A Grip on Sports: There was some near perfection in Sunday’s sporting events from coast to coast

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Perfection is hard to come by. Not just in sports. Life too. It’s lucky we don’t keep score in the latter, right? But we do in the former and we almost were able to experience it a couple times Sunday. As Max Smart used to say, missed it by that much.

•••••••

• The most visible example around these parts came from Seattle, where Mariner ace Luis Castillo did what aces do. He gave the M’s a needed near-perfect start against the Colorado Rockies. Near, because the perfection lasted six innings. Needed because Castillo, who came over in midseason last year from Cincinnati, almost was “Felixed,” as Seattle fans like to say.

Being “Felixed” refers to a shutout outing in which the impotent Seattle offense also does not score – a regular occurrence in Felix Hernandez’s career. Then the Mariners would lose 1-0 when the bullpen gave up a late run.

The King is gone. Long live the King. Yep, Castillo is the king of the pitching staff. And he showed it Sunday. Eighteen hitters came to the plate in the first six innings. Eighteen hitters failed to reach base. It’s the best a man can do, if you don’t mind us paraphrasing an old Gillette ad.

That it wasn’t for nothing can be attributed, in large part to Jarred Kelenic. We would say we were surprised but Kelenic has changed that narrative over the past week or so.

The bust is busting out, so to speak. He came up in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and Ty France at second base. The Rockies played Brad Hand out of the bullpen, a lefty who is in the big leagues to get left-handed hitter like Kelenic. He couldn’t. A line-drive single to right gave the M’s the lead.

Then, after Castillo yielded his first hits – a couple of soft ones, one of which barely reached the infield grass for goodness sake – in the bottom of the seventh, Kelenic came through again. This time with his glove.

Castillo wiggled out of the seventh inning jam and departed. Leading by the final score of 1-0, the M’s turned it over to the bullpen. Colorado rallied in the eighth. With a runner on second and two outs, Kelenic made a diving catch in right, ending the inning – and the Rockies’ hope.

A near-perfect game with a perfect outcome.

• The other near-perfect strike occurred on the other side of the country. In a different sport. And on national, not regional, TV.

Not sure, however, how many folks were still watching CBS’ coverage. Heck, because we weren’t one of them – we have a life you know – we’re not even sure it was on CBS by then. After all, as seems to be the case in almost every RBC Heritage tournament the week after the Masters, the battle between defending champion Jordan Spieth and reigning U.S. Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick went three playoff holes.

The last one was the 18th. And Fitzpatrick, who did something similar to win the U.S. Open last year, nearly holed out a 9-iron from 186 yards. A few more rotations and the tournament would have been over.

As it was, Spieth couldn’t make birdie and Fitzpatrick had his second PGA Tour win.

• You know what’s not perfect? A saying that we’ve never understand that popped up again Sunday. As Fitzpatrick’s ball rolled to a stop just inched from the cup, someone on the broadcast piped in with “what a golf shot.”

OK, we get it. A great shot. It deserved something. But c’mon, man. What are we even doing out here? “What a golf shot” has to go.

Yes, it is a golf shot. So were the thousands of others that were struck over the weekend. And it almost rolled in from almost 190 yards away. Exceptional. But heck, even you want to use that worn-out cliché to describe something, save it for, we don’t know, when Patrick Cantlay rolls a short pitch off the green and into the water – except it hangs up on a support beam. Then use it ironically.

That would be, dare we say it, perfect.

•••

WSU: The baseball team tried for a perfect weekend against Arizona and was this close to getting it. Then the Wildcats’ offense exploded in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game and they rallied for an 11-8 victory. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation in football, did you know the NCAA made a change in how official visits work? There is now no limit in how many a recruit can take (it used to be one each to five schools). But the organization hasn’t lifted the school limit, which will stay, for now, 56 in football. … Kenny Dillingham is Arizona State’s head football coach. He is also 32 years old. That doesn’t usually add up. … The transfer portal is open again and Oregon expects to add a couple players. And lose a couple. Or more. … The roster churn will continue at Colorado now that spring football is over. … One thing Utah doesn’t do is chase star offensive linemen. The Utes develop them. … In basketball news, the Oregon State women have added another player. … Finally, this John Canzano story on the family of former Oregon State coach Mike Riley should not be missed.

Gonzaga: Ever since the Lakers traded for former GU star Rui Hachimura midway through the season, they have waited for him to take over a game as he can. He did it in the first round of the playoffs yesterday. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Santa Clara added another high-profile Power 5 transfer.

Indians: Spokane’s starter Sunday, Carson Palmquist, is an Indians’ legacy. His older brother played with the team a few years back. The younger pitched well in his debut and helped Spokane to a 9-4 win and split of the six-game series with Eugene. Dave Nichols has all the particulars.

Wrestling: The U.S. national championships for women were held over the weekend at the Podium downtown. Luke Pickett has this story from the event, which drew participants from all over the country.

Mariners: Castillo’s earned run average in his first four games? It’s 0.73. Yes, that’s good. … Jesse Winker was supposed to be the savior last year in left field. Instead, he turned out to be a stinker. Now he’s in Milwaukee. The Brewers come to town today, though Winker might miss some time with an injury. … Kelenic was a key part of the drive back to .500.

Seahawks: The Hawks need a starting-caliber running back from the draft. But which of their 10 draft picks should they use on one? Our hope is they take UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet somewhere. We think he’s a great fit. … Would Jalen Carter also be a great fit? … The future at tight end may need to be addressed.

Kraken: Seattle can score. That’s a given. Can they win playoff hockey games that are more physical? We are about to find out.

Sea Dragons: Seattle got back on the winning track and kept their playoff hopes alive with a 30-12 victory in St. Louis.

Running: Today is the Boston Marathon. The most well-known running event in the nation. The most well-known marathoner in the world, Eliud Kipchoge, will run it for the first time.

•••       

• The first 10 days or so of April might just be the best 10 sporting days of the year. But after that, the rest of the month has a tendency to be pretty lukewarm. In more ways than one. Until later …