Mariners News
The Mariners ended their East Coast road trip with an 11-2 loss and a series sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies earlier today.
Julio Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the first inning to put the M’s up early before Philly took a 3-1 lead. Eugenio Suarez hit another solo shot in the seventh to pull the Mariners within one, but the Phillies responded with eight runs over the next two innings to hand Seattle its fifth-straight loss.
It came a day after Bryce Miller struggled in his first start since early June, giving up four runs through five innings in the Mariners’ 6-4 loss yesterday. The club ends its nightmare road trip with a 2-7 record and have now tied their longest losing streak of the season.
The good news is the Houston Astros were also swept by the Detroit Tigers, leaving Seattle still just a game and a half behind them in the division race.
The Mariners have the day off tomorrow before heading back home for a three-game weekend series against the Athletics.
Sounders News
The Sounders are hosting Puebla tonight in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals. The tournament pits 18 MLS teams against another 18 teams from Mexico’s Liga MX.
Seattle flew through Phase One of the tournament, winning all three of its games by a combined score of 11-2. It now faces a Puebla club that won two of its three opening-round matches.
The Sounders need two more wins to clinch a spot in next year’s highly-anticipated Champions Cup.
Tonight’s match starts at 8:00 from Lumen Field.
Storm News
The Storm broke out of their slump with a 94-88 win over the Chicago Sky last night. Seattle led by 16 points entering the 4th quarter and withstood a late rally by the Sky to hold onto the much-needed road win.
Skylar Diggins led the team with 24 points and Nneka Ogwumike added 21. Rookie Dominique Malonga continued her late-season surge with 15 points and three blocks off the bench.
The Storm had lost seven of their last eight games entering the match, but have now evened up their record at 18-18 on the season. Their win came against an ice-cold Chicago team that has lost 13 of its last 14 games.
Seattle will look to keep it up on Friday when they travel to play the Dallas Wings, who own the worst record in the Western Conference.
Bells News
The Bells are getting a lot of love after winning the West Coast League Championship last week.
Head coach Ed Knaggs was named WCL Coach of the Year earlier today after finishing his first year in Bellingham. It’s the fifth time he’s won the award, having previously won four with Wenatchee.
Bells GM Stephanie Morrell confirmed that he’ll be back as skipper next season.
The club also had eight players named to the All-WCL teams. Starting pitcher Devyn Hernandez, reliever Colt Peterson and third baseman Nate Kirkpatrick were all First-Team selections.
Starter Trevor Moore and center fielder Brock Sell both made the Second Team. Cal Young, Will Franklin and Andrew Lamb all earned honorable mention.
Youth Sports News
Washington’s representative at the Little League World Series has been eliminated.
The team from Bonney Lake kept it close against Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but the wheels came off in the top of the sixth when South Dakota exploded for eight runs to finish with a 9-0 shutout win.
Bonney Lake now heads home for ice cream and back to school shopping, while the kids from South Dakota move on to play Irmo, South Carolina in the semi-finals of the U.S. bracket.
