Grip on Sports: Yes, the Mariners lost 19-9, but that wasn’t the only reason it was a dark day in Detroit

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Will April 25, 2017 go down into Mariner annals as one of those dark days? You know, along with May 26, 1995, when Ken Griffey Jr. broke his wrist, or Feb. 8, 2008, when they traded Adam Jones (and others) for Erik Bedard? Read on.

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• Yes, the Mariners lost 19-9 last night in Detroit. It may be the least important aspect of the day.

The most important? That depends. Right now it looks like that might be the health of Felix Hernandez’s shoulder.

Hernandez, the M’s ace since at least his 19-5 2009 season, left after just two innings with what was described as a “dead arm.” He immediately left Detroit on his way back to Seattle to have his shoulder examined.

Uh-oh.

Pitchers and shoulders are never good. Elbows are bad, shoulders are worse. Yes, it’s too early to tell what may be up, but Hernandez must be worried. He left the clubhouse yesterday without talking with the media, a rare-enough occurrence it raised eyebrows among the media that covers the team.

If Hernandez is out for an extended period, it’s just another tough blow to a team that expected to be contending for the postseason. Instead, it is 8-13 and already 6 1/2 games out in the American League West.

A big part of that is the offense hasn’t been clicking. But that was just beginning to turn around, what with Nelson Cruz on a bit of a tear and leadoff hitter Jean Segura returning from a strained hamstring just Tuesday.

One player has been basically holding the whole thing together the past few weeks: Mitch Haniger. The rookie right-fielder had two hits again yesterday. But guess what?

After his second hit, another line drive, he had to leave the game. The reason: A strained oblique muscle, one of those baseball injuries that seem to keep a player out for a while. As in four-to-six weeks.

By then, if the M’s keep on the same pace, this season of hope may have turned into a season of despair.

• There are reports out there the Raiders and Hawks have agreed to a Marshawn Lynch trade this morning and Lynch has reached an agreement on a new deal with Oakland.

The news means the longest, least-important saga of the offseason has come to an end. As has the Lynch era with the Hawks.

That ended a year ago, though. And, if the reports are true, Lynch’s value in the trade will be a conditional pick. Maybe he’ll play well. Maybe that pick will turn into a decent one. And maybe the Hawks will draft someone in the spot that will have a long and prosperous career.

In other words, maybe Marshawn Lynch will make one more big play for Seattle.

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WSU: With the NFL draft on tap for the weekend, Jacob Thorpe (and others) took today to look at the prospects of Washington State standouts Gabe Marks and River Cracraft. … WSU has dipped into the City College of San Francisco well recently. … The women’s golf team isn’t doing well at the Pac-12 championship. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, a big man from San Diego made his college choice yesterday, with Oregon and Arizona among the schools he was considering. But in an upset Brandon McCoy decided to attend UNLV. … Former California point guard Charlie Moore ended up closer to Chicago. He’s going to Kansas. … In football news, Christian Caple examines the past 10 years of NFL drafts and Washington players. … Oregon wants to get tougher though the Ducks’ field goal kicker would like to have more opportunities.

Gonzaga: The baseball team has been playing well recently, well enough to be ranked nationally. And to have won eight consecutive games. It kept that streak going last night with a 7-3 win at WSU. Jacob has the story. … BYU’s roster next season won’t look anything like this past season. Even if Erik Mika returns. … Saint Mary’s and California are putting together a non-conference series of games.

EWU: The player Jim Allen focuses upon with the upcoming draft? Why, Cooper Kupp, of course. … The coaching situation at Idaho State recently is more like a soap opera than a college football team.

Idaho: Austin Rehkow may get drafted. But he’s not watching to find out. Josh Wright has the reason why in this story on the punter/kicker.

Preps: The weather has played havoc with the spring sports, but the GSL golf and boys’ soccer seasons are winding down. Jim Meehan examines the former while Jim Allen looks at the latter.

Mariners: The Debacle in Detroit is covered in detail by Whitney Ogden in today’s Mariners Log. I added the links there.

Seahawks: The Lynch news broke early this morning, so it’s kind of scattered. But there are other stories as well, including looks at the upcoming draft and the upcoming season. … So what position do the Hawks need to improve the most? 

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• Maybe the fiasco that cost Lexi Thompson an LPGA major title will serve a positive purpose after all. Golf is finally figuring out it can’t let viewers and super-slo-mo replays decide its championships. It won’t help Thompson but others may not suffer the same fate. Until later …