NW Sports from the AP

AP-NW–1st SportsMinute,313
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from
The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) – Luis Rodriguez led off the bottom of the 12th
inning with a solo homer off New York reliever Cory Wade, and the
Seattle Mariners beat the Yankees 2-1 last night. Seattle reliever
Steve Delabar, who was a substitute teacher earlier during the
baseball season before being signed by the Mariners, earned his
first major league victory. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is still
two saves away from setting the all-time saves record.

SEATTLE (AP) – Sue Bird isn’t afraid of leaking any strategic
secrets that the Seattle Storm might employ when they open defense
of their WNBA title tonight against the Phoenix Mercury. As the
All-Star point guard sees it, there are simply no secrets left to
leak in a rivalry that has become as fierce as any in the league.
The two teams open their best-of-three Western Conference semifinal
series. The Storm have won 10 of the past 11 meetings.

RENTON, Wash. (AP) – Guard Robert Gallery and linebacker David
Hawthorne were both full participants in practice for the Seattle
Seahawks yesterday, raising the possibility they’ll play on Sunday
when Seattle travels to Pittsburgh. Both were inactive for last
Sunday’s season opener at San Francisco. Gallery has a sprained
knee suffered in the preseason finale against Oakland, while
Hawthorne has also been slowed by a sore knee.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – True freshman De’Anthony Thomas has brought
a bit of his SoCal swagger to Eugene. The speedy running back,
who’s already turned heads at Oregon just two games into his
collegiate career, has a nickname bestowed upon him by none other
than Snoop Dogg. The rapper dubbed Thomas the “Black Mamba” for
his stealth and slippery agility. In No. 12 Oregon’s 69-20 win over
Nevada last weekend, Thomas caught two TD passes, including a
69-yarder, helped out on kickoff returns and had a long 62-yard
dash in the first quarter.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-09-15-11 0531EDT