Sports
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2018 • THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SECTION C
Ukiah steps up for big NBL-Oak test
EMPIRE FOOTBALL » Wildcats take on powerful
Cardinal Newman in showdown for league lead
By RICHARD J. MARCUS
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
With only a five-game season
in the new North Bay League–
Oak Division, tonight’s big
matchup between Cardinal
Newman High School and host
Ukiah takes on a sense of urgen-
cy even though it’s only the sec-
ond week of league play.
“Every league game is big now
with only five league games,”
BASEBALL » A’S POSTSEASON
Over way too soon
The Athletics’ Chad Pinder sits on the bench after the A’s lost to the New York Yankees 7-2 in the American League wild-card game Wednesday.
One-game playoff a bad fit for the
uniquely random nature of baseball
T
he A’s season was over
too quickly. I’m not being
wistful here. I’m being lit-
eral. The A’s season ended too
soon.
Tonight should be Game 2
in a best-of-three series with
the New York Yankees, or a
travel day after two games in a
best-of-five. The A’s deserved
that much. Everyone who loves
baseball deserves that much.
We should be watching Khris
Davis get another crack at
Dellin Betances. We should be
waiting to see if Matt Chapman
can turn in a defensive play
49ERS » Revolving door of personnel taking a toll on defensive scheme’s effectiveness
Communication gaps speak volumes
Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, scores past 49ers cor-
nerback Ahkello Witherspoon, left, and linebacker Reuben Foster during
the second half of Sunday’s game in Carson.
Cardinal Newman coach Paul
Cronin said.
Cardinal Newman (5-1 over-
all, 1-0 in league), Ukiah (5-1, 1-0)
and Windsor (3-3, 1-0) are tied
atop the NBL-Oak after wins in
the first week of league play in
the newly confirgured NBL.
Heading into the 7:30 p.m.
clash with the Cardinals, the
Wildcats are on a four-game
overall winning streak, includ-
ing a 70-35 victory over Maria
PHIL BARBER
at third base to match Adeiny
Hechavarria’s.
I grew up rooting for the A’s,
but this is not a partisan beef.
I’d feel the same if the A’s had
bullpenned the Yankees into
submission in Tuesday’s Amer-
ican League wild-card game,
TURN TO BARBER » PAGE C3
MARCIO SANCHEZ / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carrillo last Friday and a 50-0
win over Fremont (Oakland) the
week prior.
“Ukiah is a good team,” Cro-
nin said. “They have good speed
and have an experienced and
deep senior class.”
The Cardinals have won two
straight — 42-21 over Rancho
Cotate last week and 44-0 over
Galena of Reno two weeks ago
— and have relied on depth at
wide receiver to power their of-
fense and their strength at line-
backer to lead their defense.
TURN TO FOOTBALL » PAGE C6
Athletics relief pitcher Fernando Rodney, left, and catcher Jonathan
Lucroy wait on the mound as Rodney is relieved during the sixth
inning Wednesday.
By GRANT COHN
PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers
have missed 55 tackles through
four games, a league high. But
tackling isn’t the defense’s big-
gest issue. Communication is
the bigger problem, according
to 49ers defensive coordinator
Robert Saleh.
“We did a much better job
(tackling) in the first half,”
Saleh said Thursday, referring
to last Sunday’s 29-27 loss to the
Los Angeles Chargers. “It needs
to get better, still, but I do like
where it’s going.”
The defense missed just two
tackles during the first half,
then missed five during the sec-
ond half. None of those seven
ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
PHJOTOS BY BILL KOSTROUN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
mistakes led to touchdowns for
the Chargers. The 49ers tackled
well enough to win.
But poor communication was
a serious issue. The 49ers lost
partly because the defense mis-
communicated once in the red
zone and handed the Chargers
seven free points.
It was third-and-goal from the
49ers 5-yard line, late in the first
quarter. The 49ers were winning
14-0. Cornerback Ahkello With-
erspoon and linebacker Reuben
Foster stood next to each oth-
er. Witherspoon was standing
across from Chargers running
back Melvin Gordon, who lined
up at wide receiver. And Foster
was standing across from tight
TURN TO 49ERS » PAGE C6
Inside
Baseball » 2, 3
NFL » 6
Scoreboard » 7
Weather » 8
Cardinal
Newman’s
Chauncey
Leberthon,
right, leads the
Cardinals with
23 catches for
453 yards and
four touch-
downs.
JAE C. HONG / ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Max
Muncy celebrates after hitting a
three-run home run during the
second inning of Game 1 of the NL
Division Series against the Atlanta
Braves on Thursday in Los Angeles.
BASEBALL
Ryu sets
tone for
Dodgers
in NLDS
Lefty’s seven-inning start
leads LA to 6-0 victory
over Braves in Game 1
By BETH HARRIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — The Dodg-
ers made a surprising and much
talked-about decision to start
Hyun-Jin Ryu over Clayton Ker-
shaw in Game 1 of the NL Divi-
sion Series.
Swell choice.
The South Korean left-hander
pitched seven dominant innings
and Los Angeles launched three
home runs to beat the Atlanta
Braves 6-0 on Thursday night.
Ryu delivered in his first
postseason start since 2014. He
allowed four singles — all with
two outs — struck out eight and
walked none.
“I think we feel pretty good
about it. He pitched well. He
pitched well,” Dodgers manager
Dave Roberts said.
The only slip Ryu made was
when he mistook the second out
of the fourth inning for the last
out and started walking toward
the dugout. He laughed upon re-
alizing the gaffe.
The 31-year-old Ryu missed
3½ months of the season with a
groin strain and returned Aug.
15 to post a 1.88 ERA in 52⅔ in-
nings. Dodgers great Sandy Ko-
ufax was among those who gave
Ryu a standing ovation as he
walked to the dugout after his
final pitch.
The Dodgers set franchise
and National League records by
hitting 235 homers during the
regular season, and their tear
continued with three more to
begin their playoffs.
The defending NL champions
actually were outhit 6-5 by At-
lanta, but the Braves only got
singles.
Game 2 in the best-of-five
matchup is Friday at Dodger
Stadium, with Kershaw starting
for Los Angeles against Anibal
Sanchez.
The Braves have lost eight
straight series openers in the
postseason. They haven’t won
a Game 1 since 2001 when they
went on to sweep Houston in the
NLDS.
TURN TO DODGERS » PAGE C2
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2018 C3

ALDS » ASTROS VS. INDIANS ALDS » RED SOX VS. YANKEES

Aces square off in
old-school matchup
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — This post-
season may be best re-
membered for its bullpen
openers. Just not in the AL
Division Series between
the Houston Astros and
Cleveland Indians.
Relief pitchers are cov-
ering entire games for
other championship con-
tenders this October, but
the Astros and Indians are
ready to roll old school,
starting with Cy Young
Award winners Justin Ver-
lander and Corey Kluber
facing off in Game 1 today.
“I love starters,” Astros
manager AJ Hinch said
Thursday. “Why? Because
I’ve got good ones. I think
that’s the easiest way to
fall in love with a rotation
and have that mindset, do
I want my starters to go
deep in the game? Yeah,
they’re good.”
Cleveland knows the
feeling. This series will
feature some of the best
pitchers in the American
Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander was 16-9
with a 2.52 ERA this season.
the performance of each
team’s starters will be par-
amount to success in this
series.
“Us and the Indians
probably being 1 and 2,
however you like to slice
it, us and them, them and
us,” he said. “Pick your
poison. We both have
very defined starters who
have a great track record
and have good stuff. This
should be a really fun se-
ries.”
PATRICK SEMANSKY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
ing forward to the next
one … not dwelling on pre-
vious outings or games,
whether they’re good or
bad,” he said.
Correa’s back
Houston shortstop Car-
los Correa hit .268 with 13
homers and 49 RBIs in the
first half this season but
struggled with a back in-
jury for most of the second
half. He missed about six
Sale seeks a better October
By JIMMY GOLEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Chris Sale
waited eight years to make
his first postseason start
and then another 365 days
for a chance to put that
memory behind him.
The Red Sox left-hander
will start Game 1 of the
AL Division Series against
the New York Yankees on
Friday night, one year af-
ter he was bombarded by
the championship-bound
Houston Astros in his
playoff debut.
He’s thought about it.
He’s learned from it.
And he wants to make
sure he doesn’t make the
same mistakes again.
“Last year, obviously,
I got my feet wet. Didn’t
do too well. But some-
times you learn from the
bad more than the good,”
Sale said Thursday, a day
before the AL East rivals
open their best-of-five
ALDS matchup.
“It happened. I’m not
going to run away from
it. I don’t think that’s the
GOLF
ELISE AMENDOLA / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston Red Sox starting
pitcher Chris Sale throws in
the bullpen during a work-
out Wednesday.
right thing to do,” he said.
“I’m not going to hide
from it. You can Google
it now, tomorrow and 100
years, and it’s going to be
there. I own it. I accept it.
And like I said, I’m going
to be better.”
A seven-time All-Star
who was the ace of the
White Sox staff before com-
ing to the Red Sox in 2017,
Sale had never pitched for
a playoff team before start-
ing the opener of Boston’s
series against Houston. He
gave up seven runs in five
innings; he pitched well in
an emergency relief ap-
pearance in Game 4 but
couldn’t keep the Astros
from advancing.
On Friday night, Sale
will face Yankees lefty
J.A. Happ in the first-ever
meeting of the teams in
the ALDS. They have not
met at all in the postsea-
son since Boston’s epic
comeback in the 2004 AL
Championship Series be-
fore the Red Sox went on
to win the World Series
and their first title in 86
years.
What the 108-win Red
Sox have to do now is get
past their longtime neme-
sis, a 100-win team that is
coming off of a 7-2 victory
over the Oakland Athletics
in the AL wild-card game.
The Red Sox watched that
game on TV as a team.
“It was fun. It was very
relaxing,” Red Sox manag-
er Alex Cora said. “Hope-
fully we can do it a few
more times in October, get
together.”

Mickelson stalks lead at Silverardo

League, with Cleveland’s
Carlos Carrasco opposing
two-time All-Star right-
hander Gerrit Cole in the
second game Saturday,
and Mike Clevinger of the
Indians and 2015 Cy Young
winner Dallas Keuchel
pitching in Monday’s
Game 3.
Verlander, a 14-year vet-
eran, believes the AL West
champion Astros and AL
Central champion Indi-
ans have the top two rota-
tions in the AL. He thinks
Kluber pitched well in
the postseason in 2016
when the Indians fell to
the Cubs in the World Se-
ries. But he struggled in
the ALDS last year against
the New York Yankees
while dealing with an
aching back. He’s feeling
healthier this time around
and expecting a stronger
performance.
“Whether a game I pitch
or a month I have or a year
I have is good or bad, the
way I look at it is I’m look-
weeks and hit just .180 with
two homers and 16 RBIs in
37 games after the All-Star
break.
Though it wasn’t both-
ering him Thursday, the
top overall pick in the 2012
draft said he isn’t sure that
the problem is completely
behind him.
“One day I wake up and
I’m fine and one day I wake
up and my back is tight
again,” he said. “Right
now, I feel great. I feel
ready to go and hopefully it
doesn’t come back.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NAPA — Phil Mickelson
had six straight birdies
and shot a 7-under 65 on
Thursday to pull within
two strokes of leader Sepp
Straka in the PGA Tour’s
season-opening Safeway
Open.
Coming off a winless
performance in the U.S.
Ryder Cup loss to Europe,
the 48-year-old Mickel-
son birdied Nos. 9-14 and
closed with four straight
nine was good,” Mickelson
said. “I made good long
putts on 12 and 13.”
Straka birdied the final
three holes for a 63. The
Austrian played alongside
Mark Mulder, the former
major league pitcher who
opened with a 75.
Chase Wright had a 64,
playing the last three holes
in 4 under with an eagle on
the par-5 16th and two bird-
ies. He’s playing in his sec-
ond career PGA Tour event
after earning a card in the
competitive rounds were
64, so I think if I keep that
up I’ll be just fine.”
Brandt Snedeker, Alex
Prugh, J.T. Poston, Mack-
enzie Hughes, Sam Saun-
ders, Sungjae Im and
Adam Long shot 66.
“I just stayed patient,”
said Snedeker, who had
an opening 59 in his Wynd-
ham Championship victo-
ry in August. “I just kind
of worked my way back
into after not playing for
the past four weeks and

BARBER in a statistically significant

sense.
What’s the point? Ran-
one-game showdown adds
to the thrill of postseason
baseball, and they aren’t
pars on the North Course
at Silverado Resort and
Spa.
Web.com Tour Finals.
“It’s been a great year,”
Wright said. “I know I
getting some rest. I was
driving it great all day.”
Two-time defending
CONTINUED FROM C1 domness. You just can’t necessarily wrong. A sense “I don’t know exactly should be here and I’m not champion Brendan Steele
rely on the better base- of great anticipation pre- what got the round going by any means surprised had a 67, playing alongside
and hopped on a train up ball team to win a single cedes the wild-card games. for sure, but the birdie on about this. My last two Mickelson.
to Boston for a division game, which is why the But looking specifically at
series against the Red Sox. later rounds of the MLB A’s-Yankees, it’s hard to
There are a lot of great playoffs are best-of-five or imagine that another game
things about Major League best-of-seven. or four somehow could
Baseball right now. The Look at the A’s, for have subtracted from the
one-game wild card isn’t example. As most people excitement.
among them. know, because baseball The real reason for the
This isn’t the NFL, in media beat you over one-game wild-card round
which a team can prove the head with the fact, is MLB’s bloated 162-game
its dominance in a single Oakland had the best schedule. Just as surely as
three-hour game. Yeah, record in MLB after the one game isn’t enough to
there are upsets in football, middle of June. But in the establish superiority, 162
too. But when they occur, 30 series the A’s played are unnecessary. When
you tip your cap to the vic- starting June 15, they won the league added the wild-
torious underdog, because the opening game of those card round in 2012, it had
it feels like they earned series 18 times. That’s a a scheduling problem.
that win. You could argue pretty good winning per- Without cramming in a
that a one-game playoff centage of .600, but it’s far bunch of doubleheaders,
would make a small degree short of their .726 percent- MLB couldn’t add a true
of sense in the NBA, too. age in the other games of wild-card round without
With everything on the those series. I mean, the either starting regular-sea-
line, the more talented and A’s lost consecutive series son games in mid-March
better-coached hoops team openers to the Giants, for or pushing the World
should be able to assert goodness sake. Series a week or two into
itself. Why vanquish a team November.
But baseball? A one- that is just getting warmed The best solution would
game playoff series ignores up? a 154-game schedule, like
the basic nature of the Granted, manager Bob Joe DiMaggio and Ted
sport. Melvin certainly would Williams used to play,
I hesitate to use the have approached those followed by five-game
word “luck” here, be- second-half series open- wild-card series. It’ll never
cause athletes earn what ers differently had they happen.
they get. But there is no been more urgent. It’s also The solution at hand,
denying that baseball has possible that the compet- the nine-inning series,
a randomness you don’t itive nature of his team, falls flat. I would have
find in other major sports. his skill as a manager, and loved to see whether
A hot pitcher, or a strug- the ability of the Oakland Melvin would go back to
gling pitcher, can reset the players and scouting staff Fernando Rodney in a
course of a game like no to adjust to opponents pressure situation, or if
other athlete — and his made the A’s more danger- he’d run out of confidence
heroism or failure can be ous as a series progressed. in the reliever. I wanted to
pretty unpredictable. The Those adjustments largely see how Mike Fiers would
difference between a line go out the window in a fare against that daunting
drive right at the second one-game, do-or-die elimi- Yankees lineup in a big
baseman and a line drive nation. game. I wanted to see if
in the gap between first I don’t think I’m alone the three big bombers in
and second can be a win on this. In fact, I’m sure of the series — Khris Davis,
vs. a loss. The difference it. A recent poll conducted Aaron Judge and Giancar-
between either of those by the Stillman School of lo Stanton — could dent
line drives and a routine Business and the Sharkey some more seats.
fly ball can be millimeters Institute, both affiliated Mostly, I yearned to see
on the bat. with Seton Hall University, playoff baseball in Oak-
For these reasons, and found that 47 percent of land. Veteran Bay Area
others, the gap between Americans favored multi- sports fans have seen that
the better baseball team game MLB wild-card se- amazing transformation,
and the lesser baseball ries, while 26 percent were when the Coliseum goes
team is much smaller than opposed. Presumably, the from sleepy to electric
in other sports. The Bos- other 27 percent were too as the calendar flips to
ton Red Sox had a brilliant busy googling “Liam Hen- October. But a lot of the
season in 2018, their best driks” to care. current A’s don’t know it.
in 72 years. Their winning What’s that you say? Chapman and Davis, Blake
percentage was .667. Last The A’s and Yankees could Treinen, Matt Olson,
year, seven NFL teams, avoided this tightrope Marcus Semien — this was
four NBA teams and four walk by winning their di- their turn, and it was cut
NHL teams exceeded that visions? Sure, but these ar- short.
win rate. en’t also-rans we’re talking Come on, MLB. Can’t we
In his book “A Drunk- about. The Yankees won at least have best two out
ard’s Walk,” mathemati- 100 games, the A’s 97. They of three? You’re treating
cian Leonard Mlodinow were better than four of your wild cards like deuc-
demonstrated that if MLB’s division winners — es instead of the royalty
Team A were able to beat better than all the division they are.
Team B about 55 percent winners except the ones,
of the time — a pretty big you know, atop their own You can reach columnist
difference, by MLB stan- divisions. They should still Phil Barber at 707-529-5218
dards — it would require a be playing. or phil.barber@pressdem-
269-game series for Team Major League Baseball’s ocrat.com. Follow him on
A to prove its superiority rulers might argue that a Twitter: @Skinny_Post.