The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, November 18, 2018, Image 8

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The times., November 18, 2018, Image 8

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Newspaper Page Text2B Sunday, November 18, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS KELLER ■ Continued from 1B teammates and even Roy als manager Ned Yost after a 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 11, when he dealt seven strong frames with six strikeouts while only letting up a single run. Keller induced 13 ground balls and retired 13 of his final 14 batters to pick up his eighth win of the season that night. Time and time again, the Royals’ breakout star on the mound — who slid under neath the media radar for AL Rookie of the Year talks — gave the organization a pleasant glimpse into the future. “I asked (bench coach) Dale (Sveum) during the game, ‘what other rookies are making like, an impact?’ He was like, ‘oh, Ohtani — from the Angels.’ And I’m like, OK well, who else?” Yost told reporters of Keller during the game’s postgame press conference Sept. 11. “We had a harder time trying to figure out who his compe tition would be. ... I’m very proud and pleased with the year (Brad) has put together. And not only am I pleased with the year he’s put together, I’m happy about the future with this kid.” A shot at October ball was lost well before the All- Star break, but Keller has long counted his blessings since Kansas City acquired him in a trade following the Rule-5 draft last December. It could not have been a bet ter situation for Keller, who said his initial start in the bullpen, getting his feet wet with an inning here or there was vital in his transition to the rotation. His fondest mem ory in the bullpen happened against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox in a May 2 loss. Keller entered the game with a runner on second base, he recalled, and got out of the mini jam by striking out Hanley Ramirez before get ting J.D. Martinez (the first major leaguer to win two Silver Slugger awards in a season) to ground out for the last out of the inning. Jogging out onto the historic Fenway Park was another indication — other than his first appearance at Kauffman Stadium — that Keller made it to the show. “You dream of it as a kid,” added Keller. “It is one of the most famous ballparks. Getting the chance to come out of the bullpen and going in against a really good team, the World Series champs, that was one of the coolest moments.” Keller compiled a 2.01 ERA before his promotion to the starting rotation in late May. From there, he went 9-6 over 20 starts with a 3.28 ERA and 96 strikeouts to finish as the No. 2 guy on the rotation. Having fellow starter Ian Kennedy as a mentor was another blessing for Keller, who could not fathom the importance of studying film until teaming up with Kennedy in the locker room. Analyzing the ten dencies of opposing hitters was benefi cial, said Keller. “It was incred ible. From Day 1 of Spring Training, the Royals just took me under their wing, and it felt like I’ve always been with them since I got drafted,” Keller said. “Just a class-act organization all around.” Keller mentioned an annual Christmas trip to Costa Rica with his family as the next item on the docket this offseason. Then it’s back to the grind. Keller, who has been lift ing weights in the gym to build strength and stamina, plans to start throwing around mid-December. His goal — along with the entire Royals starting rotation — is to aim for the 200-inning mark in 2019. Winning is very-much on the list of to-dos for the Roy als clubhouse, too. “Now we’re looking at winning,” he said. “We’re a young team going through a rebuild.... We gotta just keep that mentality of, ‘we can do this’ and ‘we can win at this level.’ ...We got a really good group of young guys. I think all of us together play really well.” Yost Ramirez SCOREBOARD Football/NFL Today’s Games Houston at Washington, 1 p.m. Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m. Dallas at Atlanta, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at Baltimore, 1 p.m. Carolina at Detroit, 1 p.m. Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1 p.m. Denver at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m. Oakland at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago, 8:20 p.m. Open: Buffalo, San Francisco, Miami, New England, Cleveland, N.Y. Jets Monday’s Game Kansas City at L.A. Rams, 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22 Chicago at Detroit, 12:30 p.m. Washington at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta at New Orleans, 8:20 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25 Seattle at Carolina, 1 p.m. New England at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. Jacksonville at Buffalo, 1 p.m. San Francisco at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. Oakland at Baltimore, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. Arizona at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at Denver, 4:25 p.m. Miami at Indianapolis, 4:25 p.m. Green Bay at Minnesota, 8:20 p.m. Open: L.A. Rams, Kansas City Monday, Nov. 26 Tennessee at Houston, 8:15 p.m. Transactions NFL — Fined Los Angeles Rams players DT Aaron Donald $23,395, DL Ndamukong Suh $20,054 and Dante Fowler $10,026 for for personal foul penalties and Seattle C Justin Britt $20,054 for unnecessary roughness. Fined Oakland DT Johnathan Hankins $20,054 for unnecessary roughness and Chargers S Adrian Phillips $10,026 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fined Panthers players S Eric Reid $10,026 for unnecessary roughness and DT Vernon Butler $10,026 for unnecessary roughness. Fined Giants players LB Alec Ogletree $26,739 and LB Nate Stupar $10,026 for unnecessary roughness. Fined Green Bay WR Davante Adams $10,026 for a crack-back block. Golf AMERICAN CONFERENCE DP World Tour Championship NASCAR Xfinity Ford EcoBoost 300 East Saturday Saturday w L T Pet PF PA At Jumeirah Golf Estates At Homestead-Miami Speedway New England 7 3 0 .700 280 236 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Homestead, Fla. Miami 5 5 0 .500 199 256 Purse: $8 million Lap length: 1.5 miles Buffalo 3 7 0 .300 137 251 Yardage: 7,675; Par: 72 Pole position in parentheses N.Y Jets 3 7 0 .300 208 254 Third Round 1. (4) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 200. South Danny Willett 67-67-68—202 2. (1) Cole Custer, Ford, 200. W L T Pet PF PA Patrick Reed 69-66-67—202 3. (3) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, 200. Houston 6 3 0 .667 216 184 Jordan Smith 66-68-69—203 4. (10) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 200. Tennessee 5 4 0 .556 168 151 Dean Burmester 71-65-68—204 5. (5) Austin Cindric, Ford, 200. Indianapolis 4 5 0 .444 260 239 Matt Wallace 68-65-71—204 6. (12) Ryan Preece, Toyota, 200. Jacksonville 3 6 0 .333 160 199 Lee Westwood 70-69-65—204 7. (6) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200. North Tom Lewis 69-69-67—205 8. (8) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 199. W L T Pet PF PA Adrian Otaegui 66-68-71—205 9. (14) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 199. Pittsburgh 6 2 1 .722 279 209 Henrik Stenson 71-66-69—206 10. (9) Matt Tifft, Chevrolet, 199. Cincinnati 5 4 0 .556 235 288 Jon Rahm 67-70-69—206 11. (2) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 199. Baltimore 4 5 0 .444 213 160 Shubhankar Sharma 73-67-66—206 12. (11) Ryan Reed, Ford, 199. Cleveland 3 6 1 .350 218 263 Sergio Garcia 71-68-67—206 13. (13) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 199. West Rory Mcllroy 69-67-71—207 14. (7) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 199. W L T Pet PF PA Kiradech Aphibarnrat 70-66-71—207 15. (15) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 199. Kansas City 9 1 0 .900 353 240 Alex Noren 69-71-67—207 16. (23) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199. L.A. Chargers 7 2 0 .778 240 186 Alexander Bjork 72-65-70—207 17. (17) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 198. Denver 3 6 0 .333 205 213 Andy Sullivan 72-67-69—208 18. (18) Kaz Grala, Ford, 198. Oakland 1 8 0 .111 147 272 Tommy Fleetwood 69-67-74—210 19. (16) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 198. Thomas Pieters 68-70-72—210 20. (21) Shane Lee, Chevrolet, 198. NATIONAL CONFERENCE Francesco Molinari 68-73-70—211 21. (20) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 197. East Xander Schauffele 71-71-70—212 22. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 197. W L T Pet PF PA 23. (26) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 196. Washington 6 3 0 .667 176 175 RSM Classic 24. (27) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 196. Dallas 4 5 0 .444 181 171 Saturday 25. (22) MaxTullman, Ford, 195. Philadelphia 4 5 0 .444 198 183 At Sea Island Golf Club 26. (30) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 195. N.Y. Giants 2 7 0 .222 177 228 Sea Island, Ga. 27. (29) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 194. South Purse: $6.4 million 28. (34) David Starr, Chevrolet, 194. W L T Pet PF PA s-Seaside Course: 7,005 yards, par-70 29. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 191. New Orleans 8 1 0 .889 330 232 p-Plantation Course: 6,907 yards, par-72 30. (36) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 189. Carolina 6 3 0 .667 241 232 Third Round 31. (25) Chad Finchum, Toyota, Handling, 187. Atlanta 4 5 0 .444 244 254 Charles Howell III 64-64-68—196 32. (32) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 185. Tampa Bay 3 6 0 .333 232 291 Jason Gore 68-63-66—197 33. (38) Carl Long, Dodge, 180. North Cameron Champ 68-63-66—197 34. (33) Caesar Bacarella, Chevrolet, W L T Pet PF PA Webb Simpson 68-68-63—199 Overheating, 161. Chicago 6 3 0 .667 269 175 Ryan Blaum 69-65-65—199 35. (31) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Brakes, 54. Minnesota 5 3 1 .611 221 204 Luke List 69-68-63—200 36. (28) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 46. Green Bay 4 5 1 .450 247 243 Zach Johnson 70-66-65—201 37. (39) Angela Ruch, Chevrolet, Parked, 36. Detroit 3 6 0 .333 202 244 Brian Gay 69-67-65—201 38. (24) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, West Patrick Rodgers 70-70-61—201 Suspension, 16. W L T Pet PF PA David Hearn 68-66-67—201 39. (40) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Brakes, 14. L.A. Rams 9 1 0 .900 335 231 Dominic Bozzelli 71-66-65—202 40. (37) Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, Clutch, 10. Seattle 5 5 0 .500 246 216 Anders Albertson 70-66-66—202 Race Statistics Arizona 2 7 0 .222 124 225 Kevin Kisner 70-69-63—202 Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.515 mph. ban Francisco 2 8 0 .200 230 266 Graeme McDowell 67-68-67—202 Time of Race: 2 Hours, 8 Minutes, 06 Matt Every 69-69-65—203 Seconds. Margin of Victory: 6.902 Seconds. inursaay s uame Qaatilo 07 Croon Dow OA J.J. Spaun 66-71-66—203 Caution Flags: 2 for 10 laps. Chase Wright Derek Fathauer Lucas Glover Patton Kizzire Richy Werenski Harold Varner III Robert Streb Kyle Jones Peter Uihlein Stuart Appleby Johnson Wagner Scott Langley Austin Cook Aaron Baddeley Dru Love Adam Schenk 67- 69-67—203 68- 68-67—203 69- 67-67—203 68-72-63—203 71-69-63—203 68- 70-66—204 71-67-66—204 71-68-65—204 66-71-67—204 69- 70-65—204 70- 67-67—204 70-67-67—204 66- 73-65—204 67- 72-65—204 70-70-64—204 69-69-67—205 CME Group Tour Championship Saturday At Tiburon Golf Club Naples, Fla. Purse: $2.5 million Yardage: 6,556; Par: 72 Third Round Lexi Thompson Nelly Korda Carlota Ciganda So Yeon Ryu Marina Alex Lydia Ko Brittany Lincicome Sei Young Kim Gaby Lopez Megan Khang Charley Hull Ariya Jutanugarn Mi Hyang Lee Nasa Hataoka 65- 67-68—200 69-67-67—203 66- 71-69—206 69-69-69—207 69-67-71—207 69-71-68—208 64-71-73—208 69-72-68—209 71-69-69—209 71-67-71—209 69- 68-72—209 70- 71-69—210 70-70-70—210 64-76-70—210 Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras67-70-73—210 Brooke M. Henderson Jessica Korda Amy Olson Anna Nordqvist Danielle Kang Lizette Salas Sung Hyun Park Brittany Altomare Tiffany Joh Azahara Munoz Yu Liu Annie Park Haeji Kang 73-69-69—211 69- 69-73—211 63-72-76—211 70- 71-71—212 69-72-71—212 69- 71-72—212 71- 73-69—213 73- 73-68—214 71- 72-71—214 72- 69-73—214 68-72-74—214 74- 74-67—215 70- 76-69—215 Racing/NASCAR Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers. Lap Leaders: C. Custer (P) 1 -93; J. Nemechek 94-145; C. Custer (P) 146-147; T. Reddick (P) 148-154; C. Bell (P) 155-163; T. Reddick (P) 164-200. Hockey/NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Tampa Bay Toronto Buffalo Montreal Boston Detroit Ottawa Florida GP W L 20 14 5 1 20 14 6 0 20 12 6 19 10 6 19 10 6 20 9 9 19 8 8 16 7 6 OT Pts 29 28 26 23 23 20 17 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts Columbus 19 11 6 2 24 N.Y. Islanders 18 10 6 2 22 Washington 19 9 7 3 21 N.Y. Rangers 19 9 8 2 20 Philadelphia 20 9 9 2 20 Carolina 18 8 7 3 19 New Jersey 18 8 8 2 18 Pittsburgh 17 7 7 3 17 GF GA 74 58 70 51 60 56 63 63 56 48 57 65 64 77 52 53 GF GA 65 62 61 49 63 63 57 62 63 71 50 54 54 59 56 55 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division Nashville Minnesota Winnipeg Dallas Colorado Chicago St. Louis GP W L 19 13 5 1 20 12 6 2 18 11 5 2 19 10 7 2 19 9 6 4 20 7 8 5 17 7 7 3 OT Pts 27 26 24 22 22 San Jose Vancouver Calgary Anaheim Arizona Edmonton Vegas Los Angeles Pacific Division GP W L OT I 20 10 7 3 ; 21 10 9 2 ; 19 10 8 1 ; 21 8 9 4 ; 18 9 8 1 18 9 8 1 20 8 11 1 18 6 11 1 GF GA 62 44 64 54 55 45 52 50 67 56 53 69 56 53 GF GA 64 64 65 75 58 59 45 61 48 46 52 56 50 58 36 56 TODAY ON TV FOOTBALL ■ Eagles at Saints, 4 p.m., FOX ■ Vikings at Bears, 8:20 p.m., NBC GOLF ■ CME Group Tour Championship, 1 p.m., ABC ■ The RMS Classic, 1:30 p.m., GOLF NASCAR ■ Monster Energy Series: Ford EcoBoost 400, 3 p.m., NBC VOLLEYBALL ■ MEAC Championship, 8 p.m., ESPNU BASKETBALL ■ Indiana at Arkansas 3:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Women’s: Maryland at South Carolina, 5:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Minnesota vs. Texas A&M, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2 RACING | NASCAR Staying on track Harvick is fighting through distractions in pursuit of 2nd NASCAR Championship BY JENNA FRYER Associated Press HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kevin Harvick has always followed the path that best suits him, even when it created unnecessary chaos for him and his race team. He picked fights with fellow competitors in spectacular fashion — Harvick grabbed Greg Biffle by the throat, jumped on the hood of Ricky Rudd’s car, used moves learned as a high school wrestler to toss aside Carl Edwards — and showed little care for consequences. Then he became a father and learned to channel his anger. “If I was jumping over the hood of a car right now, went into my house, had a 6-year-old ... do you know how embar rassed I would be to walk in the front door and answer that question, ‘Hey, dad, why did you jump over that guy’s car, grab him by the throat?”’ Harvick said. “Then it would get more embarrassing as you take him to school, drive through the carpool lines to see his teachers that are all watch ing, as well.” Harvick remained calm a week ago when a flat tire nearly deflated his remark able season. He has eight victories this year, tied with Kyle Busch for most in the Cup Series, but a cheating violation cost him his automatic berth into Sunday’s championship race. Harvick and the No. 4 team had to requalify at Phoenix, and that early tire problem could have ended his bid. But he kept his composure, listened to interim crew chief Tony Gibson’s instruc tions and salvaged a fifth-place finish that put him back in NASCAR’s championship field. Harvick credited the growth he’s had during an 18-year career that has him eli gible for a second Cup title. “I don’t say all the right things, do all the right things,” Harvick said. “As you go through life, I would hope we all mature from a life standpoint to be able to be a bet ter person. I still screw up a lot.” Indeed, it’s been a slippery two weeks for the most dominant driver of the season. Harvick had been expected all along to make Sunday’s title-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but his race-winning Ford from Texas had an illegal spoiler. Of his eight wins this season, two have been disqualified for rules violations. Only the spoiler problem at Texas was egregious and perhaps will put an asterisk next to his name for all of his 2018 successes. Stewart-Haas Racing has not disputed NASCAR’s claim that the team deliberately cheated and gained additional downforce, and crew chief Rod ney Childers on Twitter copped to using an offset spoiler because other teams did it first. Childers was suspended for the final two weeks of the season, and Harvick was close to combative in the days after the penalty was issued. He masterfully deflected talk away from the cheating allegation and insulated his team from any distractions. Harvick is at his best when he feels he’s got something to prove. “I feel like we race with a chip on our shoulder every week,” said Harvick, who TERRY RENNAI Associated Press Kevin Flarvick stands in the garage during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Flomestead-Miami Speedway, Saturday in Homestead, Fla. leads the Cup series in top-five finishes, top- 10s and laps led. “As far as the motivation goes, it’s always different. There’s really nothing that’s ever the same. It would be difficult to start a year if you didn’t have anything, for me, that I could reach out and grab and wrap your arms around and moti vate yourself. “It’s always a moving target. I think that target moves throughout the year, as well. You get into a situation like you had after Texas, then it’s your spoiler.” Harvick and Childers remain adamant the spoiler was not instrumental in the Texas victory, but competitors have their own opinions. “The first question across my mind was how long?” Kyle Busch said. “How long has that been going on? What else are they doing?” Busch has gone win-f or-win with Harvick all season and the two head into the finale as the favor ites. Along with reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr., the so- called Big Three combined for 20 of 35 victories. Should one of them win, they’d join Jimmie Johnson as the only active Cup drivers with multiple titles. Standing in their way is Joey Logano, who got his program up to speed during the playoffs and is a viable challenger. Everything Harvick has worked for this year will be decided in three hours Sunday. But if the race doesn’t go his way, it won’t ruin the season. “You want to win the championship because obviously you think it would be icing on the cake with everything that you’ve accomplished,” Harvick said. “But it’s just not that easy. There’s nothing that’s going to devastate us to the point of not being able to function any more, but to go along with everything we’ve done this year, it definitely would seem fitting to add that to the year end.” Busch Reddick wins Xfinity Series championship in Homestead BY JENNA FRYER Associated Press HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tyler Reddick opened Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first season in retirement with a victory and closed it with a championship. Reddick won the Xfinity Series finale Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speed way to claim the title in NASCAR’s development series. Reddick was per haps a long shot behind Christopher Bell and Cole Custer, but with team owner Earnhardt watching from his pit box, he drove away from the contenders and bookended his rookie season with two massive trips to victory lane. “I just knew we had to execute. I thought we had a chance if we just made it to Homestead, it rewards my aggression,” Reddick said. “We hit the wall a lot but the car kept in one piece, enough for me to get to the end. It was an up and down year. We did everything we had to do in the playoffs and we wound up with the championship. “We can hang our hats on that and people will say oth ers were more consistent. We got it when it counted.” The 22-year-old began this season with a victory at Daytona International Speedway in which he beat JRM teammate Elliott Sadler in the closest finish in NASCAR history. His next win was in the finale with everything was on the line. It was Reddick’s final race for JR Motorsports, which won its second con secutive Xfinity champi onship and third in five years. Reddick is moving to Richard Childress Racing next season and will race against JRM. But he got one final party with his team, albeit without the massive Xfin ity championship flag. The flag got caught under his tires as Reddick waved it out his window during cel ebratory burnouts and he was left with the tattered, burnt remains. “I’m really sad my flag didn’t last very long. I already ripped it apart,” he said. “But I was deter mined to get to fourth gear and burn this thing down. I picked a really good time to get my life together and win a race.” Earnhardt marveled at how Reddick commanded the top lane of the track. Reddick was able to make the No. 9 Chevrolet stick along the outside wall when other drivers could not and didn’t falter even when his car bounced off the con crete several times. “Tyler had the speed and the nerve to run the laps he needed to keep the lead,” Earnhardt said. “I’m telling you, to run on that fence like he did at the end of that race, it takes some precision. He did such an amazing job doing that. He earned the victory. He earned the championship.” Custer won the pole and the first two stages of the race, but his title hopes were dashed by question able pit strategy that cost him the lead, the victory and the title. He finished second behind Reddick in a Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Daniel Hemric didn’t contend at Homestead and finished fourth in the race, third in the championship standings. Christopher Bell did briefly challenge but was passed by both Red dick and then Custer in the final stage. A late flat tire dropped Bell to 11th, and he finished last in the championship field. Bell won a series-high seven races this season, the most for an Xfinity regular since Earnhardt Jr. also won seven times in 1998. The Xfinity Series is where NASCAR’s future stars are groomed and the championship field Satur day represented all three manufacturers, four differ ent teams and four drivers in their 20s. It was the final event for Sadler, a JR Motorsports driver who is calling it a career after 23 seasons. He toasted his crew with beer at his race car after the race.