AP-NW–Sports Right Now/770
PIRATES-MARINERS
Mariners host Pirates in interleague series
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners tonight open a series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma (6-6) makes his first career start against the Pirates. The Pirates will counter with Jonathon Niese.
Seattle comes into the series off a Sunday loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. James Paxton had command issues, needing 26 pitches just to get through the first inning on Sunday. The Cardinals homered six times and 13 of their 17 hits went for extra bases against Mariners pitchers.
MARINERS-WALKER
Walker throws bullpen session
SEATTLE (AP) — Right-hander Taijuan Walker could start Thursday as the Mariners host Baltimore as Walker comes back from tendinitis in his right foot.
Walker threw a bullpen session on Sunday and manager Scott Servais says he expects everything to be “good going forward.” The Mariners never put Walker onto the disabled list but did push back his last scheduled start last Friday.
Wade Miley also threw a bullpen session and will come off the disabled list on Wednesday to face Pittsburgh.
SWM-US SWIM TRIALS
Ledecky heading to Rio, wins 400 free at US Olympic trials
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Katie Ledecky earned her spot for the Rio Olympics, winning the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming trials Monday night.
The only thing that didn’t go her way was another world record.
Ledecky set a blistering pace over the first half of the race, putting her more than 2 seconds ahead of the pace from her record-setting performance at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Australia.
But Ledecky tired a bit over the final 200, another world mark slipping away when she touched in 3 minutes, 58.98 seconds.
Oregon swimmer Jacob Pebley is on to the finals in the men’s 100-meter backstroke as he seeks to qualify for the team that will go to Rio. Pebley, who is from Corvallis, finished second in his semifinal heat yesterday behind Ryan Murphy. Pebley’s time was 53.10. Patrick Mulcare of Tigard, Oregon, finished seventh in the same heat and did not advance.
ATH-NELSON’S COMEBACK
Nelson steps out of retirement at 40 for final Olympic shot
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Much to his amazement, Adam Nelson can still heave the shot put nearly as far as ever at 40 years old.
That’s why, after being retired for 3 1/2 years, the Olympic gold medalist recently returned to his old way of life. He even dusted off his trademark big-throw routine — a scream followed by ripping off his warmup shirt as he storms into the throwing ring. His theatrics will be on display Friday when he tries to make the U.S. squad for the Rio de Janeiro Games at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Nelson captured a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics before being bumped to gold in May 2013 when Ukraine’s Yuriy Bilonoh was stripped of the title following a doping violation.
Nelson had retired in 2013 and lives in Georgia. He was able to stay in top shape and is even lighter than he was when he last competed. He does note that the sport does not appear to have cleaned up from rampant doping issues. The longtime anti-doping crusader says he welcomes testing — anything to weed out the dopers.
OUT OF UNIFORM-JONES’ SPECIAL KICKS
Special shoe collection prized possession for Orioles’ Jones
HOUSTON (AP) — Adam Jones recently procured the final pieces of an extremely rare shoe collection.
Just how exclusive is this footwear?
Even with a multimillion-dollar salary and the perks that accompany fame at his disposal, it still took Baltimore’s All-Star center fielder four years and a shoe-sleuthing crew of 10 people to complete the extraordinary and special collection: Ten pairs of limited edition Doernbecher Air Jordans made by Nike.
He says they’re his prized possessions although that is secondary to the meaning behind the shoes.
Their name is derived from the acclaimed Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, where kids with illnesses from cancer to kidney failure work with Nike on the designs. The collaboration has raised more than $14 million for the hospital since its inception.
One pair was created by Isaac Arzate, a preteen basketball and baseball player who went into cardiac arrest during basketball practice. An undiagnosed abnormality was discovered and open-heart surgery followed. He designed the shoes in 2012 while in rehabilitation at the hospital, but before they were released the 12-year-old died after a second heart attack.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
