Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway finally won his first World
Cup slalom of the season
Sunday
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Daniel Kilgore Jersey , ending Marcel Hirscher¡¯s five-race winning streak.
Carrying a 1.05-second lead over his Austrian rival from the opening run,
Kristoffersen lost only 0.08 of his advantage in a wild second run in dense
snowfall to claim his first victory of the season and 16th overall.
He narrowly avoided skiing out twice, and after crossing the finish he
punched his chest with his right fist and fell on his back to celebrate the
victory. It was his first since triumphing at another Austrian resort,
Schladming, a year ago.
¡±It¡¯s really cool,¡± Kristoffersen said. ¡±The first run was really good. In
the second run I was on the limit. I made some mistakes here and there but I
just tried to keep going.¡±
Kristoffersen set a World Cup record earlier this season by getting podiums
in the first six slaloms without winning a race.
Continuing their slalom rivalry from past seasons into next month¡¯s
Pyeongchang Olympics, Kristoffersen was runner-up to Hirscher in five races this
season, including three giant slaloms. Ending that series at a race in Austria
made it special, said the Norwegian, who resides in Salzburg.
¡±We have no slalom races in Norway so this feels like a home race for me,¡±
said Kristoffersen, who also won in Kitzbuehel two years ago. ¡±Today was
definitely a great feeling.¡±
Not satisfied with his opening leg, Hirscher called his second run
¡±acceptable.¡±
¡±In training the last few days I felt that it would not go as smooth as in
recent
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out of this race. I am happy with 80 points. Henrik was a class better, he
deserved the win today.¡±
Daniel Yule of Switzerland was 1.35 behind in third for his first career
podium, while the rest of the field finished more than 2.2 seconds off the
lead.
¡±If I could have chosen any place for my first podium, Kitzbuehel would be
high on the list,¡± Yule said. ¡±And I am the first human today after those two
aliens, Henrik and Marcel. They are skiing at such a high level.¡±
Britain¡¯s Dave Ryding, who finished runner-up to Hirscher last year for his
career best result, trailed by 2.89 seconds in 25th after the opening run but
posted the fastest time in the final leg to improve to ninth place.
Hirscher¡¯s Austrian teammate Michael Matt, who was second after the opening
run, passed a gate at the wrong side and did not finish. Eight of the 30 racers
who qualified for the second leg failed to complete their final run.
Earlier, many starters struggled in tough first-run conditions after
overnight snowfall. On a difficult course set by his coach Jani Hladnik,
Russia¡¯s Alexander Khoroshilov straddled a gate and failed in his bid to improve
his slalom ranking ahead of the Olympics.
Hirscher needed a win to match Hermann Maier¡¯s Austrian record of 54 men¡¯s
World Cup victories. Only Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark (86) won more
races.
Still leading the standings by 154 points over Kristoffersen, Hirscher
remained on course for an unprecedented seventh overall title. Their slalom duel
will continue at a night race in Schladming on Tuesday.
In a showdown of
All-Star
sluggers
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Fred Warner Jersey , Nelson Cruz had more RBIs, but J.D. Martinez had more
help.
Martinez homered and drove in five, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a
five-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 14-10 on Friday despite a monster
night from Cruz.
Cruz had a pair of three-run homers and drove in seven, but the Mariners
still lost their season-worst fifth straight game, including three earlier this
week at Yankee Stadium. Seattle led 4-0 and 10-5 before a wild Red Sox rally
fueled by RBIs from eight different players.
¡±That¡¯s some fight. We¡¯ve got a great group in here and that was a good one
for us,¡± said Mitch Moreland, who had three hits including a triple as the Red
Sox set a season-high with 20 hits.
Martinez went 4 for 5, including a two-run homer in the sixth and two doubles
as he and his teammates avenged a 1-0 loss at Seattle against Wade LeBlanc six
days earlier. LeBlanc started again Friday but did not fare so well in
Boston.
¡±He pitched a great game against us last time. We all had a little chip on
our shoulder coming into today,¡± said Martinez, who has 23 homers.
Reliever Matt Barnes (1-2) got the win with one scoreless inning, and Craig
Kimbrel pitched the ninth.
Juan Nicasio (1-4) took the loss, allowing five runs on four hits in
one-third of a lousy seventh inning.
¡±We were in control after a crazy first inning. We banged it around and they
banged it around some, but our guys kept tacking on there. Just couldn¡¯t hold
them off at the
end Authentic
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The only flaw to the second half of the game for Boston: shortstop Xander
Bogaerts left in the seventh with a sprained index finger on his left hand.
After Cruz put Seattle up 3-0 in the first with his 19th home run, Ryon Healy
added a solo shot during Seattle¡¯s four-run first inning as the Mariners got to
knuckleballer Steven Wright. Seattle added two more off Wright in the second
after Boston¡¯s five-run bottom of the first.
Despite allowing 10 runs on 10 hits, Wright got a no-decision.
¡±I might go buy a lottery ticket now because that never happens,¡± Wright
said.
Seattle scored four in the fourth, including Cruz¡¯s second shot of the game,
but Boston¡¯s bullpen shut down Seattle the rest of the way while the Mariners¡¯
imploded.
¡±Tough one,¡± Cruz said. ¡±It¡¯s a shame because the pitchers have been doing a
really good job. They¡¯ve been throwing the ball with consistence, but it
happens.¡±
Rafael Devers singled in a run in the fifth, and then Martinez homered off
Nick Vincent to center in the sixth to pull Boston within 10-8. Mitch Moreland
followed with a triple just beyond the reach of diving right fielder Mitch
Haniger, and Bogaerts drove in Moreland with an infield single
Barnes struck out the side in the seventh, and then Boston got to Nicasio.
Devers singled to lead off, Blake Swihart singled with one out and Nicasio
walked Mookie Betts to load the bases. Andrew Benintendi blooped a single into
shallow center to bring in Devers and tie it at 10.
Swihart was nearly picked off third as Benintendi scored, but he slid under
the tag after a strong throw by center fielder Guillermo Heredia. Seattle did
not challenge the close
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Nick Rumbelow later allowed Benintendi to score on a wild pitch, and Eduardo
Nunez added a pinch-hit RBI single.
BIG BATS
The Red Sox have come from behind in 22 of their 51 wins. The 14 runs tied
their season scoring high and the 20 hits were four more than they had in a game
this season.
¡±It was a weird game,¡± Benintendi said. ¡±It¡¯d be easy to give up in that
situation and just kind of coast through the game, but we kept fighting and
putting good at-bats together all throughout the lineup.¡±
TRAINER¡¯S ROOM
Mariners: Activated RHP Vincent (strained right groin) from the 10-day DL and
optioned RHP Ryan Cook to Triple-A Tacoma.
Red Sox: Benintendi needed a minute to collect himself after running hard
into the Green Monster on a double by Denard Span.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Mike Leake (7-4, 4.47 ERA) gets his second straight start
against the Red Sox after taking the loss Sunday in Seattle, allowing five runs
on eighth hits in six innings.
Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-1, 3.59) has won a career-high six straight
starts, including Boston¡¯s 9-3 victory over the Mariners in Seattle on
Sunday.
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