Mariners News

Broken bats are a rare occurrence in baseball – but even rarer when you’re honoring a franchise legend.

The Mariners unveiled a statue of Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki outside T-Mobile Park this morning. But the bat that the bronze Ichiro was holding in his iconic batting stance broke when the tarp was being pulled off.

Ichiro and his fellow Mariner icons Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez broke down in laughter after the unveiling.

The bat was fixed shortly after.

The statue is Ichiro’s latest honor after being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last year and having his No. 51 jersey retired by the team.

The Mariners are back at home tonight for the start of a four game series against their rival Houston Astros.

The Mariners have lost five straight after a nightmare road trip. Their offense struggled in a series sweep to the Texas Rangers, combining for just three runs across three games.

This weekend’s series will be a battle of polar opposites, with the Mariners ranking among the worst hitting teams in the MLB while boasting some of the best pitching stats. Meanwhile, the Astros have scored the most runs in the majors, while also giving up the most.

Emerson Hancock is on the mound tonight as the M’s look to snap their skid. Coverage begins at 5:30 and first pitch is at 6:40 on KPUG.

Kraken News

Speaking of skids, the Kraken finally ended one of their own.

Seattle edged the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in a shootout last night.

Berkeley Catton scored in the third period and added the game-winner to help the Kraken snap their six-game losing streak. They trailed by two goals early in the third period, but Catton scored to pull them within one before Bobby McMann tied it up.

It was just the second win for the Kraken in their last 12 games.

A loss could have eliminated them from the playoffs, but they’re still hanging on by a thread, sitting eight points back from the LA Kings for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

The Kraken will look to get another much-needed win when they host the Calgary Flames tomorrow in their penultimate home game of the season. Coverage begins at 3:30 and puck drops at 4 on KGMI.

Storm News

The Storm just lost one of their top players.

10x All-Star Nneka Ogwumike is planning to return to the Los Angeles Sparks, according to a social media post that was confirmed by her agent.

The 35-year-old averaged 18 points per game last season in her second year with the Storm. She’ll now return to LA, where she won both an MVP and championship in 2016.

Meanwhile, ESPN reports that the Storm plan to sign veteran guard Natisha Hiedeman to a two-year contract. Hiedeman averaged 9 points per game for Minnesota last year while placing third in the Most Improved Player voting and second in 6th Player of the Year.

Free agents can’t officially sign until Saturday. This is the busiest offseason in WNBA history with 80% of the players in the league being free agents.

Masters News

The second round of the Masters wrapped up today in Augusta, GA.

Reigning champ Rory McIlroy birdied the final four holes of the day to take sole possession of first place. He finished with a six-shot lead over the field, which is the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history.

McIlroy is looking to become just the fourth golfer to ever go back-to-back at Augusta National.

Meanwhile, Sam Burns dropped to a second-place tie with Patrick Reed, with both sitting at six-under.