Author: SPNW Staff

The Mariners had a shot for a three-game sweep in Oakland for the first time since 2009, but botched it with a 10-2 loss. They have three in Anaheim starting Monday.

Dominant most of the season, Hisashi Iwakuma failed to bring his best stuff to O.com Coliseum Sunday, was beat up — for him — for four runs in five innings, and the Mariners fell to the Athletics 10-2, spoiling their shot at a three-game sweep in Oakland for the first time since April 10-12, 2009.

Hisashi Iwakuma will bring a 7-1 record, 1.79 ERA and 0.81 WHIP into Sunday afternoon’s game against Bartolo Colon and the first-place Oakland Athletics.

Backup catcher Henry Blanco, acquired by the Mariners Friday, improbably swatted a grand slam off A.J. Griffin in the sixth inning Saturday, and Felix Hernandez did the rest as the Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-0 at O.com Coliseum. Blanco, a career .226 hitter with his 11th team in 16 seasons, whacked a four-seam fastball

The Mariners, a 3-2 winner over Oakland Friday on Mike Zunino’s first major league home run, will send Felix Hernandez to the mound Saturday to face the A’s.

Rookie catcher Mike Zunino, called up earlier in the week from AAA Tacoma, cracked his first major league home run, a solo shot to center on a 1-and-1 count in the seventh inning, lifting the Mariners (30-38) to a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics Friday night in the opening game of a three-game series

University of Washington sophomore Cheng-Tsung Pan has a chance to do something that no amateur golfer has done since the 1930s: Win the U.S. Open. At even par through 27 holes, Pan was a stroke back of the lead Friday when play was suspended because of darkness at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia, where bad

The Mariners Friday signed veteran free agent catcher Henry Blanco, 41, making room for him on the roster by designating Kelly Shoppach, who had been the starter, for assignment. Blanco, a 16-year veteran who most recently played with Toronto, will be available for Friday night’s game in Oakland against the Athletics.

Dick Mansperger, the Seahawks’ first director of player personnel (1975-84), died May 12 following a long battle with cancer. He was 80. Mansperger, who worked for the Dallas Cowboys prior to joining Seattle’s expansion franchise, exerted a profound influence on the team’s early NFL drafts and rosters.

The first alumni game featuring former University of Washington players will be part of a “Husky Legends Return” program June 23 at Alaska Airlines Arena.