become the first player to win two different majors on debut.

He eventually finished two shots clear of Spieth on 15 under and became only the second person after Tiger Woods to win the Open and US PGA before the age of 25.

And, having restrained himself all week, he is planning a celebration before heading home.

“I think when you make history – and I’m 24 years old – it’s hard to grasp, and it’s hard to really take it in,” he said.

“At 24 it’s so hard to look back at the two short years that I have been a pro and see what I’ve done because I want more.

“I enjoy these moments and I love it and I want to teach myself to embrace it a little more.

“We’ve been staying at the hotel right by the course. Every night I see all the caddies drink, and I’m like ‘Man, I really want to drink, but I hold back. I hold back on tournament week’.

“It’s JJ’s (caddie JJ Jakovac) birthday. I’m going to let him decide (what drink to put in the Claret Jug).”

While Morikawa may have been staying away from the alcohol this week, his success seems to have been partly fuelled by fast food.

“The secret? Well, I never do this, but I had a burger for four straight days, so my body is probably feeling it. I know my body’s feeling it,” he added.

“I think I just enjoy these moments and I talk about it so much that we love what we do.”

When Morikawa recorded his breakthrough major win at the US PGA at Harding Park in San Francisco it was in front of no fans as Covid-19 restrictions were still in full force.

So to do it in front of full grandstands – 30,000 people were allowed into Royal St George’s every day this week - was a delight for the American and he was also able to use that fact to answer those who questioned his ability to perform under pressure.

“The nerves are See Open, Page B8

Antioch’s Harris entering NFL with almost-unprecedented hype

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers have picked 79 players in the first round of the NFL draft.

Bill Dudley, Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Rod Woodson, Troy Polamalu and Alan Faneca made the Hall of Fame, as did Len Dawson, the team’s No. 1 selection in 1957, who had his greatest success with the Kansas City Chiefs. Ben Roethlisberger is sure to join the others in Canton. Maurkice Pouncey and T.J. Watt have a chance.

What a fabulous history.

I can’t wait to see where former Antioch High School star Najee Harris ends up ranking among the Steelers’ No. 1s.

Has there ever been a Pittsburgh athlete who broke in here with more hype and facing greater expectations than Harris?

Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby? Absolutely.

Barry Bonds? I’ll give you him.

But among Steelers rookies? I can’t think of one. Not even the great Woodson or the incomparable Polamalu.

It’s not just Harris’ wondrous athletic ability that puts him so much in the spotlight. His fame also is a product of his media exposure, both traditional media and social media.

Greene is regarded as the best player in Steelers history, but no one knew of him when he came out of North Texas State in 1969. His draft selection was greeted with “Joe Who?” headlines.

Quarterback is the sexiest, most glamorous position in all of sports, but who really had a chance to watch Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech before he was picked No. 1 overall in 1970? Or even Roethlisberger at Miami of Ohio before he went in the first round in 2004?

Harris played at Alabama, college football’s marquee program. Its games are on television every week. It plays for the national championship almost every season. Harris’ extraordinary highlights were featured on SportsCenter virtually every Saturday.

Everybody knows everything about Harris.

So what if Harris hasn’t had an NFL carry yet? He already has drawn rave reviews from those who watched him at Steelers OTAs and minicamp.

“He is a sharp guy,” Mike Tomlin said. “He is a football guy. You can tell he is passionate

Slumping A’s cold again in loss to Indians

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

OAKLAND — The All-Star break was supposed to refresh and recharge a slumping A’s offense. But the slump carried over.

The Oakland A’s 4-2 loss to the Indians on Sunday cemented a series loss in three games and Cleveland’s first series win in Oakland since 2014. It was another game lost on the slimmest of margins where the pitching staff’s few mistakes were magnified by the lineup’s inability to produce many – or any – scoring threats.

Friday, the A’s rallied back in the ninth for a walk-off. Saturday, the A’s lost by a run and squandered plenty of ripe scoring threats – the team hanging hope on the fact they were at least putting themselves into those opportunities. Sunday, those opportunities didn’t even occur as the A’s went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position.

With Mark Canha back in the lineup and an injured list down to a small handful, the A’s are still faltering at full strength.

“We feel like we’re healthier and have a deeper lineup, we just haven’t seen the results yet,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I feel good about it every day we go out there. They get in good work in the cage Bushy does well preparing them about how they’re going to be pitched to, we’re just in a rut right now. Every day we go out there, I feel like we’re going to break out of it.”

Cleveland starter Zach Plesac surrendered hard contact up and down the A’s lineup – some luck was involved there.

Sean Murphy was robbed of a potential extra-base hit in the second inning that could have scored Matt Chapman from second. That second inning saw the A’s most significant scoring opportunity and the first run, unearned for Plesac on second baseman Ernie Clement’s throwing error on a tailor made double play ball by Chapman. The error scored Jed Lowrie from third.

Seth Brown’s 11th See A’s, Page B8

Expos roll over Spirits in Saturday night showdown

DAily republiC STAff

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Expos needed a big win on Saturday night and came up with an 8-2 triumph over the Siskiyou Spirits in the American Legion Area 1 Tournament at Laurel Creek Park.

Trevor Morse pitched a solid four innings for the Expos. Gabe Ponce threw two strong innings and rookie 14-year-old Peyton Olds struck out the side in the final frame to secure the win.

The Expos played Yuba-Sutter on Sunday night with a berth in the tournament semifinals on the line.

The offense in the win over Siskiyous was led by Aiden Robles with three hits. Reilly Ramirez, Blake Bozzini, Drew Carrington and Kaden Wilde all had two hits apiece. Bryce Dichoso drilled a basesloaded triple to knock in three runs.

Fairfield had a big five-run third inning and added single runs in the first, fourth and sixth inning. The Expos hit .500 as a team by going 15-for-30 in the game.

Sunday night’s winner is scheduled to play the Petaluma Leghorns in one semifinal game today at 4 p.m. The Chico Nuts square off against Napa Valley in the second semifinal at 7.

The winner of each semifinal will meet Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for the championship and the right to advance to the six-team state finals in Fresno.

The winner of the state championship returns to Fairfield Aug. 3-8, along with state champions from Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, to play in the Western Regional.