ed at 40 years, 347 days. "Thats pretty good. Well Ive got it now," Blanco said, smiling. Hernandez received a big defensive assist to end the fifth and save

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Henry Blanco hopped on a cross-country flight from Miami first thing Friday morning for his fresh start out West with the Seattle Mariners -- still a big leaguer as he approaches his 42nd birthday in August. And what a memorable Mariners debut he delivered -- with the bat, behind the plate catching ace Felix Hernandez, and even in a spontaneous mound visit. Blanco hit a sixth-inning grand slam to break a scoreless tie and give Venezuelan countryman and good friend King Felix all the offence he needed, and Seattle beat the Oakland Athletics for the second straight game with a 4-0 victory Saturday. He hardly saw this coming. "I was hoping I could still get a job and show them I can still play," said Blanco, who is playing for his 11th team. "That was a special day today." The 41-year-old Blanco, a .184 hitter with no home runs coming into the game, was a most unlikely candidate to provide the decisive hit for Seattle. The Mariners signed him Friday, three days after his release by Toronto. He became the oldest Seattle player ever with a slam. Mariners manager Eric Wedge wrote Blanco into the lineup right away -- and it didnt hurt Blanco had previously caught Hernandez in the bullpen for the World Baseball Classic. "Im glad he did it," Wedge said. "First of all, I thought he did a tremendous job behind home plate. You can see what he does back there, how he handles things and the way he makes it look so easy. ... Talk about going up there ready to hit, bases loaded, he goes up there ready to hit and hit it a long way." Hernandez (8-4) struck out five of Oaklands initial eight batters and seven through four innings on the way to eight Ks in seven scoreless innings. Michael Morse had two doubles among his three hits, including one in the sixth before Blancos drive stayed just inside the left-field foul pole. Blancos only other grand slam came with Milwaukee more than 13 years ago -- on May 12, 2000, off Pittsburghs Jason Schmidt. It was the fifth-longest gap between grand slams dating back to 1900, according to information provided by the Mariners from the Elias Sports Bureau -- 13 years, 34 days. Blancos slam at 41 -- he turns 42 on Aug. 29 -- topped one by Raul Ibanez earlier this season accomplished at 40 years, 347 days. "Thats pretty good. Well Ive got it now," Blanco said, smiling. Hernandez received a big defensive assist to end the fifth and save a run. Jed Lowrie doubled leading off the inning and advanced on Seth Smiths flyout to centre. But Chris Young flied into a double play in which right fielder Endy Chavez threw Lowrie out at home to keep the game scoreless. Lowrie didnt even touch the plate. "I called him out," Hernandez quipped. And, with Coco Crisp aboard on a one-out single in the sixth, Hernandez got John Jaso -- who caught his perfect game with Seattle last year -- to line into a double play at first that caught Crisp off the bag. The As also grounded into an inning-ending double play in the seventh with runners on first and second. Suddenly, Seattle has a chance to sweep the first-place As on Sunday after Oakland took three in a row from the New York Yankees before this series began, including a 3-2, 18-inning victory Thursday. Seattle snapped Oaklands 11-game home winning streak at the Coliseum on Friday night, then put together another fine performance to back its ace. The As have lost their first series in the last 10 over the past month. Hernandez allowed five hits and walked one to improve to 22-7 with a 2.70 ERA lifetime in 39 career starts in June. Seattle starters are 5-1 with a 0.94 ERA -- 6 earned runs in 57 1-3 innings -- since June 7 and have gone six straight starts of at least seven innings. Charlie Furbush and Yoervis Medina each pitched an inning of relief to finish the Mariners six-hit shutout. Still, Blanco provided the highlight of the day. "For him to come through like that is awesome, his first start here. That was unbelievable," Hernandez said. "It surprised me a little bit. But I know he has a little power. Hes good." Oaklands A.J. Griffin (5-6) dropped to 0-3 over his four-start winless stretch. The right-hander allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, struck out three and walked two. "At the end of the day its four runs on one pitch, and when youre facing Felix, every run counts," Griffin said. "Its frustrating. Hopefully were not talking about something like this again." Blanco, meanwhile, hopes for a few more. In his 16th season, he is still fueled by one thing: "Im just trying to win a World Series," he said. "I love the game, I have passion for the game and I just want to get a ring so I can go home." Notes: Crisp returned to the Oakland lineup playing centre field and batting leadoff in his first start since bruising his heel Tuesday night against New York. He didnt move as well as usual. ... As RF Josh Reddick had the night off. ... Mariners starting pitchers have had eight consecutive quality starts. ... Wedge said 1B Justin Smoak (strained right oblique), CF Franklin Gutierrez (strained right hamstring) and demoted 2B Dustin Ackley would likely be re-evaluated after Sundays game to determine their next steps. ... The series finale Sunday has the looks of a possible pitchers duel with Oaklands Bartolo Colon (8-2) and Seattles Hisashi Iwakuma (7-1). ... Announced first-pitch temperature was 56 degrees. ... In 2001, Edgar Martinez hit a grand slam at 38 years, 220 days -- the previous-oldest Seattle player before Ibanez and Blanco this season. Swell Traveler Bottle Australia . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Swell Water Bottle 17 Oz .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. http://www.swellbottleaustralia.com/ . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Swell Marble Bottle Australia . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Swell Water Bottle Sale Australia . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. CINCINNATI -- The Reds placed on the bereavement list RHP Michael Lorenzen and recalled from Triple-A Louisville RHP Tim Adleman on Tuesday.Adleman is in his second stint with the Reds. He was 1-1 with a 3.72 earned-run average in four starts from May 1 through May 19 before a strained left oblique sent him to the disabled list..dddddddddddd.Lorenzen is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 18 relief appearances this season. He opened the season on the disabled list with an elbow injury and mononucleosis and wasnt activated until June 22. ' ' '