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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Grip on Sports: Victories are easy to celebrate and yet some times the most positives are found during defeats

Rafael Nadal celebrates after beating Casper Ruud in the final match of The 2022 French Open on Sunday in Paris.  (Tribune News Service)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s start out the workweek with a smile on our faces and a song in our heart, shall we? To cheer everyone up, we’ll look at only positive outcomes today. It might be difficult.

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• Rafael Nadal’s left foot hurt. Like always. So much so this time, though, a doctor injected enough medication in, it seemed as if it was asleep. Not a positive when, you know, you’re playing for tennis’ most demanding Grand Slam title at the French Open.

But the outcome was about as positive as you can get. The 36-year-old Nadal, playing on the 17th anniversary of his first French Open title, rolled over Casper Rudd in straight sets to win his 14th French men’s singles championship.

More importantly, Nadal picked up his 22nd Grand Slam title, two ahead of rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Has Nadal built a resume as the greatest of all time? Seems like it, doesn’t it? There is no denying he is the greatest clay-court player ever, winning more than 80% of the French Open singles tournaments he’s played. No one, on any surface, can match that type of Grand Slam success.

• The Mariners have won three consecutive series. That’s something to build on, right?

It certainly is. And you can, in large part, thank Eugenio Suarez.

Funny about that. See, Suarez is only a Mariner because Jerry Dipoto wanted Jesse Winker’s bat. And the Reds wouldn’t give up Winker without Suarez and the $35-million or so he is owed on his contract being included in the trade.

The M’s did need someone to fill the shoes of the retiring Kyle Seager, sure, but Suarez seemed like an unlikely candidate. A pure power hitter (he has 11 home runs this season and 106 since the 2019 season began) who strikes out at a high rate (he leads baseball with 71), Suarez didn’t seem to fit the Mariners’ philosophy. Throw in his perceived defensive shortcomings and it seemed an odd choice. It has worked out. At least recently.

The past 15 games, coinciding with Seattle’s small resurgence, Suarez has hit nearly .300. Heck, he’s well over that mark the past week. And he delivered big extra-base hits in the Texas series.

• It doesn’t seem like much of a positive to mention Gonzaga’s baseball season today. After all, it came to end Sunday in Virginia, victim of a 15-6 NCAA tournament loss to Columbia.

But the season as a whole is where the positive vibes reside. The Bulldogs won 37 games. They were ranked in the top 10 a few weeks. The won another West Coast Conference regular season title and won a game in the NCAAs for the second consecutive year.

Much of that came while a key member of the program, assistant coach Danny Evans, was battling cancer, an opponent that would ultimately prevail in April. The mere fact college-age baseball players can overcome the emotion of losing a coach to cancer midseason without falling apart is remarkable. And should be lauded.

• Finally, the NBA Finals are going on. Golden State ran away from Boston on Sunday night to even the series at a game apiece. That’s not the positive we want to mention. No, we’re more interested in just seeing Klay Thompson on the court.

After two years off of it due to injury, the Washington State alum is finally healthy. Not 100%, mind you, but healthy enough to play. And contribute.

Any comeback story more than 700 days in the making always is a positive. Even on a Monday morning.

•••

WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, only conference team remains in the softball World Series and UCLA has a herculean task today. The Bruins must defeat top-seed Oklahoma twice to make the finals. Considering the Sooners are 56-2, that doesn’t seem likely. … Arizona’s season ended with a loss to Texas. The Wildcats surprised many with their World Series run. … On the baseball side, Stanford and Oregon State, the overall second and third seeds respectively, are alive from the conference. Each faces a do-or-die game today at home. … They are joined by Arizona, which must defeat Mississippi twice in Miami to move on, and UCLA, which must overcome host Auburn’s nine-run lead and the weather. … Oregon’s season ended with a loss to Louisville. … In football news, Arizona State will have a new look this fall.

Gonzaga: We mentioned Sunday’s defeat above. Colton Clark has all the particulars in this story. … Former GU pitcher Eli Morgan has become a key part of Cleveland’s bullpen.

Indians: Rain disrupted the six games series in Vancouver pretty much every day. But Spokane and the Canadians were able to play a doubleheader yesterday. Too bad for the Vancouver folks. The Indians swept, winning 3-0 and 5-1.

Mariners: The M’s won two of three in Arlington this week, but both wins came due to incredible ninth-inning rallies. Sunday, they scored three times to tie and won in the 10th thanks to a wild pitch. … As we said above, Suarez is earning his paycheck.

Storm: Seattle was back at full strength yesterday but still struggled down the stretch and lost to Connecticut at home.

Seahawks: It’s mini-camp week, which means just about everyone who is anyone will be in Seattle for practice. It should be fun.

•••       

• The streets don’t flood often in Spokane. But they certainly did last night. We were lucky enough to already be in for the night when the worst of it hit. We were able to just stand and watch the battering rain, while the big dog hid from the thunder and lightning. The little one? He was fine in my arms, standing in the dining room watching the river run down the middle of our street. Then we wandered downstairs to watch the first 15 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan.” It always seems appropriate. The courage those men displayed 78 years ago today is hard for me to fathom. Until later …