A Grip on Sports: It’s nice the current M’s honored Ichiro with a home-run barrage and a win in a game that mattered but a record-tying steal seemed more appropriate

A GRIP ON SPORTS • News, news and more news. That’s pretty much the formula for this Sunday morning as we count down until the launch of football season. Maybe by then Cal Raleigh will have 50 home runs and the M’s will be in first place in the American League West.

•••••••

• That’s the first piece of news we’re covering this morning. The M’s 7-4 win over Tampa before 45,249 packed into T-Mobile Park. Why? For multiple reasons, including how the final score would have been more appropriate if it had ended 5-1. But such symmetrical numerology wasn’t to be on the night the franchise attached Ichiro’s No. 51 to the stadium façade.

Mainly because Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez were too busy laying more groundwork toward the day their Nos. 29 and 44 hang in left field with Ichiro’s.

Rodriguez didn’t get the party started, even though his two-run, first-inning dinger did put the M’s in the lead. No, the celebration was initiated pregame, what with Ichiro making another speech in front of Junior, The Big Unit, Edgar, Bone and Felix, the other M’s legends who made it to Seattle to honor the franchise’s newest Hall of Fame member.

But when the current edition is in a pennant race, then the game’s outcome is actually material. Unlike Aug. 6, 2016, when Ken Griffey Jr.’s 24 was retired. Or a year later when Edgar Martinez’s 11 went up. Both of those seasons, Seattle was wandering in the desert, part of the franchise’s 20-year playoff drought.

This year? Saturday’s win – their sixth consecutive and eighth in nine games on the homestand – pulled the Mariners within a half-game of Houston in the A.L. West. And also cemented their tie with the Red Sox for the best wild card record (65-53), the fourth-best in the league.

The revamped lineup is part of the surge, though Raleigh, who hit his 44th home run in the third inning, his second three-run dinger in two days, has been walloping the ball since April. His three-run blast was followed by Rodriguez’s second homer of the night, cementing the centerfielder’s summer of slamming the ball – as seems to be his career M.O.

• It seems appropriate on Ichiro-number-retirement night a team stolen base record was set. OK, an obscure one, but still, a record.

Josh Naylor stole third base in the fifth inning, giving him 11 in his 14 games since coming over from Arizona. And, according to the Root broadcast, tying him with Dan Meyer – remember him? – for the most in a season by a first baseman in franchise history.

Meyer set the mark in the franchise’s first year, 1977. He was the M’s ninth pick in the expansion draft and was one of their most-productive hitters in 1977, with 22 home runs, 90 RBI and a .762 OPS. Along with his club record, for a first baseman, 11 steals. It was a record he wasn’t allowed to break, as after an injury-plagued 1978, the M’s moved him to third the next season to get Bruce Bochte out of left field and keep his bat in the lineup.

By the way, Meyer played 159 games in 1977. It took Naylor 145 less to tie his mark.

• I’ve never been one to buy into the NFL’s hype about “preseason games.” They are not. They are exhibitions. They don’t count. Not at all. And two instances this weekend made that abundantly clear. Even as the league wants everyone to see them as the real deal so it can charge real-deal prices for tickets.

Last night,  Jacksonville’s Cam Little finished the first half of the Jags’ exhibition with Pittsburgh by nailing a 70-yard field goal. That’s a record distance for an adjudicated contest. But not an NFL record. It happened in, you guessed it, a “preseason game.” It was cool and all but you’ll never see it acknowledged as a record. Rightfully so. It didn’t happen in a “real” game.

A day prior, in Detroit, the Lions hosted Atlanta in their exhibition matchup. Or glorified scrimmage, if you prefer.

Ten seconds into the fourth quarter, Detroit safety Morice Norris was injured making a tackle. Had to be immobilized and was taken away in an ambulance after about 20 minutes on the field.

The game clock was run down. For a while. Then, with 6:31 remaining, the game was called by mutual consent. It was not the first time this has happened. It has happened before, including twice in 2023. It’s the right thing to do. After all, the games do not count.

Not like the “real games.” The ones that cost hundreds of dollars to attend. Wait. That’s the same as the “preseason” ones.

•••

WSU: The Cougars’ group of safeties is a mix of new and old. Well, new to Pullman but old in experience. Not just at the position but as it is supposed to be played, defined by the current Washington State coaching staff. Three of the safeties played at South Dakota State, the school that produced head coach Jimmy Rogers and many of his assistants. Greg Woods has more on that in this story. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s mailbag we linked yesterday when it was in the Mercury News? It is on the S-R site this morning. … John Canzano sees Oregon opening spots on its 2027 and 2028 schedule and immediately thinks of the Civil War possibilities. Whether Oregon State is on board is for discussion. … Washington held a scrimmage yesterday. … So did Oregon State, its first of the preseason, which led to this coverage. … Oregon also scrimmaged for the first time, but to judge how it turned out, we have to trust Dan Lanning’s shared observations. It was closed. … Colorado is still trying to decide its starting quarterback. … Utah can be a Big 12 contender. … UCLA and USC both have quarterbacks with talent. And names with lots of vowels. … Arizona State finished up its stay in the mountains with a well-attended scrimmage. … Arizona held its ninth practice. By the way, did you know former WSU (and UA) quarterback Jayden de Laura is playing in the IFL? … Boise State’s defense has experience in the secondary. … Fresno State opens on Aug. 23 and still hasn’t answered all its question.

Gonzaga: We’ve watched AJ Few grow up over the years, from the first of Mark and Marcy Few’s children running around the old and new Kennels to his playing days in Spokane’s AAU leagues and at Gonzaga Prep. To, most recently, his time behind the bench at GU games. Theo Lawson watched the latter part pretty intently and decided to share the story on where that has led the eldest of the Few children these days.

Indians: Stu Flesland was remarkable again last night, throwing five shutout innings in Eugene against the hottest team in the Northwest League. But it was all for naught as the Emeralds rallied for five runs against the Spokane bullpen and earned a 5-4 victory. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … It’s been a long time since Jackson Profar played in Spokane. And we’re sure he never made a catch like this back then.

EWU: Like many college football programs, Eastern Washington attaches importance to certain numbers. The No. 4 has special meaning to Eagle defenders and it goes to a leader each year. Dan Thompson explains why tackle Isaiah Perez will be wearing it this season. … Efton Chism III has already made an impression with the Patriots. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, how deep is Montana’s quarterback room? … Portland State held its final scrimmage before its opener. The Vikings are a five-touchdown underdog to BYU. … Southern Utah has a player on the Buck Buchanan watch list. … In basketball news, Sacramento State released its nonconference schedule last week and it includes some big names.

Velocity: Nil Vinyals has been hot lately. For the second consecutive match, the midfielder scored a goal and assisted on another. This time it led to a 2-0 win for Spokane over AV Alta at ONE Spokane Stadium. John Allison was there and has this story.

Mariners: We linked the game story above. And do again here. … The Ichiro ceremony? Ditto. There was one piece of news from it, though. The M’s have commissioned a statue of him to place out front of T-Mobile. It will show his iconic stance. … Wild card? Don’t settle for no stinkin’ wild card. Win the West. … One race we will be following with interest. Who will hit the most home runs in baseball this season? Raleigh’s 44 leads, but Shohei Ohtani hit his 40th yesterday. Kyle Schwarber has 41.

Sounders: The question whether the Sounders will win any trophies this summer was covered in a Times story we linked yesterday. And link again today in the S-R. … They face the L.A. Galaxy tonight.

Seahawks: Tyrice Knight has not practiced recently due to a knee injury. The inside linebacker was expected back but is dealing with some other medical issue that Mike Macdonald would not share. The coach still feels Knight will be back by the season opener though. … We passed along the Times’s story on Geno’s gesture Thursday and do it again as it is on the S-R’s site. … Making roster decisions is going to be tough, especially on offense. … The tight ends have new responsibilities this season. … Now that ESPN owns the RedZone and the name, will it try to do the same format with college games? It would be darn near impossible.

Reign: Seattle meets Portland today in the female version of Cascadia competition.

Golf: We spent quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon watching the U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals from Bandon Dunes. The windy conditions on a tough course combined to make the best amateur golfers in the world look a bit like some folks we play with. And that made it exciting. So did a couple of big comebacks, one of which was successful.

•••       

• Next weekend will be the final one without college football games. We will use one of the two days to share some personal news about this column. Don’t worry (or celebrate prematurely), it’s not going to end (as far as I know). That’s not the news. Until later …