opped it at first slip. Dhawan took the rebound, drawing hardly a reaction from Bhuvneshwar.India had wasted about 40 minutes thro

BALTIMORE -- The home runs dont come often these days for 41-year-old Henry Blanco, and neither do starting assignments. When they do, however, Seattles backup catcher often leaves a memorable impression. Blanco hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning off Wei-Yin Chen, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Sunday behind left-hander Joe Saunders. Batting ninth in the lineup, Blanco sent an 0-2 pitch into the left-field seats to erase a 2-1 deficit. The 16-year veteran was playing in his 32nd game of the season, the 17th with Seattle after being signed as a free agent. "If we could get that by the backup catcher every other day, every third day, well be in good shape," acting manager Robby Thompson said. "He comes to play, hes in great shape." Blanco has played for 11 different teams during a career that began in 1997. This was his third homer of the season; the other two were grand slams, including a game winner in his Mariners debut against Oakland on June 15. "When you get a win and you can help the team win some games, its a good feeling," Blanco said. Blancos batting .182, but hes done his job quite capably. "Hes had some huge hits for us," Thompson said. "Huge home runs, a couple grand slams and a two-run there. The times that hes in there, hes produced." Blanco isnt the only old-timer in the Seattle clubhouse. The Mariners other run Sunday came from 41-year-old Raul Ibanez, who hit an RBI double in the second inning. "Thats a good thing," Blanco said. "At this point, you just want to contribute to win games and hope for the best. Raul is a pretty good hitter, hes always been, and I just get lucky." Saunders (10-10) worked out of trouble in almost every inning but improved to 7-0 lifetime against Baltimore after allowing two runs, eight hits and two walks in six innings. He walked off the mound for the last time trailing 2-1, but Blancos blast made him a winner. "It was unreal," Saunders said. "Its one of those moments in the game where its like do or die and he put a good swing on a good pitch, I think, and bailed me out." Saunders, who played a key role for the Orioles late last season, has five consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins. In this one, he walked a tightrope through five innings and gave up a two-run drive to Danny Valencia in the sixth. Baltimore went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. The Orioles dropped two of three to the Mariners and went 4-5 on a homestand that began with three games apiece against Boston and Houston. "We did some really good things to create some situations, but Joe pitched out of it," manager Buck Showalter said. "It was really kind of characteristic of a good veteran pitcher like Joe. Weve seen that before." Yoervis Medina struck out four in two perfect innings and Danny Farquhar got three straight outs for his second save, both of which came within 24 hours. Chen (6-4) gave up three runs and five hits over seven innings in losing for the first time in seven starts since May 1. Valencia was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before the game for his third stint with the Orioles this season. Starting at designated hitter, he homered after Steve Pearce drew a leadoff walk to put Baltimore up 2-1. The lead didnt last. One inning later, following a walk to No. 8 hitter Brendan Ryan, Blanco pulled a slider a few feet inside the foul pole. "Thats the spot I wanted to attack," Chen said through an interpreter. "I threw the ball right on the spot and he still swings the bat really well and he hit a home run off me. Hats off to him." Seattle and Baltimore combined for 14 homers in the three games, none more important than Blancos. "I wasnt expecting to hit a home run," Blanco said. "I was trying to get a pitch where I could put the ball in play and see if something can happen. I just hit it pretty good." The Mariners used successive doubles by Michael Morse and Raul Ibanez to go up 1-0 in the second. Over the first five innings, the Orioles wasted repeated opportunities to score. NOTES: Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says manager Eric Wedge, who had a mild stroke on July 22, wont rejoin the team this week. Zduriencik said Wedge is "doing well," but added, "This is a lifelong health issue for him. When he gets back here managing this club, we want him to be here. We dont want him to come in and be here for two or three days."... Zduriencik also said RH reliever Stephen Pryor has been shut down for the year with an injured right triceps muscle. ... Orioles 2B Brian Roberts missed a third straight game while on paternity leave. He is expected to travel with the team Monday to San Diego for a two-game series that begins Tuesday night. ... The Mariners host Toronto on Monday night after going 2-4 on a six-game trip through Boston and Baltimore. ... Seattle won the season series 4-2. 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India 353 and 157 for 3 (Rahane 51*) lead West Indies 225 (Brathwaite 64, Bhuvneshwar 5-33) by 285 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDespite a rained-out day and the slow rate of scoring in the first two innings, India entertained thoughts of winning the St Lucia Test thanks to a masterful spell of swing bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Playing his first Test in a year and a half, Bhuvneshwar swung through the West Indies side with a spell of 11.4-6-16-5 as West Indies went from 202 for 3 to 225 all out.With 98 overs to go in the match and a lead of 285 in the bag, India could think of declaring soon on the fifth morning. They made a good start to the endeavour, scoring 157 for 3 in the 39 overs they got on day four, a rate well higher than the 2.48 an over in the first two innings.Bhuvneshwar, and for that matter Ravindra Jadeja, is not Virat Kohlis first choice. He prefers Umesh Yadavs pace and Amit Mishras legspin. Post lunch on day four, with West Indies going fairly well in their quest to ensure they dont lose this Test, it was Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja who turned the match around with the second new ball.Theres a reason why Bhuvneshwar was Kohlis last resort. He bowled the entire match-changing spell without a fine leg. No fine leg, no long leg, no backward square leg. No man behind square on the leg side. Kohli prefers his wickets with batsmen fending at express quicks. It was a sign that the young captain is not stubborn in that he first selected Bhuvneshwar and then gave him the field that works with his bowling. Bhuvneshwar was about to show him the other way of taking wickets.Kohli had taken the new ball as soon as it became available just before lunch despite the struggles of Jermaine Blackwood and Marlon Samuels against the turning old ball. It was a session in which an India bowler took a wicket for the first time in 528 legal deliveries. If the last wicket off a bowler shouldnt have been given out - Shane Dowrich on the last day in Jamaica - the legality of this 528th delivery was in doubt. It was an Ishant Sharma bouncer that Darren Bravo top-edged after taking his eyes off, but Ishant didnt quite seem to have a part of his foot behind the crease. It wasnt an obvious no-ball, though, and after multiple replays the third umpire ruled in favour of the bowler, perhaps acting on the new ICC directive to grant the benefit of doubt to the bowler. R Ashwin went on to get the other overnight batsman, Kraigg Brathwaite, and the two spinners had Samuels and Blackwood uncomfortable. Kohli took the new ball and handed it over to Bhuvneshwar. The batsmen had added 59 before lunch, they can both punish errors in line, but through the spell Bhuvneshwar conceded only two shots to fine leg. Blackwood was the first one to go, having faced 15 straight dots from Bhuvneshwar, who bowled a length fuller than he did with the first new ball. The 16th was an outswinger that Blackwood, who loves bat on ball, couldnt resist. Kohli took one of the more predictable edgess at second slip.ddddddddddddt took less persistence to set Samuels, 48, up. With Blackwood facing the Bhuvneshwar swing almost exclusively, it was only during the 10th over with the new ball that Samuels was presented to Bhuvneshwar. This time Bhuvneshwar was in no mood for slow cooking. Four outswingers later, he went wide on the crease, slipped in an inswinger, and Samuels, surprised by it all, played on.Kohli brought Jadeja on at the other end, and he kept creating trouble with the ones that went straight on. The one that turned, though, got the man who had denied India in Jamaica, Roston Chase. Bhuvneshwars masterclass continued at the other end. Jason Holder was caught on the back foot by one that angled in, and Alzarri Joseph followed a straight ball outside off.With a remarkable five-for in sight, Bhuvneshwars persistence was thoroughly tested by his fielders. There were signs he was tiring - the second ball of the 10th over was short and pulled for four, reducing the spell analysis to 9.2-6-11-4 - but he still produced the edge from Shane Dowrich. KL Rahul dropped his second chance of the match at third slip, but it took the third umpire to ascertain it that he had grassed it. In his next over, Bhuvneshwar was offered what should have been his through an ill-advised pull from Dowrich. Rohit Sharma, though, dropped a relatively easy catch at midwicket; he suggested he had lost the ball in the sun. Later in that over Bhuvneshwar was denied a pretty straightforward lbw by the umpire; Miguel Cummins was the beneficiary this time.A change in bowling at the other end worked. R Ashwin ended this frustrating 6.5-over partnership, and Bhuvneshwar bowled another over to complete his third Test five-for. This was one of his least impressive wickets; in this over he had even conceded a boundary to fine leg. Two balls later Dowrich saw one short and wide, edged the cut, and this time Shikhar Dhawan nearly dropped it at first slip. Dhawan took the rebound, drawing hardly a reaction from Bhuvneshwar.India had wasted about 40 minutes through some ordinary fielding, but the first culprit, Rahul, went about making up for that time in earnest. His 28 off 24 gave India a run rate of higher than six, but with the subsequent fall of Kohli and Dhawan meant Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma had to be cautious at the start of their partnership. They scored only 16 in the first nine overs of their stand as West Indies made no bones about trying to slow India down through containment and not wickets. Roston Chase and Kraigg Brathwaite bowled 19 overs between them after the pace bowlers had travelled.Rahane and Rohit made up for the slow start, ending the day with 51 off 93 and 41 off 57, but the time wasted through dropped catches and the mid-innings slowdown could just end up costing India a five-six over burst with the second new ball on day five. ' ' '