A Grip on Sports: Mariners’ improbable win in New York built on … Luck? Grit? Heart? Whatever, it’s a victory

A GRIP ON SPORTS • As May prepares to exit the stage, the Mariners have entered the phase of the season in which they introduce this version of themselves to the movers and shakers of the baseball community. You know, the folks in New York City. And what an introduction Monday night turned out to be.

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• The Mariners’ season has been a quietly successful one, despite multiple complications, some management’s doing, others just part of the day-to-day crapshoot that all teams endure.

In the latter category, the bullpen envisioned as spring training began has never materialized, with two of their three best power arms missing either the first two months or the season. And their double play combo has been sidelined recently, putting a strain on their depth. Add in Julio Rodriguez’s slow start and it would be easy to envision this group languishing in the standings.

But they aren’t, partly because the rest of the American League West isn’t playing up to snuff just yet and partly because of something they exhibited last night: grit.

A nebulous term we know. Right up there with “heart” and “soul” and “momentum” and “magic” and the like. Terms folks like us use to explain circumstances and results that are unexplainable. Like last night’s ninth inning.

We’ve watched it multiple times. And still can’t figure out how the M’s scored four times against the Yankees’ near-perfect closer Clay Holmes without hitting anything hard except, maybe, Dominic Canzone’s game-tying sacrifice fly.

Oh, we can document it. Rodriguez’s swinging bunt to get the one-out rally started. Cal Raleigh’s walk. Luke Raley’s topper and Gleyber Torres’ wild throw. Mitch Haniger’s looper falling in short centerfield. Dylan Moore’s walk after starting his at-bat in an 0-2 hole. Canzone’s near grand slam.

And Ty France’s single to right. Four runs. A 5-4 lead. And, after it looked as if he would have the night off, closer Andres Munoz trotting in from the bullpen to face the heart of the Yankee order.

Was more grit needed? Not really. Not when you can paint the outside corner with a two-strike, 101-mile-per-hour heater. Against Aaron Judge. With Juan Soto on first and just one out. Strike three. Biggest threat avoided.

Alex Verdugo followed with a game-ending ground out, Munoz had his ninth save and the Mariners had a two-game lead in the A.L. West over Texas.

Seattle is just starting to be recognized outside the 206 area code. The M’s have ascended into the top 10 in the national power rankings. The starting staff has earned admiration.

This is the road trip – three games in Baltimore that yielded one win, four games against the A.L.’s best in New York, three games in the nation’s capital against the Nationals – that will serve as a foundation for how the Mariners are perceived in the baseball hierarchy – read, ESPN – the rest of the season.

So far, so good. Four games. Two comeback wins. No quit.

Lots of heart. Magic. Grit. However you define them.

• Speaking of grit, the NCAA is trying to wash some out of its mouth, metaphorically speaking of course. The dirt comes from years and years of failed policy, trying to defend an un-defendable system of unpaid labor. The bill is due and it’s a doozy. In a nutshell, there is a case in federal court known as House v. NCAA – named after the main plaintiff, former Arizona State swimmer Grant House – that could bankrupt the organization.

A settlement has been worked out. A multi-billion-dollar settlement, the terms of which has run into major opposition by schools below the Power 5 level. Mainly because those schools have been handed a huge portion of the bill they feel they shouldn’t owe.

How will it play out over the next few weeks and months? That’s not as important as the other question that hangs in the air no matter how it is settled: How intently will the result impact college sports? No one knows. Speculation abounds, sure. Dire warnings issued. Future outcomes debated.

The only thing we are sure of is the future won’t be the same as the past. Or even the now. More change is coming. And it will be more tumultuous than all the change we’ve endured the past decade.

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WSU: Kyle Manzardo is finding out what it’s like to be a major league baseball player. The former Cougar and Lake City High player is gaining experience with Cleveland these days, having been brought up two weeks ago. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we can pass along Jon Wilner’s WSU and OSU-centric mailbag from its appearance in the S-R. … The Big Ten gave its full members about $60 million last year. … Washington’s new-look basketball roster has some mystery. … The women’s roster at Oregon State is back to seven scholarship players. … The conference’s baseball tournament starts today and we can pass along previews from Oregon State, Utah, defending champion Oregon, Arizona State and California. … There are once again no more season tickets available for Colorado football. … Utah has benefited from a quarterback sticking around. No, not that one.

Gonzaga: Though Chet Holmgren wasn’t the NBA’s rookie of the year, he was one of two unanimous choices for the all-rookie team, joining ROY Victor Wembanyama in that regard. Jim Meehan has more in this story. … The Zags will host one of their top 2025 recruits in June. Theo Lawson has news on Davis Fogle’s official visit. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the conference earned 40% of the first-team berths, with Santa Clara grad Brandin Podziemski on the team as well.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, how does the proposed House settlement impact the conference? John Canzano tries to answer that question today.

Seahawks: How do the oddsmakers see the Hawks’ upcoming season? … Speaking of gambling, we found this Washington Post story on taxes and gambling interesting.

Mariners: We linked Ryan Divish’s game story from New York above. And we do it again. … We also pass along the news Sam Haggerty tore his Achilles playing for Tacoma last weekend and is out for the season. … J.P. Crawford is back on the roster and will be back in the starting lineup soon.

Storm: Seattle, playing back-to-back nights, started slowly in New York and lost to Breanna Stewart and the Liberty. … Caitlin Clark’s visit to Seattle isn’t a sellout just yet. … The fact Clark has struggled some should not be a surprise, considering the schedule Indiana has played.

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• Some quick, and late-breaking, news. A good friend of Kim’s mom died overnight. We were planning on leaving this morning for home, taking our time back to Spokane. Those plans have changed some. We will stay here today to help her, then make a hard, two-day drive so we can be back Thursday night – missing the Memorial Day crowds. That means an early start tomorrow. Early. As in too early to write. We’ll be back here Thursday morning. Until later …