The Mariners are trying to salvage their brief series against the Padres with a split tonight.

The M’s kicked off their extended homestand yesterday with a rough 7-3 loss.

Manny Machado hit a 2-run homer to become San Diego’s career home runs leader and Fernando Tatis Jr. added a second shot in the win for the Padres.

Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley each hit solo homers over the first two innings to give Seattle an early lead.

But the Padres’ offense overwhelmed George Kirby, who left after giving up five runs through five innings in the start.

The Mariners announced yesterday that Luis Castillo will go on the 15-day injured list due to a hamstring injury he suffered in Sunday’s win over St. Louis.

GM Justin Hollander says he hopes Castillo will only miss two weeks.

Seattle also moved right-handed reliever Yimi García to the 60-day injured list, ending his season after he was acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline.

The Mariners will look to rebound from the loss and some unfortunate injury news in tonight’s second, and final, game of their series against the Padres with Bryan Woo on the mound.

Coverage begins at 5:30 and first pitch is at 6:40 on KPUG.

 

Sonics fans will have to wait just a little longer to get their hopes up for an NBA team returning to Seattle.

League commissioner Adam Silver says there wasn’t any talk of expansion during this week’s meeting of the league’s board of governors.

But he does say the topic will be discussed at some point “this season.”

Silver added that there’s “certainly interest in the process,” though no decisions on any specific markets or even the move to expand have been made yet.

 

Russell Wilson’s debut with Pittsburgh could be pushed back again.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says the team is again preparing as if Justin Fields will be their starting quarterback ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Broncos.

Russ was slotted as the Steelers’ QB1 ahead of their season opener before aggravating a calf injury he suffered earlier in the preseason.

He didn’t participate at practice today and Tomlin says he’s still hurt.

 

The United States men’s national soccer team is under new leadership.

The US Soccer Federation announced yesterday that Mauricio Pochettino has signed a two-year contract to be the team’s manager through the 2026 World Cup.

The 52-year-old Argentine has coached at some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

In that time, he has coached some of the top players in the game, such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Harry Kane.

The announcement comes after former manager Gregg Berhalter was fired following the team’s poor showing at this summer’s Copa America.

 

Meanwhile, Western Washington University’s powerhouse rowing program found its new coach a bit closer to home. 

The school announced yesterday that longtime assistant coach Courtney Moeller will head the 9x national champion Vikings’ rowing team.

She’ll replace legendary head coach John Fuchs, who retired this summer after 26 years leading the program.

Moeller was a student-athlete on the Vikings’ first-ever rowing championship in 2005, which started an incredible streak of seven straight national titles.

She’ll lead a team that’s looking to defend the national title it won earlier this year to bring the program’s grand total to 10.