A Grip on Sports: The All-Star break comes at a key time for the M’s, who need a break to reset their hunt for the A.L. West title

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It struck us like an errant throw. The headline on the Los Angeles Times’ website this morning. “Jo Adell’s three-run blast lifts Angels to series win over first-place Mariners.” How you read that is one of those glass half-full questions.

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• The optimistic M’s fan looks at the last three words and thinks, “Hey, my team is in first place.” And that is true. Glance at the American League standings as the All-Star break dawns and if all you see is Seattle at the top of the West, good for you. Life is obviously simpler without worry or cares.

Some of us don’t wear glasses with rose-colored lenses.

We recognize reality, of course. Despite all its foibles and wobbles and wasted opportunities, Seattle is still where it wants to be every day. The Mariners are, no debate about it, in first place.

But for how long? That’s the rub, isn’t it Horatio?

It was less than a month ago – June 18 to be precise – the M’s led the A.L. Least by 10 games and were 13 games above .500. They were 44-31. An 8-5, road-trip kicking-off win in Cleveland put them there. At that point their two closest pursuers, Texas and Houston, were each 33-40. The ship was floating high above the waves, buoyed not just by its pitching staff but by an offense that seemed to have begun to produce. In the nine-game stretch that led to the lead, Seattle had won eight times and averaged five runs a game.

Then the bubble burst. Since that high-water mark, the Mariners are 8-15. The offense has scored four or fewer runs 17 times. That they won three of those anemic games is the only reason the headline remains true.  

The pattern has been either the offense explodes for five or more runs – a rare occurrence – and there’s a laugher, or it’s almost non-existent. For the most part, the starting pitching has done its job. Better than just about any staff in the bigs.

But too often the top end of the bullpen has been called upon to either keep the score close or save a taunt game. It has begun to show cracks. Signs of leakage.

Sunday’s game in Anaheim was the latest example.

Logan Gilbert did what he does – seven innings, two hits, zero runs, nine strikeouts and 87 pitches – and the offense did what it does – four hits, a solo home run from J.P. Crawford and basically little else.

And yet, as Ryne Stanek took the mound to start the eighth, a chance for a 2-0 win, a 2-2 split of the series with the woeful Angels and a two-game lead in the West were all in play. After all. Stanek has been solid and Andres Munoz has been lights out. The setup was perfect.

Until Stanek walked off the mound after throwing four pitches, all balls. His problem? Back spasms, something that could be gone by the end of the break or linger the rest of the season.

All we know is the lead left with him. Austin Voth, who gave up the walk-off home run Friday, came on, warmed up at length and then proceeded to make it a two-fer weekend. Adell grabbed the headlines by hitting Voth’s 11th pitch into the stands and the M’s were on their way to their third consecutive loss.

One silver lining? Munoz wasn’t needed.

That’s not much. We know. The bullpen hasn’t been overworked, per se. After all, the M’s starters have thrown the most innings in baseball. And yet the raw numbers, the headline if you will, don’t tell the entire story.

The bullpen has been taxed. The pitches the group throws are almost always crucial. Rarely does a pitcher have a cushion, either way. The pressure is starting to show.

Maybe the break will help. And help cool down the onrushing Astros. They lost their most recent two games, both in Arlington, site of Tuesday’s exhibition. Before then, though, they were 17-4 since the M’s built that double-digit lead.

We will find out quickly enough if the Astros’ momentum has faded. They open the second half Friday night at T-Mobile. Three games. First place on the line.

The last time the Astros came to town, in late May, the M’s won three of four. Scored all of nine runs. Yet added a couple games to their A.L. West lead.

That was then. Now? We wonder one thing. What will the headline read next Monday?

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, we begin with a link to John Canzano’s column, a column that covers his favorite college-adjacent event. And it doesn’t even seem close. … One of two schools still left in the conference just produced MLB’s top draft pick again. Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana was the choice of Cleveland in the draft’s leadoff position. Of course, the Beavers, who had two players taken on the first day, are members of the Pac-12 but their baseball team will play an independent schedule next spring. … Stanford and Cal each had a player picked Sunday. … The Oregonian’s football number countdown has reached No. 48. Aaron Fentress’ series includes a handful of players between Oregon State and Oregon. … The Sanders brothers are looking forward to playing together at Colorado for one more season. … The expectations keep growing for Arizona football, especially after an EA Sports College Football 25 shout-out. … A former Utah basketball player has made a good impression on the Raptors. … Two Arizona players competing in international competition had a mixed day.

Gonzaga: Everything screams the Denver Nuggets are going to use Julian Strawther more next season, his second in the NBA. They have some needs. Their first pick in this year’s draft will miss the season after a recent injury. And Strawther seems to be finding his way. Theo Lawson was in Las Vegas last night and watched as the Gonzaga product scored 32 points in a summer league loss.

Indians: It took 10 innings on a hot Spokane day, but the Indians found a way to win their fifth consecutive game, this one 9-8 win over Everett at Avista Stadium. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … Elsewhere in the NWL, Vancouver remained tied with the Indians in the second half after a 7-4 win in Eugene. … Hillsboro handled Tri-City 10-8 at home.

Mariners: We linked the game story above. We do it again here. … We mentioned the top of the MLB draft in the Pac-12 section above. But the M’s picked midway through and took a pitcher with an odd delivery. If you consider being able to throw with both arms odd.

Storm: When Seattle wins, it’s usually because of one end of the court. The defensive end. Such was the case Sunday in the 81-70 home victory over Atlanta Dream.

Wimbledon: For the second consecutive year, Carlos Alcaraz has won the men’s trophy. And for the second consecutive year, Novak Djokovic was denied his record-tying eighth title.

Sounders: Soccer’s big day started with Spain handing England another crushing defeat, winning the Euro title 2-1. And then everything went to pieces. At least in Miami, site of the Copa America final match. Fans without tickets stormed the gate. Security was overwhelmed. Fox’s broadcast was as well. A lengthy delayed ensued but many folks with tickets, some costing into the four figures, were left outside and without a seat as interlopers took their spots. On the grass, Argentina scored late in overtime and won 1-0 even though Lionel Messi sprained his ankle badly and missed much of the contest. … Could Spain’s manager actually have interest in leading the United States’ team? Seems so.

Golf: The Rosauers Open Invitational is this week at Indian Canyon, a prominent event in and of itself. But Jim Meehan delves into the best part of the week, the good the tournament has done with its long-standing relationship with Vanessa Behan, a relationship when the then-named crisis nursery was in its infancy. … Golf’s rules are weird. Too weird for our tastes. Robert MacIntyre’s comeback win yesterday at the Scottish Open was a direct result of the weird rules.

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• We may miss a day or two the next week. We are headed to Las Vegas, land of the 115-degree-in-the-shade day. It’s not staying there that worries us. It’s crossing the desert to get there and then crossing it again on our way back to heaven, or as Spokane is known in the summer, next week that has us on edge. If we are skipping, we’ll give a day’s notice. We promise. Until later …