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
Playoff Race: Where Seattle Mariners stand after win over Astros
The Seattle Mariners aren’t checking out of the AL West race yet, and they’re also a little closer to a wild card because of it.
On a night where the Houston Astros could have clinched the division with a win over Seattle, the M’s rode a scoreless start from native Texan Bryce Miller to a 6-1 victory on Monday at Minute Maid Park.
Miller shines, Mariners win 6-1 to keep Astros from clinching
Don’t get too excited – the Astros (85-72) still can clinch the AL West with a win in either of the following two games of the series. But the good news is if the Mariners (81-76) can avoid that from happening, they’ll have an ace in the hole as they have guaranteed the season series over the Astros. Monday’s win makes the M’s 7-4 against Houston this year, so if the two division rivals somehow tie at the end of the season, the Mariners would take the AL West crown.
That remains a long shot. Not only would Seattle need to sweep Houston to keep its AL West hopes alive, but it would need help from the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians, who play the Astros in three games to close out the season. With five games to go for both the Mariners and Astros, Seattle needs Houston to not get to 87 wins, while also getting to at least 85 wins itself. If Houston loses out, they’ll be 85-77. If the Mariners win out, they will be 86-76.
The wild card – two of them, actually – remains the Mariners’ best shot at making the playoffs, however.
MLB Standings: Division | Wild card
Most of Seattle’s competition in that race had Monday off, so the Mariners picked up a half-game on the three teams they’re chasing for the wild cards. They’re now 1 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals (82-74), who are tied for the last two postseason spots from the American League. The M’s are also a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins (81-75) in the chase.
Seattle can’t rely on just tying with any of those teams, though. The M’s will need to finish a game ahead in the standings of at least two of them to make the playoffs.
There was one more team alive in the race for the AL wild cards that played Monday. The Boston Red Sox improved to 79-78 with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. They’re now 3 1/2 games back of a playoff spot and two behind Seattle.
Fangraphs’ playoff odds for the Mariners are at 11.9% after Monday’s win. The M’s have a 9.4% chance at a wild card, and a 2.5% chance at winning the AL West.
One more note on the Mariners following Monday’s win: Now at 81 wins on the year, Seattle is guaranteed to not have a losing season. One more win over the final five games will give the Mariners their fourth consecutive winning season, tying a club record that happened once in franchise history from 2000-03.
How can the Seattle Mariners make the playoffs?
• To take the AL West, Seattle needs to win at least four more times than the Astros do over the final five games. The Astros’ magic number is two, meaning they will clinch the division with any combination of Houston wins and Seattle losses that reaches two. With the two rivals playing again Tuesday and Wednesday, that means the Astros can clinch with a win in either game.
• To earn a wild card, the Mariners need at least two of these to happen this week:
– Win at least two more games than the Twins.
– Win at least three more games than the Royals.
– Win at least three more games than the Tigers.
Who plays who?
The Mariners (81-76) have two more games at Houston, then finish up with a three-game home series against Oakland (67-89).
The Astros (85-72) play the AL Central champion Guardians (90-67) in Cleveland after their series with the Mariners.
The Twins (81-75) host Miami (57-99) for three games, then Baltimore (86-70), the likely first AL wild card winner.
The Royals (82-74) are at Washington (69-87) and Atlanta (85-71) to wrap up the regular season.
The Tigers (82-74) play the Rays in Detroit, then welcome the MLB-worst White Sox (36-120) to town.
The Rays (78-78) go to Boston after the series with the Tigers.
The Red Sox (79-78) are at Toronto (73-84) before the series with the Rays.
What’s next
The Mariners play the Astros at 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, then 11:10 a.m. Wednesday. Mariners Radio Network coverage can be heard on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Wednesday with the pregame show. For more on how to hear Mariners radio broadcasts from Seattle Sports, click here.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Mariners activate reliever Gregory Santos from injured list
• Julio Rodríguez named AL Player of the Week
• The Final Push: What the Mariners are up against in last week
• Astros star hurt before huge series against M’s in Houston
• Five Seattle Mariners prospects who raised their stock with big seasons
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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