Tiger, Rory barely make Wells Fargo cut; Malnati leads

Peter Malnati and Tiger Woods both had reason to celebrate on the ninth green at Quail Hollow at the end of their rounds.

Malnati was coming off two straight birdies to take the lead Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship at Char- lotte, N.C., when he put his 5-iron in a deep bunker to the right, with the green running away from him. He was trying to blast out to 15 feet, but he got the club too much under the ball and feared for the worst until it cleared the lip by inches.

Malnati e mphatically wiped his hand across his brow, made the 6-foot par putt for a 3-under 68 and had a one-shot lead over Jason Day and Aaron Wise.

“Pretty scary when I hit it,” he said. “I got away with it, looked like a genius.”

Hours earlier, Woods stood over an 18-foot putt on No. 9, his final hole of another ordinary round that up until then featured no birdies. He finally made one, and stretched out both hands in mock celebration when it dropped.

“I’m on a hot streak right now. I made the last putt,” he said.

Never mind that it was the only putt he made longer than 5 feet. Or that he was nine shots out of the lead in a tie for 48th, his worst posi- tion through 36 holes in his last five tournaments. At least he was still playing on the weekend at Quail Hollow, where he had missed the cut his previous two trips. That putt made certain of it, though Woods made it the cut with one shot to spare.

Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson also had to sweat

Matt Harvey, once regarded as a premier pitcher who could have joined Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden among the Mets’ greats, refused a minor le a gue assignment and will be desig- nated for assignment today.

The 29-year-old righthander lost his spot in the rotation last month after four starts, and he had a 10.50 ERA in four relief outings.

“It’s the end of an era,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said before Friday night’s game against Colo- rado. “And I used that term in broad senses. Matt has been a cornerstone certainly of my tenure here, a tremen- dous prospect at the time I arrived, tremendous accom- plishments during the course of my tenure here.”

New York had hoped Harvey would be willing to work at the team’s minor league complex in an effort to regain form. Harvey refused.

After Harvey is desig- nated, the Mets have seven days to trade him or release him. Because of Harvey’s $5,625,000 salary, a trade may be difficult to work out.

Tigers: Two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera (strained hamstring) was placed on the disabled list before Friday’s game against the Royals.

Braves: Jose Bautista is back in the major leagues after Atlanta inserted the 37-year-old at third base and fifth in the batting order Friday against San Francisco.

When Stars general man- ager Jim Nill started his third coaching search in five years, he took a look at the talented roster that is still among the youngest in the NHL.

Their new coach is certainly accustomed to deal- ing with youth.

Jim Montgomery was intro- duced Friday by the Stars, becoming the second head coach in three years to go it out.

McIlroy, the only two-time winner at the Wells Fargo Championship, celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday by matching his worst score at Quail Hollow with a 76, including three bogeys over the last five holes.

He was in the same spot as Woods, nine shots out of the lead.

Mickelson wasn’t that wild — three bogeys, two birdies, another 72, and he made the cut with one shot to spare.

Wise, the former NCAA champion from Oregon, shot 32 on the back nine with three birdies over the last five holes. He made the turn and was looking to stay in the lead until a sloppy bogey on the par-5 seventh, the sec- ond-easiest at Quail Hollow.

The more daunting names on the leaderboard were right behind the final group of Malnati and Wise — Day (67) also was o ne shot behind, with Paul Casey (68) and former Masters cham- pion Charl Schwartzel (67) another shot back.

Champions: Bernhard Langer felt like his game was rounding into form after a slow start to the year by his lofty standards, and it all came together on a calm, humid day at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.

The 60-year-old Langer shot a course-record, 9-under 63 on Friday to take a three- stroke lead at the Insperity Invitational. The 63 was Langer’s best round on the PGA Tour Champions since a 10-under 62 at the Chubb Classic in 2016, which he went on to win.

Jeff Maggert, who lives only minutes from the course, was tied for second with Scott Dunlap after each shot 6-under 66. directly from the college ranks to the NHL.

“I think the game is chang- ing, and in the end it’s deal- ing with people,” Nill said. “It’s dealing with the younger players, and on top of it, win- ning, and he’s done that.”

Montgomery was 125-5726 the past five seasons at the University of Denver, including a national title.

NFL: The Raiders agreed to a one-year deal with veteran linebacker Derrick John- son to bolster the middle of their defense. The 35-yearold Johnson spent his first 13 NFL seasons with the rival Chiefs, where he was a fourtime Pro Bowler and career tackles leader.

■ Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril was released with a failed physical designation because of a neck injury that cost him most of the 2017 season. Avril’s release was expected and could mean the end of a 10-year career.

■ The Dolphins claimed backup quarterback Bryce Petty a day after he was waived by the Jets.

NASCAR: Kyle Larson turned a lap of 158.103 mph to take the pole for Sunday’s Cup race at Dover International Speedway. In winning his fifth career pole, he gave Chevrolet a needed boost and its first pole since Alex Bowman took the top spot at the Daytona 500. Kevin Harvick will be beside Larson on the front row as the Stewart-Haas Racing star goes for his fourth win of the season. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top five in Friday’s qualifying.

NBA: Michael Jordan is getting closer to hiring his next coach. The Jordan-owned Hornets are narrowing their search after interviewing several candidates, includ- ing Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, Raptors assistant Nick Nurse, Spurs assistants James Borrego, Ettore Messina, Ime Udoka and Blazers assistant David Vanterpol.

Nomar Mazara is cleaning up nicely for the Texas Rangers in the lineup spot usually occupied by Adrian Beltre, baseball’s active career hits leader.

Mazara drove in five runs and homered in his third straight game as the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 11-5 Thursday night, handing 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner David Price his third loss in a row.

“Obviously, when he comes back, that’s going to be his spot again,” said Mazara, the primary cleanup hitter with Beltre out since April 25 because of a strained left hamstring. “I don’t really care what I’m hitting . ... I’m just going to stick to my plan, go up there and look for a pitch I can hit hard.”

Mazara had a two-run double off Price (2-4) in the third, and an inning later he hit a towering three-run homer as the first batter after the Red Sox lefty was pulled from the game. Mazara’s sixth homer gave Texas a 10-3 lead.

“He is by far one of the better young hitters, in my opinion, in this game, how he continues to grow,” manager Jeff Banister said of the consistently and stealing a few series on the road is what separates good teams from great teams.

If anything, Houston simply caught the Bronx Bombers on a heater.

Well, several heaters if you want to count those three 100-mph lava lamps that New York closer Aroldis Chapman blew past reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve on Thursday, giving the Yankees a third win over the Astros in four days and their 12th win in 13 games. The Yankees are in a zone after that Game 7 loss to Houston in the 2017 ALCS, and while it’s too early to be crowning any team at this point, they sent an early a new challenge to their front office, the most unapologetically progressive one in baseball. Instead of trying to build a winner, the Astros must sustain their success in an era with so many rivals copying their old blueprint of tearing down the present to build for tomorrow.

The answer, the Astros believe, is in the seamless transfer of analytics from the iPad to the diamond, a full-scale data immersion from the lowest levels of the minors to Minute Maid Park. Every team now values advanced metrics. Not every team has sent its top analyst to spend a summer as a first base coach on the bottom rung of its farm system, as the Astros did with Mejdal last season.

“A lot of clubs have really good ideas,” Luhnow said. “I think what will separate some from others is the ability to react and utilize, implement and sort of insti- tutionalize programs out in the field.”

In doing so, the Astros have found that entry-level players now yearn for the kind of information that tech-savvy teams can provide. Most of these players were born in the mid- to late 1990s, which means that, by their formative amateur years, modern metrics had been normalized. This is not their fathers’ game anymore.

“I honestly had no idea, when they drafted me, the types of things they were doing,” said Colin McKee, an 18th-round draft pick in 2016. “I have a hard time explain- ing it to my parents. They’ll be like, ‘Oh, how was your day at spring training?’ I’m like, ‘It’s mind-blowing stuff.’ 23-year-old slugger. “The spot doesn’t seem to bother him.”

Mookie Betts hom- ered again for Boston, his MLB-leading 12th coming a day after he went deep three times at Fenway Park against message.

Was this an ALCS rematch preview? I sure hope so, but the Astros will have to fix their bullpen woes. On Thursday, manager A.J. Hinch went to right-hander Will Harris to start the ninth instead of closer Ken Giles, who had given up a three-run ninth-inning homer to Gary Sanchez the night before after Justin Verlander struck out 14 Yanks over eight innings of shutout ball.

Giles, who became internet roadkill after he was shown punching himself in the face as he left the mound, probably took the no-call as a punch to the gut.

“I chose Harris,” Hinch said when asked about the decision. “I thought he could get those guys out.” For people who don’t see it, it’s kind of hard to explain to them — and it’s hard for them to believe that much stuff goes into baseball.”

McKee played last season in Troy, N.Y., for the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats of the short-season New York-Penn League. Mejdal (pronounced my-dell) was the team’s development coach, his first time in uniform since his last year of Little League. He rode the buses, scrounged for meals and learned how to use a thin-handled fungo bat to warm up the fielders. (The trick is a consistent toss.)

“There were definitely moments like, ‘What the heck is he doing?’ ” said Jake Meyers, a center fielder who played last season in Troy. “He could be sitting in an office, and he’s traveling with us to all these crazy places. But it was kind of a respect thing.”

Whatever it takes

Mejdal assisted in any way he could, throwing batting practice or feeding a pitching machine, shagging balls Kansas City. Betts also had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly as the Red Sox opened an 11-day, 10-game trip.

“At least we can talk about that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Betts. “He just keeps rolling. He’s fun to

He couldn’t. That’s how the game can treat you at times, even when you’re one of the favorites to win it all.

The good thing is, unlike in professional football, a bad few days at the office over an MLB week early in the season won’t kill your playoff hopes. The Astros have some work to do, particularly on offense, where one of the scariest lineups in the majors produced only seven runs in four games. Worse yet, Houston scored in only four of a possible 36 innings.

“It’s frustrating because we were behind so long in this series,” Hinch said. “We could have gotten a split. I don’t like talking about a split, but we should have won this game. When you don’t hit, in the outfield, doing the grunt work to allow manager Morgan Ensberg and his staff more instruction time for a raw 35-man roster.

Ensberg, an All-Star third baseman for the Astros in their run to the 2005 World Series, was grateful for the help. The Astros have development coaches at every level, but Mejdal’s research background set him apart.

“There was one team last year that got to live in the future, and that was the TriCity ValleyCats,” Ensberg said. “We got to experience what a major league bench is going to be like in a few years. There’s a bunch of information that I couldn’t possibly know.”

The ValleyCats finished 34-39, but that was largely irrelevant to Luhnow’s goals. By learning from Mejdal’s experience in Troy, he hoped to give the Astros a better chance to turn their concepts into reality. Front offices everywhere now teem with well-educated executives who have backgrounds outside baseball. Luhnow, who has an MBA from the Kellogg watch.”

Texas scored at least 10 runs for the first time this season. The 11 are the most allowed by the Red Sox, whose 22-9 record is still the best in the majors.

Mike Minor (3-1), a reliever for the Royals last year after missing two full seasons with shoulder issues, worked six innings. The right-hander struck out four, walked three and allowed three runs.

Price allowed nine runs, his most since 2013 with Tampa Bay. He has been scored on 19 times (16 earned runs) over 17 innings during his three-game losing streak.

“It seems like there’s no separation in his pitches right now,” Cora said. “And that’s not him, as far as command issues. If he gets hit, he gets hit. But an 0-2 fastball to Mazara, up in the zone, he goes the other way.” it sucks the life out of your whole team for a bit.”

It’s May and the Astros aren’t about to crawl into the fetal position just because a little rain fell before the summer. The best teams figure things out, and while the fans were disappointed at the outcome of a series they had circled when the schedule was released, there is plenty of time to get things fixed.

“You talk about hangovers, but I don’t think it’s any setback we have to worry about,” said left fielder Josh Reddick. “We have a good team and a good staff. We’ll get back to basics and go from there.” Graduate School of Management at Northwestern, wondered how the Astros could get more from theirs. “There is an ivory tower effect, if you will, where great ideas are being thought about and discussed at headquarters, but until you roll them out into the field, you don’t realize all the challenges involved,” he said. “Amazing ideas find all kinds of issues when you try to roll them out with human beings because that’s all we are, a collection of human beings trying to do things to help players perform on the field.”

The Astros still work with something of an outsider’s edge. Even after the team won a title — validating its patient, deliberate overhaul — Mejdal said he sensed resentment in the way others view the organization.

“We get strange looks,” he said. “I’ve noticed that. I bet we’re the most disliked organization, if you were to survey experienced baseball people. I think we have the Yankees beat — by a healthy margin, maybe.”

The feeling is understandable for the Astros, who were the victims of a crime in 2013 and 2014 when Chris Correa, a Cardinals executive who had worked with Luhnow in St. Louis, hacked into their proprietary database. Correa, who has since been barred from baseball, pleaded guilty in 2016 to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and is serving a 46-month prison term.

“Jeff has been through it all, and he’s got a pretty thick skin,” Mejdal said. “Those early years were so unpleasant in many ways, but our minor leaguers were doing well, and you could see the future coming.”