A Grip on Sports: A fakeout, a shutout and a shoutout highlight the M’s day as they fly higher in the wild-card standings

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The Mariners’ game Tuesday night seemed a bit like a 1950s movie. We laughed. We cried. We left it feeling better about life. At least the M’s possible postseason life.

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• Looking back on it, we missed a golden opportunity. As we sat in the backyard, watching the M’s hang a 2-0 loss on the disappointing San Diego Padres – $251 million for this? – we should have popped a big tub of popcorn and slurped on a giant Diet Coke.

And growled at the folks sitting nearby every time they were too loud.

That last one? We did it. The dogs barked way too often. But nothing could interrupt our pursuit of the perfect August evening, resplendent in its mildness and highlighted by the joy that is Julio Rodriguez, the man who made this crotchety, yell-at-his-dogs old guy laugh last night.

A kid’s game played by grown men? Julio personifies that, doesn’t he? And nothing illustrates it more than his home-run-robbing catch of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s fourth-inning drive to center.

Rodriguez got back to the wall in plenty of time. Leaped perfectly. And still didn’t make the play. Or so it seemed after he came down dejectedly, glove at his side and frown on his face. For about five steps. Then he calmly lifted up his glove, with the ball sitting in it. And smiled.

To his credit, the much-maligned Dave Sims described that smile perfectly. Cheshire-cat like, he called it. Wide. Filled with teeth. Packed with joy. Joy from making the catch. And joy from teasing his friend, Tatis, who got the joke. A Root replay showed the Padre star looking back at Rodriguez over his right shoulder, sporting a wry smile. An appreciation of the play – and the act.

If the guy who was robbed, twice on one play, can smile, all of us can. It is OK to have fun.

• The crying? That came from the multitude of chances the Mariners had to break the game open. To give Logan Gilbert a bit of breathing room. Eugenio Suarez was the main offender – striking out twice when a fly ball would have scored a run – but it was a team effort. As it’s been off and on all season.

The pitching held up in this one. But a little more productivity would have made everyone’s life easier.

• The feel-good ending? Give credit to Andres Munoz. Called on to hold a two-run ninth-inning lead, Munoz yielded a leadoff hit to Ha-seong Kim. That meant Tatis, Juan Soto and Manny Machado, as good a threesome as there is in the game, would all walk to the plate with a chance to tie with one swing. None did.

Tatis grounded into a force. Soto struck out looking. And Machado ended it with a routine ground ball.

Gilbert’s scoreless seven-inning, 12-strike-out performance held up. As a result, the Mariners’ pulled within two games of the Blue Jays in the wild-card race.

Pop some corn, grab a big drink and strap in. The rest of the summer will be action packed.

• No news, really, on the conference realignment front. The Cougars are still in limbo – the place, not the game, though the administration may be using whatever flexibility it can muster to find them a landing spot.

CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd reported San Diego State tried to pull together a new Power 5 conference and failed. The Aztecs’ athletic director, John David Wicker, himself a former WSU employee, denied it vigorously. But that’s about it for news, even as ACC leaders met and reportedly talked about extending an invite to California and Stanford.

Our favorite nugget of the day? Chip Kelly, UCLA’s head coach, solved everyone’s problems with a simple solution that will probably never come about. Invoking Notre Dame’s football independence and its ACC membership in other sports, Kelly wondered why everyone couldn’t just be independent in football and keep their other sports in a regionally based conference. Football is different. Treat it that way. That would certainly solve financial, travel and other issues.

And keep most people not running megalomaniacal TV networks happy. Which means even Lloyd Christmas knows there’s no chance.

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WSU: As far as front-facing football coaches go, Washington State could do a lot worse than having Jake Dickert in place in these unsettled times. The 39-year-old Dickert sounded more like a grizzled veteran of 39 years as a head coach in his comments following practice Tuesday. Of course, Greg Woods has it all, including a video of Dickert’s comments, in his story. … As for the on-field action, Greg focused on speed in his notebook. … We texted back and forth earlier this week with Bill Moos, the former WSU athletic director. He spoke with Dan Thompson on Monday, expressing little amazement on what’s going on in college athletics these days. Then again, he worked at Oregon, with Phil Knight’s oversized shadow looming, so he’s seen just about everything. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, the Mountain West should be playing a big role in what’s next out West. But even Jon Wilner doesn’t know what that entails. … Money plays a big role in everything. Always. … The Pac-12 was bulldozed. Beaten to the ground, in large part, due to systematic failures. But you know who always loses? The athletes. … Oregon State held a tour of the new Reser Stadium yesterday. The Beavers should be a contender this season, the place is magnificent and yet the school is searching for a home. It’s enough to make Scott Barnes’ head explode. … Whether the rivalry continues with Big Ten-bound Oregon will be evaluated. … There is a lot of speed on the Ducks’ roster and more was just added. … The first year was great. Can Washington do even more in Kalen DeBoer’s second one? … Deion Sanders has been good for Colorado’s bottom line. And he’s raking in cash as well. Now, can he deliver on the field? The Buffs’ practices rolled on. … Utah saw which way the wind was blowing, put up its sail and ended up in the Midwest. But first, there is a little matter of trying to three-peat in the Pac-12 football standings. … USC’s defense will be tested all season. The coaches feel it passed its first one. … Arizona is trying to shore up some stuff defensively as well. … Arizona State will feature a hometown receiver. … In basketball news, Arizona is headed to Israel for a summer tour.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana State is still in the process of deciding on its quarterback hierarchy.

Whitworth: Swimmer Carly Hoff had a big year in the pool for the Pirates. But, as Charlotte McKinley tells us, she reaped other rewards for all her hard work.

Preps: The football field at Freeman High will look, and feel, different this fall. The Scotties have installed an artificial turf field. Liam Bradford has the story.

Indians: Spokane opened a two-week homestand with a 7-2 victory over Hillsboro. Dave Nichols was at Avista Stadium and has this game story.

Mariners: Gilbert has been Cy Young-good recently, though his chances of winning the award are probably one in a million. He led the way in Tuesday’s 2-0 victory. … Baseball is giving credit to its new rules for the uptick in batting average. We would argue the players know the real reason. Errors are way down. Ozzie Smith’s fielding percentage would be more than a thousand if he played today. … If you can read this piece in The Athletic, do. Scroll down to the Julio catch. Talk about appreciating the joy. … Bryan Woo is headed to the IL and Emerson Hancock is headed to Seattle. Interesting.

Seahawks: Preseason practice rolled on, with the Hawks preparing for their first game on Thursday night. Don’t expect the stars to play, not with all the bumps and bruises the team already has. … Do what Michael Bennett says, not what he did. At least about staying onsides. … Michael Jackson has a deep-burning fire.

Storm: Home? That’s not been a good place for Seattle these days. Not only did the Storm lose to Connecticut 81-69, they lost Gabby Williams to an injury.

Kraken: Tickets are selling well above listed price on the resale market. And the season hasn’t even begun yet. Seems like Seattle fans feel the next year will be special.

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• Looking back at what we’ve written here over the past decade (and more), we thank our lucky stars we aren’t employed by the Baltimore Orioles. Have a great Wednesday. Until later …