Calhoun hit a two-run homer, Richards pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Mariners 7-4 on Wednesday to snap Seattle’s eight-game winning streak.

Batting in the leadoff spot for only the fourth time this season, Calhoun had three hits and drove in three runs to help lift Richards (5-4) in his return.

Calhoun’s towering homer in the sixth gave the Angels a 6-2 lead. He also had a single in the fourth inning for his first RBI. Calhoun is batting .306 with four homers and eight RBIs since coming off the DL on June 18. He was hitting .145 before that break.

”Kole did his job today,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ”That’s what we need from the guys at the top of the order. It gave us a lot of opportunities today.”

Richards, who went on the DL on June 15 with a left hamstring strain, allowed three runs, including back-to-back homers to Kyle Seager and Ryon Healy, over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out eight.

”I just overthrew a couple of heaters there,” Richards said of the home runs. ”But I felt good. The hamstring felt good. I knew I would be on a leash (80 pitches), so I just tried to execute pitches.”

Richards retired 10 of the next 11 hitters he faced after the home runs.

”Garrett just exhaled (after the homers) and made some really good pitches,” Scioscia said. ”He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Blake Parker pitched out of trouble in the ninth for his 10th save. Mike Zunino singled and Denard Span doubled to put runners at second and third, but Dee Gordon flied out to center and Zunino was thrown out at the plate on Jean Segura’s grounder to Albert Pujols at first. Mitch Haniger ended it with a groundout to third.

Parker failed to cover first on the grounder to Pujols, so Pujols had no choice but to throw home.

”Pujols getting that guy at the plate was a huge out,” Scioscia said. ”The pitcher didn’t cover there, so Albert made a great decision and threw a strike to the plate.”

The Mariners had their chances, including a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the seventh inning when trailing 6-3. After Gordon and Span struck out, Segura hit a broken-bat flare that looked like it might drop behind second base and score two runs, but Angels second baseman David Fletcher made a leaping catch to end the inning.

”I got a pretty good read off the bat [url= http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jabaal-sheard-jersey]Jabaal Sheard Jersey[/url] ,” Fletcher said. ”I kind of felt I had a bead on it all the way. It was a nice feeling to save those runs from scoring.”

The Mariners struck out 15 times and left eight men on base.

Mike Leake (8-5) allowed four runs and nine hits before leaving with no one out in the fifth. He had allowed two runs or less in seven of his previous eight starts.

”They were battling me, fouling balls off today,” Leake said. ”Trying to get them to go down, but they found some holes and that’s about it.”

Luis Valbuena drove in two runs for the Angels and Shohei Ohtani and two hits and scored two runs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: OF Chris Young was placed on the 10-day DL a day after straining his hamstring. LHP Tyler Skaggs was also placed on the DL with a thigh strain. Skaggs said hopes to miss only one start. OF Jabari Blash and RHP Deck McGuire were recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, with INF Kaleb Cowart also optioned to Triple-A. … LHP John Lamb will undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow early next week. He’ll become the fourth Angels pitcher to have the procedure this season.

Mariners: Manager Scott Servais said RHP Erasmo Ramirez could begin a rehab assignment soon. Ramirez has been on the DL since May 1 because of a right teres major muscle strain in his pitching shoulder. Ramirez said is willing to pitch in relief if that’s where he’s needed.

UP NEXT

Angels RHP Jaime Barria (5-4, 3.40) will start Thursday’s series finale in place of Skaggs. Barria is making his 12th start of the season and has given up two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. LHP Marco Gonzales (8-5, 3.77) will make his 18th start for Seattle. Gonzales pitched the first complete game of his career in his last start, a 4-1 victory over Kansas City when he allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter.

—

The rival Koreas will sit down for their first formal talks in more than two years next week to find ways to cooperate on the Winter Olympics in the South and to improve their abysmal ties, Seoul officials said Friday. While a positive sign after last year’s threats of nuclear war, the Koreas have a long history of failing to move past their deep animosity.

The announcement came hours after the United States said it will delay annual military exercises with South Korea until after the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month. The exercises infuriate North Korea, which claims they are an invasion rehearsal, although South Korea and the United States have repeatedly said they are defensive in nature.

On Friday morning, North Korea sent a message saying it would accept South Korea’s offer to meet at the border village of Panmunjom next Tuesday to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles North Korean matters. Panmunjom is where a North Korean soldier dashed across the border into the South in November. He is recovering after being shot five times by his former comrades.

WINTER WEATHER

The NHL game in Boston between the Bruins and Florida Panthers was among the sports events disrupted by the winter storm that hit the East Coast.

The Panthers-Bruins matchup was postponed. The NHL hasn’t yet announced a makeup date.

Rugged weather also delayed the New York Giants’ search for a new coach. They were set to interview Eric Studesville, the recently fired Broncos’ running backs coach, but that meeting will now take place next week.

Boston College pushed back the women’s basketball game it was scheduled to host against North Carolina by a day until Friday. Also [url= http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-margus-hunt-jersey]Margus Hunt Jersey[/url] , Rutgers said its gymnastics team was unable to travel to Arizona for its season-opening meet Saturday.

Horse racing at Aqueduct Racetrack was called off through the weekend because of the snow, cold and wind. Live racing will resume on Jan. 11.

TENNIS

Serena Williams’ decision not to defend her Australian Open title four months after giving birth to her first child had nothing to do with merely being able to play at Melbourne Park.

The seven-time Australian Open champion confirmed she wouldn’t attempt to defend the title she won here last year, saying she wasn’t convinced she could win it.

Williams played in an exhibition tournament last weekend in Abu Dhabi to test her match condition, and indicated after her loss to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko that she might not travel to Melbourne.

Williams was pregnant when she won at Melbourne Park last year, her Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title. She gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, in September.

Williams didn’t drop a set while winning last year’s title, and her victory helped her regain the world No.1 ranking.

The 36-year-old Williams needs only one more major title to equal the all-time record held by Margaret Court, who won 13 of her 24 Grand Slam titles before the Open era began in 1968.

PRO FOOTBALL

PITTSBURGH (AP) – The father of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier says his son has made significant progress since suffering a spinal injury in Cincinnati last month.

Vernon Shazier told WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh that his is ”a long ways from where he was on that Monday night when he was lying on the field.” Ryan Shazier left the first quarter of Pittsburgh’s victory over the Bengals on Dec. 4 with a spinal injury. He underwent spinal stabilization surgery on Dec. 6. The extent of his injury has not been disclosed, though Vernon Shazier said Ryan has some feeling in his legs.

Vernon Shazier said the family has decided to keep the details of Ryan’s injury private until he is ready to discuss it. Ryan has made two appearances at Heinz Field in recent weeks for the playoff-bound Steelers.

When asked if he believes his son will play football game, Vernon Shazier said yes.

HOCKEY

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene’ Fasel placed the emphasis on NHL players to persuade the league to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

NHL Players’ Association chief Don Fehr responded by saying it’s a little more complicated than that.

Though Fehr believes it’s in the league’s best interest to compete at the 2022 Olympics, he told The Associated Press he’s not ready to commit to re-opening bargaining talks next year in a bid to have that happen.

Fehr also put the onus back on Fasel by noting the IIHF will have to budge on its position of refusing to pay for transportation and players’ insurance costs for 2022.

Fehr was responding to comments Fasel made following a news conference at the world junior hockey championship in Buffalo, New York, on Thursday. Fehr spoke while attending the 10-nation tournament later in the day,.