Grip on Sports: The weather has been better and so have Mariners

A GRIP ON SPORTS • If you had a three-day weekend, I’m sure yesterday was miserable. You looked out the window, saw the sunshine, the heat radiating off the street and probably wished you could have been out there. Let me tell you, it was glorious. It was made even better in the evening as the Mariners’ bats came alive. Read on.

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• Sorry to rub it in, but yesterday was beautiful. For those of you out on the golf course, I hope you three-putted every hole. (I am dealing with a shoulder issue and just started being able to lightly swing a club, so I’m insanely jealous of your ability to play.)

But the weather is expected to revert to the late May mean today, with the high not getting much above 70 and clouds invading our space. So summer is over. Hope you didn’t miss it. The M’s played great while it was here.

Just kidding. Not about the Mariners playing well (they have won three consecutive games) but about summer being over. It will return.

The Mariners? They return home tonight with the Rockies, and let’s hope their string of good games returns with them.

One thing we are certain of: James Paxton is back tonight.

The big lefthander was off to his best start to a season, winning three times in his six starts and sporting a 1.43 earned run average. But after giving up an earned run in five-and-a-third innings against the Angels on May 2, Paxton experienced some tightness in his forearm.

A trip to the 10-day disabled list followed. It stretched to four weeks.

But now he’s back. For how long, no one knows.

Paxton has dealt with injuries his entire major league career, never pitching in more than 20 games, a total he reached last season. (In contrast, Felix Hernandez started at least 30 games every season from his second one until last year, when he got hurt and only started 25.)

The M’s could use a healthy Paxton from here on in, especially the guy who began the season not giving up a run until his fourth start.

In fact, they could use a healthy Paxton, Hernandez, who looks to be getting closer to returning, Hisashi Iwakuma and Drew Smyly. Hey, that’s pretty much the entire starting staff, isn’t it? No wonder they are 24-29 and 13 games out of first in the American League West.

• We are still looking for fishing stories about you and your dad. I would love to share them with the readers of this column. Just as I shared mine earlier.

You put your memories down on your computer and send them to my email address – vincegrippi55@yahoo.com. I’ll take care of the rest. Please include your name and a phone number so we can verify them. That’s it.

We’ve already received a few stories but we’re always baiting our hook for a few more.

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WSU: The Cougars were good during last year’s Pac-12 season. Really good. But they also had a little luck, missing some outstanding players during their bowl-clinching stretch. Jacob Thorpe describes 10 players the Cougars missed last season but who they should face in the fall. … The NCAA baseball tournament seems to agree with Arizona. … Arizona State has lost another defensive back to transfer. … The NCAA golf tournament finishes up today with Oregon, trying to win for the second consecutive year, facing Oklahoma. … The Ducks picked up another celebrated women’s basketball transfer. … Washington is expected to earn a windfall when it comes time to renew its apparel deal.

Gonzaga: The WCC’s lone NCAA baseball tournament representative, BYU, hopes its pitching stays strong at a Stanford regional that also includes Cal State Fullerton and Sacramento State.

EWU: The Eagles picked up a big – as in 7-foot big – graduate transfer last week. Jim Allen returns from a tropical beach somewhere to give you all the particulars in this story.

Chiefs: Portland has signed a 19-year-old player with great genes.

Preps: The Jack Blair Memorial basketball game, pitting the best girls players in the area, will be Thursday night at Post Falls High. Greg Lee has an advance.

Golf: The Fairways Golf Course and the City of Spokane have had a long-standing dispute over water prices. It seems to have hit an impasse. Tom Clouse has the story of the city shutting off the spigot.

Mariners: Dave Nichols returned to the office yesterday and the Mariners Log is back. We added the links to the bottom.

Seahawks: The Hawks began organized team activities yesterday and some pictures emerged. The most promising was the one of Earl Thomas in a practice uniform. … Nowhere in the picture is Colin Kaepernick and many folks believe he won’t ever be in the Hawks’ tableau. … The Hawks have a lot of players in the NFL top 100. … Russell Wilson is pretty famous.

Sounders: With injuries and national team callups, Seattle may have an odd lineup on the pitch in Columbus tonight.

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• Have a problem with our weather? Don’t worry, it will change soon. Until later …