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

Michael van Gerwen fully deserves to win more world titles after collecting another trophy at the Grand Slam of Darts, says Wayne Mardle. The world no 1 rarely looked in danger of losing his crown since the start of the tournament and retained the trophy with a 16-8 victory over James Wade in Sundays final.Van Gerwen has amassed a growing collection of silverware during his hugely successful career, but has won the PDC World Darts Championship on just one occasion in 2014. Michael van Gerwen admitted he was not at his best despite a comfortable win over James Wade Sky Sports expert Mardle admits that Van Gerwen will be hard to stop when the sports top competition starts next month, if he maintains his dominant form.I think it will just be a travesty. Ive said this before, hes too good to win one, Mardle told Sky Sports. Hes so dominant now, it would take a?Barney-like performance this year to stop him. Wayne Mardle on Michael van Gerwen We know no-one deserves anything, no-one deserves to be given a world title, but hes been unlucky. Hes played Phil [Taylor] in a final, hes played an inspired Gary Anderson when he got beaten in the semi-final. An inspired Raymond van Barneveld.Hes so dominant now, it would take a Barney-like performance this year to stop him. Those performances are not always there from everyone, are they? Wade was disappointed with his performance against Van Gerwen Wade briefly held a 3-1 lead over Van Gerwen and moved to within three legs during a brief rally, but Mardle never felt that Mighty Mike was under serious threat at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton.James didnt play particularly well, so Michael did enough, said Mardle. I didnt think at any point Michael was going to let that slip. From 11-8, he ran out the winner without dropping another leg. Hes just so dominant, he really is. Also See: MVG retains Grand Slam title On Sky TV Grand Slam of Darts recap MVG sets up Wade final Manute Bol Jersey . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Rasheed Wallace Jersey . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. https://www.cheapwizardsonline.com/389k-courtney-alexander-jersey-wizards.html . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Tim Legler Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Elvin Hayes Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. 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, HHernandez 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.ddddddddddddThe 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. ' ' '