RECAP: Red-hot Mariners shine, Seahawks pick up preseason win

SEATTLE — The red-hot Seattle Mariners strung together their seventh-straight win Tuesday night, riding high after a sweep of the division rival Houston Astros. For more on the Mariners, as well as a look at the Seahawks and Storm, read along below.

Mariners

After dropping the first game of a four-game road stand against the Kansas City Royals, Seattle rose up with three-straight wins to close the series, winning 10-8 (10 innings), 6-5 and 6-4. Possessing a 66-55 record, the Mariners traveled to Houston for a weekend series this past Friday.

Right-hander Bryce Miller got the start in the series-opening game, delivering 6 and 1/3 shutout innings and two hits in his appearance on the mound. Center fielder Julio Rodríguez’s solo home run in the top of the third inning gave Seattle a 1-0 lead, later extended with a solo home run by designated hitter Mike Ford.

The bats came alive in the second game of the series against Houston, with Seattle scoring four runs in the first three innings off RBIs by Eugenio Suárez, Cade Marlowe, Cal Raleigh and Rodríguez. Houston cut the deficit in half in the third and fourth innings with home runs, but the Mariners outscored Houston 6-1 down the stretch to ride out to a 10-3 win.

Rodríguez set a new MLB record after going four of six at the plate, recording his 17th hit in the previous four games.

Seattle clinched its first sweep of Houston since the 2018 season with a 7-6 win on Sunday, jumping out to an early 6-0 lead in the top of the third inning before Houston stormed back to make it a 6-5 ballgame. An RBI single by Dylan Moore pushed Seattle’s lead to 7-5, and Houston was unable to capture a lead in the final game of the series.

The strong bats carried into Monday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox, where Seattle won 14-2. Raleigh drove in six runs in the win, four of them coming off his two home runs.

Monday’s win pushed Seattle to a 70-55 record, winners of seven straight and 15 of their last 18. Ahead of Tuesday’s games, the Mariners are in possession of the American League’s third wild card spot and two games back of Texas for the lead in the AL West.

Seahawks

Numerous starters returned to action on both sides of the ball in Seattle’s 22-14 preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, including quarterback Geno Smith who completed five of six passes for 46 yards in his two drives to open the game. Quarterback Drew Lock entered the game in relief of Smith, leading Seattle on two touchdown-scoring drives before he too was pulled out of the game at halftime.

Rookie second-round pick Zach Charbonnet found daylight on a run play on Seattle’s second drive of the game, scampering down the field for 29 yards to set up a 57-yard field goal by kicker Jason Myers in the first quarter. Fellow rookie, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, led Seattle with 58 receiving yards off three catches in Saturday’s win, 48 of which came on a catch-and-run where the Ohio State product nearly scored before being tackled on the Dallas one-yard line.

The Seahawks will close the preseason on Saturday with a road trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a showdown with the Packers at 10 a.m.

Storm

With the end of the regular season on the horizon, the Seattle Storm split last week’s games – both of which were against the Minnesota Lynx.

The first was a 78-70 loss at home, where Seattle guard Sami Whitcomb scored 23 points, hitting five three-pointers in the loss. Storm guard Jewell Loyd, the WNBA’s scoring leader in points per game (24.1), made five of 19 shots in the loss, including one of eight from beyond the arc.

On Sunday, just two days after the home loss to the Lynx, Loyd’s 31-point performance helped surge the Storm to a 88-74 win over the Lynx. The win was Seattle’s 10th of the season, moving to 10-22 in the 2023 season.

After Tuesday’s road game against the Chicago Sky, the Storm travel to Indiana on Thursday before hosting Chicago on Sunday. Five of Seattle’s seven remaining contests are on the road.