A Grip on Sports: There are a lot of links on this column’s grill and will be on the deck’s grill later in the day

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Every baseball team with championship aspirations needs a stopper. The M’s have one in Logan Gilbert. Every soccer squad with similar hopes needs a scorer. The Sounders have one in Jordan Morris. Every sport needs a laughingstock. The NHL has one in the wings in the Florida Panthers. At least that’s how the world looks on this fine summer Sunday.

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• Before the season began, we were sure Logan Gilbert was going to ascend to the top of the list of baseball’s best starting pitchers. He has, though few outside of this region recognize that fact. Mainly because Gilbert rarely wins – though through no fault of his own.

The Mariners, for some reason, seem to feel Gilbert should never need more than one or two runs of offense to earn a win. Lately, he has started to prove them right. His last start, in Cleveland? Eight shutout innings. His latest start, in Miami after Seattle had lost three consecutive games? Eight shutout innings. Tough to lose games when the other team doesn’t score. Which is what a stopper is supposed to do. Stop offenses. Stop bad mojo. Stop losing streaks.

The tall, lanky righthander with the deep pitching arsenal should be near the top of every mid-season Cy Young watch list. Why? He leads the American League in innings pitched. His WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitcher) is a league-leading .89. Opponents are hitting .196 off him, fourth-best (or worst, if you like) in the league. He’s sixth in the A.L. with 99 strikeouts and 7th in earned run average (2.71). He has three games of this season with eight innings and no runs. That’s the most in baseball.

No game Gilbert has thrown this season was more important than Saturday’s. In three days, Seattle had lost 30% of its A.L. West lead. The wolves – or, if you prefer, the Astros – were howling at the door.

He closed it.

After the game Scott Servais stumped for Gilbert’s inclusion in next month’s All-Star Game. We could care less whether that honor comes his way. There are two awards we think Gilbert is capable of winning: As we’ve been saying for months, the Cy Young. The other? The MVP of the World Series. Starting pitchers have won it before.

Though that last one is not in his control, pinpoint as it can be. It’s up to the rest of the lineup he leads out onto the field every fifth or sixth day. If they do what they did Saturday, stroke line drives all over the park and score nine runs, there’s a chance. With Gilbert on the mound, heck, three will do.   

• Why that number? This paragraph in Ryan Divish’s game story from last night explains it better than we could:

“Gilbert has a 34-0 record in games in which the Mariners have scored three runs in the game and he’s figured into the decision while the team has a 42-9 overall record in those outings. He also improved to 25-7 in 55 road starts in his career.”

• Check the MLS’ table (as soccer terms the standings). The once feared Seattle Sounders franchise is languishing in the depths of the Western Conference. After 20 matches, fewer than four teams above them have played, they are outside of the playoffs as we reach late June. Tenth out of 14. Tied for ninth with Vancouver with 25 points actually, but the Whitecaps hold the tiebreaker.

A big part of the team’s issue revolves around a lackluster, passive attack. An attack that was non-existent in the first half last night in Seattle against even-lower-on-the-table FC Dallas. When the defense flubbed a couple possessions and Dallas took a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left, the match (and the season) seemed bleak. It was time to rise up and play with a little more aggression. Past time, actually.

Raul Ruidíaz, who had subbed in a bit earlier, broke the ice, rising above the crowd to knock home a header off a great Albert Rusnák cross. That seemed to take the edge off.

And Morris, the home-town hero and a lifer, it seems, in Seattle, showed what he’s capable of – if given opportunities.

Rusnák put another ball into the box, this one off a corner, and Morris, high above the crowd, bashed it in to tie the match at two with a couple minutes left in regulation. A home draw would have fit this season’s narrative of lost chances, but Morris was having none of it. Four minutes into extra time, Obed Vargas threaded the needle between two defenders to find a streaking Morris just past midfield. He was onsides. With the two Dallas players trying to catch him, Morris made a quick move, read goalie Maarten Paes’ challenge at the top of the box and sent home a right-footed kick.

Did the two late goals save Seattle’s so-far lackluster MLS season? Maybe. But it certainly saved the Saturday night at Lumen Field for the 30,093 in the stands. And kicked off a make-or-break three-match homestand on a positive note.

Too early for that make-or-break qualifying statement? Nope. Just making the postseason can’t be Seattle’s goal. Not for a franchise with its storied past and community support. Just barely over the line – the immediate goal, sure but not the ultimate one – is just a recipe for an early exit. And early exits shouldn’t happen in Seattle. Not two seasons in a row, at least.

• Speaking of exits, if Florida skates off the Amerant Bank Arena ice in Sunrise on Monday night without the Stanley Cup in its possession, the exit will be the latest possible one, sure. But it will also be the most disappointing. Maybe ever. In pro sports.

A second consecutive year in the Final series. The franchise’s first NHL title on the line. A 3-0 series lead. Two games still to be played at home. It seemed locked in.

Until it wasn’t. It isn’t. One game for the Cup. Edmonton rolling. Florida reeling. It should be fun. Unless you are the lone Panthers fan who reads this column. We feel for you. Maybe set your DVR. Hike into the woods Monday evening. Commune with nature. Avoid the world. When you emerge, the game will be over. Your lack-of presence in front of the TV won’t have played any part in the outcome. Have someone tell you the score. If it’s good news, watch. Revel in it. Bad? Throw your DVR, and maybe that Sam Bennett sweater too, into a nearby dumpster and walk away.

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WSU: What is it we say all the time? Recruiting never stops? That’s right. Neither does recruiting news. Greg Woods has a story on the 10th high school football player to announce his intentions to join the Cougars after his June 2025 graduation. … That’s the future. Dave Boling shares a connection to Washington State’s past. Some 45 years ago. Terry Kelly, the Gonzaga Prep guard, heads to Pullman to play for George Raveling. And starts a journey that will reach another milestone this week. Kelly will be inducted into the Hooptown Hall of Fame. … Speaking of long-ago WSU basketball stars, we have some news to pass along about Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors. Their contract negotiations are not going well. Or, more accurately, aren’t going at all. And if you consider Thompson a contemporary star, you would be right. Though he first walked on the Pullman campus 16 years ago. Sorry for making you feel old. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we are so happy for John Canzano, who decided to strike out on his own as a sportswriter. As someone who has been writing an online column for more than a dozen years, we know how much fun it can be. Every freaking day. But we don’t do near the reporting Canzano still does. And we don’t have to worry about supporting our family through the work. Good for him for taking all that on. And for the work he passes on almost every day. … The Oregonian’s football numbers countdown continues today, with No. 70 for Oregon State and Oregon. … USC has been hit recently with recruiting defections. But one five-star player is still all in. … Colorado will have a new school president soon. No, Deion Sanders is not a candidate. As far as we know. … Arizona’s budget issues must be a big deal. We have another columnist weighing in today. … The Wildcats lost a men’s assistant coach, one with Gonzaga connections, to the NBA.

Gonzaga: Unless you’ve been pulling a Rip Van Winkle, you know college athletics is undergoing massive changes. One aspect of it is conference realignment, leading to a greater gap between the rich schools and everyone else. How has the WCC responded? Well, it is growing some, adding WSU and OSU for next season and Grand Canyon and Seattle U. the next. There is strength in numbers, sure, but Mark Few recently outlined the weakness, at least as far as the Bulldogs are concerned. Jim Meehan shares his concerns with more conference games coming.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Arizona has one of the best distance running programs in America. And the U.S. Olympic team will reflect that.

Preps: When Katie Thronson graduated from Lewis and Clark High, she may have dreamed of running in the Olympics. If that’s the case, she’ll get her chance to fulfill it this week in Eugene. Greg Lee shares her story, which not only covers the Olympic dream but another one. Thronson is also in the midst of planning her wedding.

Velocity: It’s been a while since Spokane hosted a league match at ONE Spokane Stadium. As Ethan Myers tells us, they will welcome in Lexington this evening (6, SWX), hoping for a League One win for the first time since May 11.

Indians: It’s not every day an MLB pitcher makes a start for Spokane. A rehab start, sure, but German Márquez made one last night at Avista. And he was healthy enough to complete four shutout innings in Spokane’s 7-0 win over Eugene. Dave Nichols was there and has this coverage. … Elsewhere in the league, the second half is underway (with Spokane atop the standings again). Hillsboro pounded host Everett 7-2, and for a second consecutive game, Vancouver defeated Tri-City 6-4 in Pasco.

Mariners: We covered (and linked) Gilbert’s outstanding outing above in the 9-0 win. But there was more news from Miami, where Gregory Santos threw live batting practice to rave reviews. … Baseball is trying to reconnect with its shrinking Black fan base. … It had to happen someday. The Nationals lost last night on a walk-off pitch-clock violation. … Who is the greatest living baseball player, now that Willie Mays has left us? We know quite a few folks in this area would mention Ken Griffey Jr., though not us. Others would list Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens. Not us. Steroids ruined any meaningful comparison. Our mother-in-law votes for Sandy Koufax, but his career ended way too soon for that. We are torn. Mike Schmidt or Rickey Henderson? Speed or power? Flamboyance or consistency? We can’t choose. Guess it comes down to whether you prefer your stars to refer to themselves in the third person or not.  

Sounders: We can pass along a Times’ story about last night’s 3-2 victory. … We also have a couple stories from the S-R website on the U.S. National Team’s preparation for its upcoming first Copa America match. And there is more nationally, including some strategy.

Reign: Seattle is back in action today trying to break a six-match winless streak.

Storm: The franchise has been around for 25 years. And have had at least 25 stars.

Golf: It’s rare when a PGA Tour pro breaks 60 in a round. It happened yesterday in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., as Cameron Young posted a 59, the first to do that at a Tour event in four years.

Olympics: There is a lot going on in Indianapolis and Eugene. The old guard is still hanging on in swimming, the new, flashy guard is ready to take over in track and field. Both are fun. So are all the stories, including ones of redemption like Sha’Carri Richardson’s. Though her disqualification from the last Olympics due to a positive marijuana test seems so last century. … The Eugene crowd has something to cheer about.

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• Another day, another scorcher. Yes, we know it is all relative. We’re happy to welcome the 80s back to Spokane. Not the decade, the temperatures. We’ll get our yard work done early today and then harvest the fruits of our labors the rest of the afternoon. We’ll cap this beautiful Sunday by charring something on the barbecue. It’s the American way. Until later …