A Grip on Sports: There is a tasty treat awaiting tonight but before the NBA showdown happens, we need to cleanse the sour taste left by the way the M’s lost Sunday

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sunday’s sports schedule seemed a bit like the eye of a hurricane. Or the middle of a doughnut. Kind of empty. With either sugary-bliss or destruction looming.

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• Not sure how to categorize tonight’s NBA game in New York. On one hand it is something to akin to an expensive jelly-filled pastry. Tasty but messy, what with the entire population of New York City about to descend on the Garden. Including one of its most famous hotel owners who happens to live in D.C. these days.

But I certainly can categorize a few other events, such as the U.S. Women’s Open Golf tournament, which ended with the best American player, Nelly Korda, riding the edge of the hurricane but surviving through sheer clutch shotmaking and putting. She clinched her country’s national championship with one of the latter, a 3-foot putt that barely caught enough of the cup to drop. But it did.

And speaking of Hurricanes, Carolina variety, the Stanley Cup title series is taking a couple days off in Las Vegas, leaving the visitors plenty of time to place a bet on which of their two goalies should start Tuesday.

All that is the frosting, though. My ears were focused on Detroit yesterday. As Kim and I drove east across the state, we listened to the Mariners’ self-destruct against the Tigers, though only one person deserves much of the blame. And I’m not referring to struggling Andrés Muñoz.

Still unable to locate his slider in the zone consistently, Muñoz earned his fifth blown save of the season not because Cole Young is a couple inches too short, but because he walked back-to-back hitters in the ninth. And Dan Wilson once again made a couple decisions that seemed counter-productive. If not flat-out wrong.

And if you don’t believe me, there is evidence folks in Tiger gear felt the same way. But that’s for later. Let’s start our “why-do-that?” journey in the seventh inning.

Luis Castillo, freed from having to deal with a piggyback, threw nearly six innings of domination. Gave up just a run before Jose Ferrer bailed him out in the sixth. Walked off the mound with a 4-1 lead.

Then Wilson intervened.

Remember, the big three (this year anyway) of the bullpen were ready even after Ferrer made an appearance. Gabe Speier. Eduard Bazardo. And Muñoz. All available. But with the road trip continuing in Baltimore today, Wilson made a decision that seemed more about the next game then the winnable one in front of him. He called on Cooper Criswell to face the bottom of the Tiger order in the seventh.

The decision blew up. Criswell, who has thrown well for Wilson and the M’s this season, didn’t. Couldn’t get an out. Three hitters, three hits, including a two-run Wenceel Perez triple to drive Criswell from the game.

Speier came on. And left Perez stranded at third by dominating the top of the Detroit order. Kept the M’s in front, 4-3. But the two Criswell runs would loom large in the bottom of the ninth.

Muñoz has been, well, off all season. And with an experienced closer, Ferrer, in the pen, may not be long for the ninth inning. But Muñoz’s experience and success have earned him some rope. It’s just that on this Sunday, Wilson strung him up by it.

Muñoz needed three outs. He got a quick one. Then walked No. 8 hitter Zach McKinstry. Did the same with No. 9, Perez. Matt Vierling grounded out, slowly, and both runners moved up.

Left-hand hitting Kevin McGonigle stepped in. And the Tigers’ radio crew started first-guessing. Gleyber Torres, Sunday’s designated hitter, was on deck. He hits right-handed. And was hitless.

They wondered why Wilson wasn’t putting McGonigle, with a home run already, on first and letting Muñoz pitch to Torres? Especially with Detroit bereft of much in the way of left-handed hitters available. After all, McGonigle’s run was immaterial.

A reason immediately popped into my head. Wilson must have felt Muñoz’s control issues would make a base-loaded situation ripe for another walk. A game-tying walk. Instead, two runs ended up scoring.

Muñoz missed with another slider – the third with that pitch in the inning. Threw a 99-mile-per-hour fastball on the inner half. McGonigle was ready. Lined the heater toward Young. The second baseman jumped, but the ball ticked off the tip of his glove. Ended up in right field. And ended the series with the M’s walking back to their dugout 5-4 losers.

Wilson made two key decisions in the final half of the game. Both didn’t work. One seemed defensible. The one with Criswell. Though, by eventually having to use Speier, there is only Matt Brash rested in the pen headed to Baltimore.

The other one?

Even in his lackluster 2026, Muñoz is still quite a bit better against righthanders. As in .400 points worth of OPS. And a strike-out-to-walk ratio that is almost five ticks better (7.0 vs. 2.3).

Take those numbers into account if A.J. Hinch had decided to stay with Torres. Factor in McGonigle is not only lefthanded but also one of the Tigers best hitters. If Hinch had brought a lefty off the bench, the replacement would not be as good.

Even a couple of Tiger employees thought pitching to McGonigle seemed wrong – even before a pitch was thrown. And turned out they were right.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner builds a Mercury News column around the College Football Hall of Fame ballot and Mike Leach. … There was a ruling in Texas on quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling suspension and his attempt to get it overturned. The NCAA lost. … There is also an Athletic story on UW quarterback Demond Williams. … Colorado had a big recruiting weekend. … So did Arizona. … Another former Pac-12 athletic director has written a memoir. … Utah has a bounce-back quarterback on the roster. … How many games will Arizona State win? … In basketball news, the face of the Oregon State men’s program is a former walk-on. … In baseball news, Oregon’s season ended in disappointment again, as the Ducks blew a late lead and were eliminated by Texas in Austin. … Talk about disappointment. USC was three outs from Omaha. One pop up, actually. Couldn’t catch it, got beat by host North Carolina after it fell. The West Coast won’t be represented at baseball’s College World Series. … John Canzano had a column on Oregon before Sunday’s game.

Indians: There was only one big event in Spokane yesterday. Though it was only big for the visiting Hillsboro Hops. They pounded out 16 hits, three of them home runs, and routed the Indians 14-0. Dave Nichols was in windy Avista Stadium and has this game story.

Mariners: We linked the game story above. And again here. … Cal Raleigh made his first rehab assignment appearance. He was in Everett and served as the designated hitter. Afterward, he talked about how he felt. … J.P. Crawford is still sore from getting hit on the hand the other day. As insurance, the M’s brought Ryan Bliss to Detroit. … Two of the young infielders playing in Detroit yesterday, Colt Emerson and McGonigle, almost became teammates at Auburn. … Baseball’s rules are weird. And way too complicated.

Seahawks: What did the Derick Hall signing do to the Hawks’ salary cap?

NBA: Jalen Brunson is the engine that make the Knicks go. How will he do tonight? … The same question can be asked by the most-towering of Spurs, Victor Wembanyama.

World Cup: The tournament opens this week. There will be lots of stories to pass along. Today, we have two from S-R correspondent Alan Buluku. Their subjects? The first looks at the two giants of the game who are on their way out. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The second is on the arrival of the Egyptian team that is training at Gonzaga University.

Tennis: The top of the French Open draw was decimated before the tournament – Carlos Alcaraz is injured – and during it – Jannik Sinner lost early. That left Alexander Zverev standing alone. And he ended up winning the men’s title Sunday in five sets.

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• If you know any two- or three-sport high school athletes, say a little prayer for them this week. School is winding down, sure, but they are in the midst of the most-demanding time of their year: June. When every high school sport holds summer workouts, camps and tournaments. Those who play more than one sport are pulled a million ways. Every day. Until later …