Seattle, WA
Seattle roars as 36,128 watch U.S. debut new Lumen grass in 1-0 loss to Japan
SEATTLE — Maika Hamano scored and Japan beat the U.S. women’s national team 1-0 in a friendly on Tuesday tight to snap the Americans’ 10-game winning streak.
The loss was the first for the U.S. since Oct. 23, 2025, a 2-1 setback to Portugal, and marked the first time the Americans lost in a shutout in 42 games.
RELATED | USWNT gets a sneak peek at the grass installed at Lumen for the World Cup
Japan midfielder Maika Hamano (17) celebrates with defender Risa Shimizu (2) after scoring against the United States during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The U.S. had won 10 straight matches for the first time since 2023 after its 2-1 victory against Japan on Saturday.
Before Saturday, Japan had won the last meeting with the United States 2-1 in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup final.
Hamano fooled Lilly Reale, and then booted a left-footed shot over goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s outstretched left hand in the 27th minute.
Japan goalkeeper Akane Okuma collects the ball against United States midfielder Jaedyn Shaw during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
U.S. coach Emma Hayes made sweeping changes to the lineup she had used on Saturday in San Jose, resting players including Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman, who started in the previous game.
Wilson and Rodman entered as substitutes in the 65th minute, as did Tierna Davidson and Gisele Thompson. Davidson had not played for the United States since February 2025, after tearing her ACL in a match with Gotham FC last March.
Wilson played for the second straight match after the birth of her daughter. She had not played for the U.S. since October 2024.
Tuesday marked the first time the U.S. women’s national team played on the new grass that has been installed at Lumen Field for this summer’s World Cup. The women’s team had not been to Lumen since 2017 because of the stadium’s artificial turf.
The announced crowd was 36,128 for the game, which broke the record for a standalone women’s match in Seattle. Megan Rapinoe’s retirement match with the Seattle Reign in 2023 drew 34,130 fans.
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The finale of the three-game series between the U.S. and Japan is slated for Friday in Commerce City, Colorado.
With the tax deadline just past, you might have old paper documents you’re ready to shred and recycle. Just announced – a chance to do that for free this Wednesday (April 22), 1-4 pm!
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Thanks to Carrie Brown for the westward view of our Saturday night sunset. The high today hit 68 at the airport – eight degrees above normal – but nowhere near the record for this date, which was 89 degrees back in 2016. The forecast suggests two more days of partly sunny, almost-70-degree weather, before the chance of rain returns.
CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
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