Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized, can be an opportunity to change minds.
Seattle, WA
3 things to know as Seattle Mariners face NL East-leading Phillies
There are probably few teams in MLB as happy to see the calendar flip to August as the Seattle Mariners.
The troubling trend developing for the Seattle Mariners
July spiraled into a bad month for the M’s. They fell out of first place in the American League West for the first time in over two months, lost 10 of their final 15 games following a 5-4 start, went 1-7 in one-run contests and lost two series to the lowly Los Angeles Angels, including being swept for the first time all season.
On top of it all, star center fielder Julio Rodríguez and shortstop J.P. Crawford went on the injured list.
However, the Mariners added reinforcements at the trade deadline and enter August in a virtual tie for first place in the AL West with the Houston Astros, and they get strong challenge right away. The Mariners open the month Friday with a three-game home series against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who come in with the second-best record in MLB at 65-43.
Here’s three things to know as Seattle begins a two-month dash for the AL West title against one baseball’s top squads:
Baseball’s best top staffs square off
The Mariners and Phillies have been considered to be the best in baseball this season. The numbers back it up.
Both rotations rank in the top five in the league fWAR, ERA, FIP, opponents’ batting average, WHIP, walks per nine innings, home runs per nine innings, innings pitched and quality starts. Here’s where they stand:
• fWAR: 1. Phillies (12.7), 2. Mariners (11.9)
• ERA: 1. Mariners (3.30), 2. Phillies (3.31)
• OBA: 1. Mariners (.222), 2. Phillies (.227)
• FIP: 1. Mariners (3.54), 4. Phillies (3.63)
• BB/9: 1. Mariners (1.81), 5. Phillies (2.47)
• HR/9: 4. Phillies (0.98), 5. M’s (1.03)
• IP: 1. Mariners (640 2/3), 2. Phillies (626)
• QS: 1. Mariners (66), 2. Phillies (58)
• WHIP: 1. Mariners (1.04), 2. Phillies (1.12)
It would appear as if a pitching clinic is in line at T-Mobile Park this weekend, but neither team will seeing the best of the other’s rotation.
Philadelphia is dealing with multiple injuries. Former Mariner Taijuan Walker went on the IL with a right index finger strain in late June. Veteran right-hander Spencer Turnbull, who was moved to the bullpen in May due to Philadelphia’s wealth of starters, suffered a right lat strain in his first start after replacing Walker in the starting rotation. And All-Star left-hander Ranger Suárez recently went hit the IL with lower back soreness.
Former All-Star Aaron Nola and left-hander Cristopher Sánchez also aren’t scheduled to pitch for the Phillies.
The Mariners’ staff remains at full strength, but Luis Castillo and George Kirby won’t be taking the mound.
There’s still some good pitching matchups in store starting with Friday’s matchup between Bryan Woo (4-1, 2.35) and Tyler Phillips (3-0, 1.80). Phillips has made just three starts, but is coming off a four-hit shutout against Cleveland.
The marquee billing is Sunday’s series finale, as All-Stars Logan Gilbert (6-7, 3.11) and Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.94) square off.
Seattle Mariners limping into August
The previously mentioned injuries to Rodríguez and Crawford are painful, but those aren’t the only health issues the Mariners are dealing with.
Breakout outfielder Víctor Robles left Tuesday’s game and didn’t play the following day with a lingering hip issue. Manager Scott Servais’ update after Wednesday’s game in Boston wasn’t very encouraging.
“I wish it was easy as just a couple days downs and it’ll going away,” Servais said. “I think this is something that he’s going to have to deal with here going forward. And then we’ll see. We’ll see how he feels.”
Robles has been red-hot since joining the team as a waiver pickup and currently helping fill the void in center field without Rodríguez. In 33 games with Seattle, Robles is slashing .360/.422/.520 eight extra-base hits and nine stolen base .
Seattle’s bullpen is also facing uncertainty after hard-throwing reliever Gregory Santos exited the game with a bicep issues. Santos was set to undergo an MRI when the team return to Seattle on Thursday. An update on Santos’ status will likely come Friday.
The good news is the Mariners are hopeful Rodríguez, who went on the IL with a high right ankle sprain on July 23, will return at some point during the homestand. Outfielder Dom Canzone also began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday.
The bad news is Crawford likely won’t return until September due to a fractured pinky.
Mirroring slide
The Mariners’ tough month of July was detailed a bit earlier. It also didn’t go much better for the Phillies. Philadelphia produced an identical 10-14 record, went 1-5 in one-run games and closed the month with a 3-9 stretch after the All-Star break.
The short-handed rotation played a factor in the Phillies’ struggles, with their starters falling to the middle pack in most categories and ranking 20th in ERA (4.64) in July after being near or at the top of the leaderboard all season. Phillies relievers also struggled with a 6.17 ERA and 19 home runs allowed over 84 2/3 innings.
In an effort to alleviate the bullpen problems, they acquired standout Angels closer Carlos Estévez and White Sox left-hander Tanner Banks at the trade deadline.
The Mariners could be catching the Phillies at the right time, but Philadelphia could say the same about the banged-up Mariners.
More on Seattle Mariners and the trade deadline
• How experts are grading Seattle Mariners trade deadline moves
• Mariners Trade Deadline Tracker: Keep up on every move
• Mariners’ Dipoto on top prospects staying put at deadline
• Drayer: Mariners navigated thin market for deadline adds
• A closer look at Mariners trade acquisition Justin Turner
SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
Seattle, WA
Iran and Egypt to play in Seattle ‘Pride Match’ despite earlier complaints | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, ahead of December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organizers designated the June 26 match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.”
Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body FIFA to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with FIFA.
Some in Seattle have doubts over the teams in the ‘Pride Match’
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned.
“The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years.
“It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.”
Some in the city’s LGBTQ community had mixed feelings given the participants, said Jon Cairns, 49, manager of local LGBTQ+ club Kremwerk.
Cairns, however, said his own view was that it provided a platform to promote acceptance that only the world’s biggest sporting event could offer.
“My reaction is let’s have them,” he told Reuters. “International sports is one of the biggest brokers historically of social change and individual rights and freedoms worldwide, including in the U.S.”
He cited black U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised-fist protest in 1968 as moments where “only international sports could reach that big of an audience.”
“They’re not going to turn off the World Cup on state television in Iran or Egypt to block out a Pride flag in the audience,” Cairns said.
The Pride Match is “a host city initiative” and separate of FIFA, a spokesperson for soccer’s governing body told Reuters.
Seattle’s LGBTQ community sees an opportunity
Egypt and Iran’s involvement in the Pride Match is not the first time the World Cup has grappled with stark differences in attitudes between hosts and visitors.
In 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the emir said visitors should “respect our culture” when asked about gay people attending the tournament.
FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans. Teams including England and the Netherlands that had been planning to wear the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships abandoned the plan.
For Ryan Webster, a 40-year-old lifestyle manager who was at Kremwerk the weekend before Pride, Seattle’s “Pride Match” was an opportunity to show solidarity with people in countries where their sexuality was outlawed.
“I’m choosing to believe that this is our moment to allow the members of the LGBTQ community that come from those countries to have the opportunity to celebrate themselves in totality that they might not have otherwise,” he said outside the club, which will host a watch party for Friday’s game.
Inside, ‘Venus Fengz’ lip-synced to Cher’s “Believe” before introducing fellow drag performers to the stage, clapped and cheered by a raucous crowd.
Fengz, who only wanted to provide their stage name, said Pride coinciding with the World Cup would bring increased visibility, anticipating perhaps some new audience members.
“I think it’s always great for us to be able to share space and share places with people who don’t have the same experiences as us,” they told Reuters.
“Sometimes you just have to be the bigger person and show grace where you can and know that everyone is a human learning (from) different experiences, but also it can get hard — because you’re on the shorter end of the stick, always trying to have to explain yourself around people who don’t grow up with the same worldview.”
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