Hand Injury Sidelines Crawford as Mariners Drop Detroit Opener
The ultimate meaning of Friday’s game in the Motor City will depend quite a bit on the health of J.P. Crawford: if he is out for a significant stretch of time (or if his abilities get all out of goose should he try to play through something serious), then an errant - it may have been Framber Valdez, but it certainly seemed to have been an accident in this case - full count sinker may end up being more pivotal than an otherwise unremarkable 7-3 loss would indicate. Should the Mariners recover to put some more wins back together and Crawford recover back to the way he had been playing, then the game might truly become a footnote.
Of course, if a veritable skid begins for the Mariners, with or without Crawford, then the momentum of Friday’s action may end up important for much larger reasons.
The M’s went back to familiar ways with runners in scoring position, with runs drying up in Detroit.
Friday was Valdez’ 20th career appearance and 18th start against the Seattle Mariners, during which he had gone 7-4 with a 3.50 ERA and 1.320 WHIP. The M’s, of course, were codivisional with Valdez during his eight years with the Astros, but the team he faced on Friday was one that had spent most of the year flailing against lefties.
Huskies Add Another Blue Chip Receiver Commit to Class of 2027
Washington Huskies receivers coach Kevin Cummings strikes again.
The UW caught its second blue chip receiver this week with the commitment of Dontay Tyson, a 6-3 four-star Class of 2027 recruit out Peoria (Ariz.) High School. Tyson is the second four-star receiver to commit to Cummings and head coach Jedd Fisch this week, joining Tre Moore, a 6-4 pass catcher out of Pluegerville, Texas, who made his choice on June 2.
It’s two additional big wins for Cummings, who already reeled in four-star Braylon Pope (Sumner, Wash.) and three-star Zerek Sidney (Desert Edge H.S., Goodyear, Ariz.) during the winter.
Storm’s Dominique Malonga Off Injury Report After 8-Game Absence, Lexie Brown Out
Seattle Storm forward Dominique Malonga has been removed from the injury report following an eight-game absence due to a concussion, per The IX Sports reporter Bella Valeriano Munson.
Malonga is expected to play in the Storm’s road game against the Minnesota Lynx at 10 a.m. PST on Saturday, June 6.
In a corresponding move, the Storm waived Joyner Holmes, whom they signed to a hardship contract on May 22. Holmes appeared in one game for the Storm against the Connecticut Sun on the same day she was signed, totaling two points, five rebounds, and three blocks.
Lexie Brown, who is currently “not with [the] team,” per Munson, has been ruled out for against the Lynx. Brown also did not play in the Storm’s 72-68 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on June 3.
Kirby Moore, Cougars Land Three West Coast Recruits for 2027 Class
Washington State head coach Kirby Moore and his staff continue to build momentum on the recruiting trail, landing three notable commitments for the Cougars' future over the past several days. The additions of tight end Owen Yurosek and wide receiver Adrian Barnett strengthen WSU's 2027 class, while three-star receiver Malachi Garlington adds another talented playmaker to the group.
The first commitment came from Yurosek, a 6-4, 215-pound tight end from Bakersfield Christian High School in California. Yurosek chose Washington State over a growing offer list that included Nevada, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State, UNLV, and several other programs. Although he remains unranked by 247Sports, Yurosek possesses the size and frame that college coaches covet at the tight end position. During his junior season, he recorded 13 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown while showcasing his ability as both a receiving threat and blocker.
Yurosek also comes from a football family, as his older brother, Ben Yurosek, starred at Stanford before signing with the Minnesota Vikings organization. His commitment gives Washington State its first tight end pledge in the 2027 recruiting class and adds another California prospect to the Cougars, a pipeline that Washington State has gone to in the past.
Pereda, Mariners Clobber Mets 8-3; Win Streak Extends to Eight
It’s not clear exactly which Mariner defined the team’s resounding 8-3 victory on Tuesday night. Perhaps it was catcher Jhonny Pereda, whose putaway homer represented a recovery from the canonical worst experience for a catcher to have. Or maybe it was Colt Emerson, who increased his OPS to .935 with a pair of hits and who finished off the game with a sweet sliding catch. A case could be made for Patrick Wisdom, who logged his first Mariners home run and got the hitting party started way back in the second.
All three of those, it might be noted, began 2026 with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.
But regardless of whoever may be first among equals, the Mariners had a steadily stiffening hold on the game from start to finish. Even when the visiting Mets tied it up in the third, Seattle kept the pressure going against bulk hurler Jonah Tong and New York soon cracked. And the M’s finally logged a string of three straight series wins.
“Boy, if I had the magic touch, we’d keep it forever,” Wilson said of his team’s eight-game win streak. “Sometimes that’s just the game, and we’ve talked about how offense is contagious, and it just feels like the energy offensively has been outstanding … we’ve seen just how exciting it can be when it gets that way.”
Patrick Wisdom knocked his first Mariners homer to put Seattle up 2-0 early.
Coming into Tuesday’s game, the Mariners had hit a grand total of 18 home runs in their previous seven contests, a pace of 2.57 homers per game. That isn’t going to be sustainable over the long term; the highest figure a team has ever posted was a tie between the 2023 Atlanta Braves and 2019 Minnesota Twins at 1.90 home runs per game. But it was a marked upturn from Seattle’s 1.11 home runs per game figure, and after Tuesday, the M’s have hit 1.31 home runs per game in all of 2026.
Gonzaga Baseball Loses Big Pieces as Mikey Bell, Landon Hood Enter Transfer Portal
After suddenly bowing out of contention for an NCAA postseason spot following their 0-2 showing at the WCC tournament, Gonzaga baseball has received even more tough news in the early stages of its offseason.
Third baseman Mikey Bell and right-handed pitcher Landon Hood have each entered the transfer portal, leaving sizable voids on the Zags’ roster in their wake. Both of them are coming off award-winning campaigns for their individual performances in Spokane, but the next year of their baseball lives will be played elsewhere.
The two are in different stages as collegiate athletes. Bell will be a redshirt senior in 2027 after playing one season at Cuesta Community College before winning back-to-back West Coast Player of the Year awards as a Bulldog. Hood, on the other hand, graduated from Canyon Year High School a year ago and took home WCC Freshman of the Year honors. He is now looking for the best destination for his development as a rising arm with growing intrigue in a future MLB Draft, entering the portal with a “do not contact" tag.
Cole Young Walks Mets Off; Mariners Win Seventh Straight
A baseball club in Seattle is showing that when it rains, it pours. Through May 24, the team went 7-12 in one-run games and lost four out of five extra-innings contests. Since then, the M’s have won three of each, with all the luck falling their way even in games where they leave quite a lot on the table.
All three of those have been walk-off wins, each from the bat of a different Mariner. Monday’s hero in the end was Cole Young, but unlike the others, there was a notable uniqueness to his hit. During the game, 22 players had plate appearances on Monday night. Four had hit home runs, but other than Young, no hitter had found a patch of green grass or evaded the waiting glove of an opponent.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson smirked as he described his team’s “flair for the dramatic” after the game, the team’s second straight 3-2 10-inning victory. That was certainly an understatement, though the drama started with dueling lineup card moves between the managers.
Seattle tried to play coy with the lineup against the Mets opener, but the visitors got the hurling they sought.
For the first time all year, the Mariners faced a team going with the fabled “opener” strategy, with listed starter Austin Warren being a bullpen arm tasked with beginning the game. That setup has its issues, but so had Manaea; the once-blockbuster signing entered the game with a 5.56 ERA entirely as a relief arm.
Seawolves Sweep Coffee Cup, Overcome Mistakes in 36-28 Win against Free Jacks
TUKWILA, Wash. - There was no doubt who would be hoisting the Coffee Cup when 80 minutes expired on Sunday. The visitors may have been the defending MLR champions three times over, but their down year combined with a late Seawolves surge led to Seattle sweeping the trophy.
It was a game that didn’t necessarily look great for either side; in the end, it was a determination of which team would get in their own way less than the other. But the Seawolves emerged victorious in their 36-28 battle against the New England Free Jacks and put themselves in a winner-gets-home-field game against the California Legion.
With the Legion having won their penultimate game against Anthem 55-26, the Seawolves needed a win to keep open the possibility of getting the second seed and a home playoff match. And with the five-point showing they put together on Sunday night, there are a lot of winning scenarios against California that put Seattle into that seed.
Despite being the three-time defending MLR champions, the Free Jacks came into Sunday night’s game in quite a beatable shape. New England had just 16 points with a 5-3-0 record, fifth in the table ahead of only Anthem Rugby Carolina. But the middle of the table remained tight going into the second-to-last week; New England could tie things up with Seattle by getting all five points and keeping the Seawolves to none.
Seattle’s lineup was almost identical to their match in Chicago the previous week, though with Charlie Walsh and Michael Hand in the reserves instead of Dewald Donald and Nolan Tuamoheloa.
Washington State Goes 1-1 to Open Eugene Regional, Faces Oregon State in Elimination Game
In their first NCAA Baseball Tournament appearance since 2010, the Washington State Cougars have gone 1-1 through their first two games and now face a rematch with Oregon State in an elimination game.
If the Cougars defeat Oregon State for a second time in four days, they will advance to face Oregon later on Sunday. To reach the next round, Washington State would need to beat the Ducks twice.
Cougars Open Tournament With Win Over Oregon State
On Friday night, the Cougars defeated Oregon State 3-2, pulling off the upset against their former - and soon to be current - Pac 12 foes.
The Beavers jumped out to a 2-1 lead before Washington State's Matt Priest delivered an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Gavin Roy and tied the game at 2-2.
Gonzaga WBB Brings In Jocelyn Medina, Continues to Strengthen Guard Depth
The frontcourt was the story for Gonzaga women’s basketball last season. From redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker winning WCC Player of the Year to true freshman Jaiden Haile taking home the conference’s Sixth Woman of the Year, the Zags’ forwards garnered plenty of attention during the team’s 24-win campaign, where they made it back to the NCAA tournament after missing it the season prior.
But after the graduation of starting point guard Inês Bettencourt and the transfer of Paige Lofing, GU continues to restock its backcourt personnel for next year. The program recently announced the addition of Jocelyn Medina, a 5-6 senior from the University of Denver, who joins Emmy Roach as the Bulldogs’ lone transfers so far this offseason – both of them listed as guards.
The move to Spokane for Medina will be her fourth stop in four seasons, as the experienced Arbuckle, California native has played in a variety of roles throughout her collegiate career.
Jack Kayil Intends to Stay in NBA Draft, Leaving Hole in Gonzaga's Backcourt
Receiving first-round feedback in the NBA Draft process, Gonzaga commit Jack Kayil has decided to stay in the draft, his agents first told Jonathan Givoy of DraftExpress.
But since the initial reports, in an interview with basketball-world.news, Kayil’s agent Milan Nikolic said that “Jack definitely won’t go to college – for any number in the world. This is final.”
Because the German guard is an international player, he technically has until June 13 to withdraw from the draft, but based on Kayil’s sentiments about college basketball, suiting up for the Zags is firmly off the table for him even if he is not on an NBA roster next season. The situation is a tough break for GU, which never got to deploy the talented 20-year-old in its system after he officially signed with the program last November.
M’s Complete 22-4 Sweep of A’s with 9-1 Blowout, Take First Place in AL West
Despite still being a game back of .500, the Mariners are in first place in the AL West. In one sense, it doesn’t matter; a man once said that you should check the standings once on June 1 and every day starting July 1. But in another sense, the series was massive.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Mariners starter Logan Gilbert when asked if the series (in which they outscored their opponents by 18 runs) was their most complete of the season. “To go out there and prove it like that, and everybody steppin’ up at different times, it says a lot about the team.”
For the first time since sweeping the Astros at home back in April, the M’s cobbled together three consecutive complete wins. From the first inning onward on Wednesday afternoon, Seattle held a watertight lid on a team that had come into the series scoring 4.8 runs per game in their home ballpark. Julio Rodríguez put a bow on the whole thing with a three-run jack in the eighth, but the final outcome was not in doubt long before the 9-1 final score.
Rob Refsnyder got the Mariners started with a three-run homer, continuing an inchoate upturn.
The Mariners’ $6.25 million acquisition of platoon bat Rob Refsnyder hasn’t been a very productive signing despite the clear pedigree of production against lefties over his previous four seasons. With a horrific .113/.195/.197 slash line going into Wednesday’s game, it appeared that his time with the Mariners was nearing an ignominious conclusion.
That may yet be true. But a glimmer of hope shone through in the first inning, as he built on a hit in Tuesday’s game with a loud 107.7 mile per hour bomb.
Seahawks Bolster Gunner Competition, Acquire Irv Charles From Jets
Orchestrating a rare late May trade, the Seattle Seahawks have added another viable contender to the mix to help replace departed receiver Dareke Young as one of the team’s primary gunners covering punts on special teams.
According to Zach Blatt of the Athletic, Seattle has agreed to send a conditional 2028 seventh round pick to the New York Jets for veteran receiver Irvin Charles. The team officially announced the trade on their official website with undrafted rookie Trayvon Rudolph waived to create a roster spot in a corresponding move.
Highly recruited out of high school, Charles began his collegiate career at Penn State, playing two seasons for the Nittany Lions before transferring to Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2018. He didn’t play football for the next three seasons, returning to the gridiron as a graduate student in 2021 and catching 39 passes for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns, using that successful comeback audition at the Division II level to climb back onto the NFL radar.
Gonzaga WBB Adds Rider Transfer Emmy Roach as Taller Option in Backcourt
Wanting to add size to its backcourt, Gonzaga women’s basketball announced the addition of Emmy Roach, the team’s first landed transfer ahead of the 2026-27 season.
A priority on head coach Lisa Fortier’s offseason checklist, the 6-0 Roach brings a unique skillset from her years in New Jersey and overseas. She spent the last two seasons at Rider University, appearing in 28 games each year for the Broncs. But the Australian also has semi-professional experience, playing in the NBL1 before her collegiate career began, which will now continue in Spokane. Roach will likely fill a desired role in replacing senior Inês Bettencourt, as a guard with two-way abilities who can take pressure off of Allie Turner as a ball-handling option.
In a statement released by the team, Fortier said, “We are excited for Emmy to join our team! She brings versatility, a solid basketball IQ, and shoots the ball in a way that fits great for how we want to play.”
Sunblock Required: Huskies Non-conference September Slate Scheduled for Daytime
Get your sunblock ready.
There will be no Dawgs after dark for the Washington Huskies football team during the first three home games.
The Big Ten announced TV times for the first three weeks of the season, and it includes a few anomalies for UW. First, there are no true night games for the Huskies during the first three weeks, which are all home non-conference games. And with college football starting the regular season a week before the NFL, the season-opening Apple Cup will be played on a Sunday, making it three games in 14 days at Husky Stadium.
M’s Move Within Striking Distance of Division Lead with Win over A’s
Tuesday night was the first time the 2026 Mariners followed up a win of six or more run differential with a win of three or more run differential. Those benchmarks are largely meaningless in and of themselves, but they showed that the team finally managed to string together two largely complete victories, Tuesday’s a solid 4-1 win.
With a lead in hand for nearly the whole contest, the M’s did well to keep the powerful Athletics lineup off the board and away from any sort of comeback; not once after the first did the hosts have the tying run at the plate. But most of all, the team finally showed life against a side of the mound they have been vexed by for a grueling stretch of time.
The Mariners Jump-started their offense against a debutant Sacramento southpaw.
It’s no secret that the Mariners have been horrendous batsmen against left-handers, coming into the game with a .190/.277/.315 slash line against southpaws going into Tuesday’s game. The A’s sought to exploit this fact with quite the bold move: calling up lefty pitching prospect Gage Jump from Triple-A in order to be able to face the M’s on their weaker side.
He's In: Cristian Roldan Makes USMNT Cut Ahead of World Cup
The saga is over.
Cristian Roldan was one of 26 players named to the United States Men's National Team for the June FIFA World Cup after months of speculation on whether the 30-year-old would make the cut. Roldan, who has notched 45 caps with the USMNT, enters the largest sporting event in the world alongside stars like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie. He's the only Sounder projected to play in this year's World Cup.
Roldan made the cut in Qatar in 2022 as the U.S. finished in the Round of 16, but never got on the pitch. If his form is good enough to get minutes this time around, local fans will get a chance to see him when the U.S. takes on Australia in the group stage on June 19 at Lumen Field (AKA Seattle Stadium for the next month and a half).
The USMNT will take on Senegal on May 31 and Germany on June 6 in friendlies as it ramps up.
With the eye of former skipper Gregg Berhalter in the past, Roldan's versatile skillset in the defending midfield captured the attention of new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino in recent months as he made practically every camp the team has put on.
Washington State Draws Oregon State on Friday to Start NCAA Tournament Play
The NCAA Tournament returns to Eugene this weekend with a regional field that features familiar ex-Pac 12 rivals, a future conference matchup, and two of the Washington State Cougars biggest games in years.
Washington State will open regional play on Friday against Oregon State at PK Park, home of top-seeded Oregon. The Cougars will then continue in the double-elimination regional format against either the Ducks or Yale Bulldogs, depending on the outcome of Friday’s opening games.
The Eugene Regional carries an unusual amount of Pac-12 history. Three schools with previous conference ties are grouped together as college athletics continues to shift through conference realignment. Oregon now competes in the Big Ten after the collapse of the Pac-12, while Oregon State spent the past two baseball seasons competing as an independent before agreeing to officially rejoin the rebuilt Pac-12 next year alongside Washington State. The regional gives the weekend a familiar West Coast feel despite the changing conference landscape.
Hounds Domesticate Seawolves in Chicago with 57-17 Beatdown
With the Seawolves taking on the undefeated Chicago Hounds on Sunday, there were only two ways the game was going to go. Either the Seawolves would hand the best team in the MLR a complete stunner on their own turf, or the Hounds would take care of business in front of their own fans and go to 8-0 on the 10-game season.
The clearly more likely outcome was the one that wound up happening. Although the Seawolves put in admirable effort and relatively limited their mistakes (especially in the first half), the same energy deficit that sunk them quickly at home against the Hounds sunk them on the road against that same team, only a little slower, steadier, and without a red card on Seattle.
When Seattle had the ball, things looked a little bit more even. Progress was slow but clear, but they pushed forward slowly and grinded out the occasional holes. The backfield especially had moments of electricity, while Ezekiel Lindenmuth’s return from red card suspension went well in the front row.
Sounders Hopes Dashed by Late LAFC Winner Before World Cup Break
It was all going to plan for the Seattle Sounders through eight games.
Sitting at 6-1-1 with the best defense in the league, head coach Brian Schmetzer’s squad looked to insert itself into the top of the Supporters Shield Race with a road game against flailing Sporting Kansas City and a three-match homestand coming.
Instead of thriving on the schedule, Seattle went 1-1-2 heading into a key road date with a struggling LAFC squad (7-5-3), fresh off three losses, on the final Sunday before the June World Cup Break.
Seattle managed to play a scoreless game through 85 minutes, bringing on offensive subs late to try and steal three points. But it was the home team that notched the win, as midfielder Timothy Tillman came out of nowhere late to slam a cross-goal service past Andrew Thomas for the win.
Seattle dropped to 7-3-3 and into sixth place out west with nearly two months to go before its return to play against Portland on July 16.
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