Seattle City Council approves arena deal

SEATTLE — A wealthy hedge-fund manager won approval Monday for his plan to bring professional men's basketball and hockey back to Seattle, with initially skeptical City Council members agreeing to put up $200 million for a new arena after he promised to personally guarantee the city's debt.

Council members voted 6-2 to approve Chris Hansen's plan for a $490 million arena near the Seahawks and Mariners stadiums south of downtown.

"I was a skeptic when this came forward because I was worried about our taxpayers," said Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw. "The fact that we have a personal guarantee from Mr. Hansen . . . that makes a big difference.

"At the end, we're going to have something the city is proud of."

Seattle hasn't had an NBA team since 2008, when the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, devastating their fans here. It's been quite a bit longer since Seattle had major-league hockey: The Metropolitans, who won the Stanley Cup in 1917, disbanded in 1924.

The Edmonton Oilers is one NHL team already discussing possible relocation to Seattle after plans for a proposed $475 million arena in Edmonton were thrown into doubt earlier this month.

Though the franchise said it still hopes to reach a deal with Edmonton on a new arena, owner Daryl Katz, team president Patrick LaForge and Kevin Lowe, president of hockey operations, were in Seattle for meetings Monday about a possible relocation.

The Oilers said in a statement that the team is listening to proposals from a number of potential NHL markets.

Hansen, of San Francisco, is a Seattle native, an early investor in Facebook and a big Sonics fan who approached Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn last year in hopes of building a new arena to attract an NBA team and hopefully an NHL team as well. KeyArena, where the Sonics played, is considered outdated and financially unviable. The $200 million in public financing would be repaid by arena-related taxes.

The deal Hansen worked out with the mayor's office met with resistance at City Council, where members worried about the effect of more traffic in what is a crucial shipping corridor, thanks to the nearby Port of Seattle, and about creating competition for the publicly owned KeyArena, which turned a profit last year.

But Hansen made a number of concessions and won over a majority. In addition to personally guaranteeing the debt payments, he agreed to kick in more money for transportation improvements and $7 million for KeyArena, and he agreed to buy the new arena back from the city for $200 million at the end of the 30-year use agreement if that's what the city wants.

He also agreed to be independently audited to assure that he's worth at least $300 million.

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Smoak slugs two HRs; Seattle bashes Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas — Justin Smoak hit two three-run homers against his former team and the Seattle Mariners used a pair of early eight-run innings to rout the Texas Rangers for the second straight game, winning 21-8 Wednesday night.

Fly like a Byrd: Boston center fielder Marlon Byrd dives to catch a fly ball hit by Detroit's Gerald Laird during the eighth inning of the Red Sox's 6-4 win on Wednesday. AP

Smoak had three hits to go with his career high for RBIs as Seattle reached double digits in back-to-back games against the AL West leaders. Jesus Montero homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, and Kyle Seager had four hits and two RBIs. Every Seattle starter had at least one hit in amassing 20 overall.

For the Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki did not play, while pinch hitter Munenori Kawasaki popped out in the ninth.

Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma recorded the first save of his professional career on Wednesday, when he allowed three runs in the final three innings of the blowout victory.

The 31-year-old right-hander had not pitched in two weeks and admitted being rusty.

"It had been so long since I'd pitched and things didn't feel right," Iwakuma said.

Iwakuma, in his first big league season, allowed five hits and a walk while striking out none.

White Sox 4, Rays 3

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Alexei Ramirez drove in two runs and Chicago extended its best win streak of the season to eight games with a victory over Tampa Bay.

Hideki Matsui went 0-for-2 for the Rays.

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 1

In Toronto, Edwin Encarnacion hit one of the Blue Jays' four solo home runs, leading them to a three-game sweep of Baltimore.

Yankees 6, Angels 5

In Anaheim, Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano homered during New York's five-run third inning, helping the Yankees snap Los Angeles' eight-game win streak.

Reliever Hisanori Takahashi (0-2) took the loss, tossing one inning.

Royals 6, Indians 3

In Cleveland, Bruce Chen overcame a rocky second inning and Kansas City scored its first five runs with two outs in a win over Cleveland.

Twins 4, Athletics 0

In Minneapolis, Francisco Liriano tossed six shutout innings in his return to the Twins' rotation.

Red Sox 6, Tigers 4

In Boston, David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks each hit two-run homers, Kevin Youkilis had a solo shot and the surging Red Sox beat Detroit for their 14th win in 19 games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies 13, Astros 5

In Denver, Carlos Gonzalez hit three home runs in his last three at-bats, Michael Cuddyer had a grand slam and Dexter Fowler also homered for the hosts.

Marlins 5, Nationals 3

In Miami, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th home run in May to tie the franchise record for a single month and the Marlins completed a three-game sweep of first-place Washington.

Phillies 10, Mets 6

In New York, pinch hitter Carlos Ruiz came through with a tying homer in the seventh inning, Jimmy Rollins added a three-run shot and Philadelphia busted loose late to beat the Mets.

Braves 10, Cardinals 7

In Atlanta, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in three runs to lead the Braves past St. Louis.

Cubs 8, Padres 6

In Chicago, Darwin Barney hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs a win over San Diego.

Pirates 2, Reds 1

In Pittsburgh, A.J. Burnett allowed just two hits over seven innings, and Matt Hague delivered a two-run double for the Pirates.

Diamondbacks 4, Giants 1

In San Francisco, Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth to help Ian Kennedy snap a five-start losing streak, and Arizona avoided a three-game sweep.

Melky Cabrera singled in the eighth to finish his marvelous May with 51 hits, matching Randy Winn's San Francisco record for most hits in a month set in September 2005.

Brewers 6, Dodgers 3

In Los Angeles, Carlos Gomez tied a career high with four hits, including a go-ahead two-run single against Clayton Kershaw, and Milwaukee handed the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner his third loss in five starts.

The Brewers' Norichika Aoki was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.

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Seattle rallies for win in 9th

SEATTLE — After handing out some punishment on a few prior occasions, Seattle Mariners designated hitter John Jaso was happy to take a beating Monday night.

Happy hour: Ichiro Suzuki and his Seattle teammates celebrate after pinch runner Munenori Kawasaki scores the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of their 3-2 win over Detroit on Monday night. AP

Jaso hit a sacrifice fly to score pinch runner Munenori Kawasaki and cap a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Jaso and the Mariners won their third straight game — with a lot of help from Tigers veteran reliever Octavio Dotel.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland knew pregame that closer Jose Valverde would not be at his disposal, so he turned to Dotel with a 2-0 lead in the ninth — and he lacked any control from the start.

Dotel walked Brendan Ryan after nearly hitting him twice. A walk to Ichiro Suzuki followed, then a wild pitch, which advanced both runners. A visit from catcher Alex Avila along with a separate visit from pitching coach Jeff Jones during the inning could not settle Dotel down.

Seattle starter Blake Beavan left after being hit on the right elbow by a line drive in the third inning.

Beavan's replacement, Hisashi Iwakuma, pitched three innings, allowing one run and three hits. He struck out five batters and did not issue a walk.

Ichiro was 1-for-3, with a walk.

Rangers 14, Orioles 3

In Baltimore, Brandon Snyder homered and had a career-high six RBIs against his former team, and Texas beat the O's.

Indians 8, White Sox 6 (1st)

Indians 3, White Sox 2 (2nd)

In Cleveland, Shelley Duncan's RBI double in the eighth gave the Indians a soggy win over Chicago and a sweep of their day-night doubleheader.

Zach McAllister pitched six innings for his first major league win as Cleveland roughed up Philip Humber (1-2) in the first game.

White Sox outfielder Kosuke Fukudome went 1-for-6 in the doubleheader and drove in a run.

Angels 8, Twins 3

In Minneapolis, Jered Weaver allowed three hits over six innings in his first start since no-hitting the Twins last week to lead the Angels to a win over Minnesota.

Red Sox 11, Royals 5

In Kansas City, Will Middlebrooks homered down each of the lines, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia also each went deep, and Boston pounded the Royals to snap a five-game losing streak.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Marlins 4, Astros 0

In Houston, Carlos Zambrano pitched a three-hitter for his first win of the season and Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer, leading Miami to its seventh straight win.

Dodgers 9, Giants 1

In Los Angeles, Ted Lilly outpitched Barry Zito through six innings and the Dodgers beat San Francisco.

Cubs 5, Braves 1

In Chicago, Jeff Samardzija allowed five hits and a run over seven strong innings, and Bryan LaHair, Ian Stewart and Geovany Soto each homered to lead the Cubs past Atlanta.

Mets 5, Phillies 2

In Philadelphia, New York pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth for his first major league hit.

Cardinals 9, Diamondbacks 6

In Phoenix, Lance Lynn gave up three hits through five scoreless innings to become the majors' first six-game winner at 6-0 and St. Louis held on to beat Arizona.

Reds 6, Brewers 1

In Milwaukee, Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer as Cincinnati defeated the hosts.

Brewers leadoff hitter Norichika Aoki was 0-for-4.

Padres 3, Rockies 2

In San Diego, Yonder Alonso drove in two runs to help Edinson Volquez get his first victory with the Padres with a win over Colorado.

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Ichiro welcomes Iwakuma to Seattle

Kobe — Ichiro Suzuki welcomed Hisashi Iwakuma to the Seattle Mariners with open arms Sunday, saying the right-hander's addition to the team was a "pleasant surprise."

"Playing behind him in right (field) at the WBC, I thought he was the easiest pitcher to play defense for," Ichiro said after working out for two hours as the 38-year-old Seattle veteran tries to rebound from his worst season in the majors.

"I never thought I'd be playing on the same team with him so this has been a pleasant surprise."

Ichiro and Iwakuma, whose one-year contract with the Mariners was announced Friday, played together on Japan's World Baseball Classic-winning team in 2009.

Free agent shortstop Munenori Kawasaki, who was also member of the 2009 WBC team, could be joining Iwakuma and Ichiro, having been invited by the Mariners to spring training.

"I look forward to the day that the three of us including (Kawasaki) can be on the field together," Ichiro said.

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