A GRIP ON SPORTS • Is a five-run lead safe? For most baseball teams, yes. Is a baseball game that starts on time in perfect weather conditions and those weather conditions don’t change, a game that should finish? Not necessarily. Baseball in the Northwest had a strange day yesterday. Read on.

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• The Mariners had Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound last night, he of the recent no-hitter. They scored five runs in the third inning. And lost 11-5. That is so Mariners, circa 2015. Iwakuma was the main culprit Monday, not the bullpen. He gave up all of Oakland's seven runs in the fifth – and they were all earned. The four runs the pen yielded after that were immaterial considering the M’s didn’t get a hit after the third. But at least they got to finish their game. The same couldn’t be said of the Spokane Indians’ contest at Eugene last night. With the Indians up in the top of the fourth and trailing 2-1, the lights went out. Literally. A power outage plunged PK Park into darkness and forced suspension of the game. It will be continued today before the regularly scheduled contest – if someone pays the light bill.

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• WSU: The Cougars didn’t practice yesterday but that didn’t mean Jacob Thorpe took the day off. Oh no. He had a couple of blog posts yesterday, including one on the smoke in the air playing havoc with WSU’s athletic plans as well as one on a football commit. He also has a morning post today with links. And, as it’s that time of the season, he has a position preview. Today’s subject is the defensive line. ... It seems as if the Oregon quarterback battle is the only storyline of any significance around the conference.

• EWU: The Eagles had to adjust their practice schedule as well, as the air pollution levels reached unhealthy numbers early yesterday. But the air got better as the day went on. Jim Allen has more in this story and his morning post. The latter also contains links.

• Chiefs: Believe it or not, hockey – that would be ice hockey – begins Thursday at the Arena. The Chiefs have winnowed their number of overage players to a manageable group.

• Preps: The smoky conditions are messing with the high schools as well. Greg Lee has a story on what they are doing to cope as fall sports get underway.

• Indians: As we said, last night’s postponed game will be finished today. Then the teams will play a seven-inning game.

• Seahawks: So if Kam Chancellor wants to play in the opener, when would he have to get into camp? As of now, “nothing has changed.” ... The same could be said of the offensive line, though that’s for this week only. ... The Hawks could easily start an undrafted free agent at center (though a free-agent is coming by for a visit). But the Hawks have made their living finding hidden nuggets on the discard pile or late in the draft. ... J.R. Sweezy’s football exploits are still imprinted on his grandfather’s mind. ... Pete Carroll wants to know just how the NFL is going to call hits on the quarterback. ... Yes, lots of people in Seattle watched the Kansas City preseason game.

• Mariners: The M’s don’t have a lot of games left in this disappointing season. But they have to figure out how to juggle their starting pitching. ... The 1995 team holds a special place in Mariner history and always will. But is that a good thing? ... I’ve known about this stat for years, which means it can’t be that big a secret. Heck, when I learned about it, it changed the way I called pitches.

• Sounders: A white-knuckled flight will take the Sounders to their Champions League match. ... Who is the best in the MLS right now?

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• My new morning routine: Get up, stretch and then check the air quality index on-line. Talk about sad. Until later ...

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