Second baseman Jason Kipnis ended a three-hour, 37-minute contest Friday night by ripping a three-run, walk-off homer off Lucas Luetge in the 10th inning, giving the Cleveland Indians a 6-3 victory over the Mariners in the first game of a four-game series at Progressive Field. The Mariners (20-22) had a chance to reach .500 for the first time since April 8, but Kipnis, hitting .236, made sure they didn't.

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Appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Thursday night, legendary coach Phil Jackson, 67, confirmed earlier reports that he talked about working with Chris Hansen if he brought the Kings to Seattle. The 11-time champion, who hasn't coached since 2011, was interested in a top executive job.

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In a celebratory press conference Friday morning at City Hall, Mayor Kevin Johnson summed up the the practical and emotional drivers that preserved the Kings for Sacramento: "It's about jobs and it's about revitalizing downtown. It's about civic pride. It's about not letting somebody take something that isn't theirs."

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In an odd turn of events, Raphael Chillious has returned to coach under Lorenzo Romar after a one-year stay at Villanova. He was a UW assistant and a well-regarded recruiter from 2010 to 2012, then helped the Wildcats to a 20-14 record and a ninth seed in the NCAA tourney, where they lost to North Carolina.

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Hector Noesi's good showing at Yankee Stadium Thursday night -- he allowed one earned run in 4.1 innings in an emergency start -- earned him a trip to the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. The Mariners sent down Noesi Friday and added bullpen help in Danny Farquhar, making room for him by transferring Stephen Pryor from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.

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DE Bruce Irvin, the Seahawks'  first-round pick (15th overall) in the 2012 draft, has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2013 regular season for violating NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. He becomes the sixth Seahawk to receive a drug-related suspension since 2011, although Richard Sherman's suspension was reversed on appeal in December.

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GAME: Mariners (20-21, 2nd, AL West, -7-0 GB) at Indians (22-17, T1, AL Central). GAME #: 42. SERIES: 1st of 4 games. MEETING: 1st (Mariners and Indians tied 2012 series 4-4). WHEN: Friday, 4:05 p.m., Progressive Field. STREAKS: Mariners W 2; Indians W 1. TV: Root Sports. RADIO: ESPN 710, Mariners Radio Network

Brandon Maurer, the 22-year-old still trying to get acclimated to the majors after making the leap from AA Jackson, will face the Cleveland Indians for the first time in his career Friday when the Mariners, suddenly in second place in the AL West after taking two of three from the Yankees in New York, open a four-game series at Progressive Field.

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Michael Morse belted a decisive home run in the sixth inning, Hector Noesi gave the Mariners an outstanding emergency start, and the Mariners held on to beat New York 3-2 Thursday night to take two of three from the Yankees. It marked Seattle's first series win at Yankee Stadium since 2004.

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The Maloof family has sold the Kings for $535 million valuation to a Sacramento group led by Vivek Ranadive, according to the Sacramento Bee Thursday, citing an unnamed source. That figures to end the drama of the past five months following the offer of $525 million in January from Chris Hansen, whose bid to move the team to Seattle was rejected Wednesday by NBA owners.

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Forward Eddie Johnson will miss Sounders home matches June 1 at Chivas USA and June 8 vs. Vancouver while he participates in three 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica (June 7), Panama (June 11) and Honduras (June 18). CenturyLink Field will host the June 11 match against Panama.

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GAME: Mariners (19-21, 3rd, AL West, -7-0 GB) at Yankees (25-15, 1st, AL East, +2.0 GA). GAME #: 41. SERIES: 3rd of 3 games. MEETING: 3rd (series tied 1-1). WHEN: Thursday, 4:05 p.m., Yankee Stadium. STREAKS: Mariners W 1; Yankees L 1. TV: Root Sports. RADIO: ESPN 710, Mariners Radio Network

Aaron Harang has pitched in the major leagues for 12 years with five teams and, remarkably, has never set foot in Yankee Stadium. That will change Thursday when Harang squares off against LHP Andy Pettitte to close a three-game series in the Bronx.

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Responding to a question about whether Wednesday’s vote by owners wiped out Seattle’s future ability to create momentum for pursuing another team, NBA Commissioner David Stern said something intriguing. “Seattle,” he said, “will always act in its best interests.”

Spoken like the insincere, unctuous monopolist that he is, Stern used used a high-minded phrase to disguise his true meaning that Seattle tries hard but doesn't succeed.

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Hard to tell which was the most surprising number Wednesday: That the NBA would leave at least $100 million on the table in voting 22-8 to reject the relocation of the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, or the seven runs the Mariners scored in the first inning off New York's Phil Hughes en route to a 12-2, big-time thumping of the Yankees, featuring two home runs and six RBIs from Raul Ibanez and a three-run jack by Kyle Seager.

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The Sounders will begin their run at a fourth Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship May 29 with a third-round date against the winner of the Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) at VSI Tampa Bay (USL-PRO) match. The Sounders FC will either visit the Rowdies at 4:30 p.m. PT at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL., or host VSI Tampa Bay at 7 p.m. PT at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila.

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The Kings will stay in Sacramento, according the NBA Board of Governors, which met in Dallas Wednesday and voted 22-8 in favor of accepting the relocation committee's earlier reported 7-0 recommendation. But Chris Hansen still says he wants to be the 20 percent partner of Maloof family that has not agreed to sell to anyone but Hansen.

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GAME: Mariners (18-21, 3rd, AL West, -7.0 GB) at Yankees (25-14, 1st, AL East, +2.0 GA). GAME #: 40. SERIES: 2nd of 3 games. MEETING: 2nd (Yankees lead 1-0). WHEN: Wednesday, 4:05 p.m., Yankee Stadium. STREAKS: Mariners L 1; Yankees W 2. TV: Root Sports. RADIO: ESPN 710, Mariners Radio Network

The Mariners reach the quarter pole of the 2013 season Wednesday with the second of three against New York at Yankee Stadium. Every year the 40-game mark is used as an opportunity to assess progress or assign blame, and for the Mariners this is how it shakes out:

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(Updated 10 p.m. with story on expansion)

Wednesday is showdown day in Dallas, when Chris Hansen for the first time addresses representatives of 29 NBA owners, while owners of the 30th team, the Sacramento Kings, convey to the same audience they will not sell the franchise to anyone but Hansen, who wants to move the team to Seattle for a record NBA price. Meanwhile, investors who want to keep the team in Sacramento already have an endorsement from some owners and the support of Commissioner David Stern to keep the Kings where they are.

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The Mariners wasted another outstanding start by Felix Hernandez and lost to the Yankees in New York  4-3 Tuesday night after taking a 3-0 lead, squandered by Seattle's bullpen. Hernandez, matched against CC Sabathia in a duel of aces, allowed just one earned run on five hits over 6.0 innings before he was lifted because of a sore back.

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Unless there is another delay, the NBA Board of Governors will take a final vote on the Kings sale Wednesday in Dallas. According to multiple reports, the NBA has not changed its position on keeping the Kings in Sacramento despite Chris Hansen’s recent spate of pot sweeteners, leaving one major question remaining:

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By David Eskenazi and Steve Rudman

Following Seattle native Fred Couples’ rousing speech at his World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Augustine, FL., last week (video here), a local sports talk show host blurted – and we paraphrase – “Couples is probably one of only four or five athletes actually born in the state of Washington to make a major Hall of Fame.”

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