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
Three things that stand out after Seattle Mariners' wild series in KC
In another crazy series at Kauffman Stadium that was filled with wild twists and turns, the Seattle Mariners escaped Kansas City with an extra-inning win on Sunday to avoid getting swept for the first time this season.
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The Mariners suffered their most demoralizing loss of the year on Friday night, blowing an eight-run lead in a 10-9 walkoff defeat. They lost again Saturday night and then blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon, but rebounded with three runs in the 10th and held on for a 6-5 extra-inning victory. Through 20 series this season, Seattle still has not been swept.
The Mariners remain atop the AL West at 37-30, sitting five games ahead of the Texas Rangers and 6.5 games in front of the Houston Astros. As the M’s return to T-Mobile Park for a seven-game homestand against the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox and the AL West rival Rangers, here are three things that stand out.
More Kauffman craziness
The Mariners seemed well on their way to a comfortable win in Friday’s series opener after scoring seven runs in the first inning and stretching their lead to 8-0 in the fourth. But as they’ve found in recent years, nothing comes easy at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals stormed all the way back and won on a ninth-inning walkoff to hand Seattle a stunning 10-9 loss.
It was a bit of déjà vu from a late-September game in 2022, when the Mariners held an 11-2 lead over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium before surrendering 11 runs in the sixth inning and falling 13-12. More chaos ensued in Seattle’s trip to Kansas City last year, when both teams blew big leads in the first two games of the series. The Royals blew a 5-0 lead in the series opener before winning 7-6 on a walkoff bunt single, and then the Mariners blew a 7-0 lead the following night before winning 10-8 in extra innings.
In fact, of the last nine games between these two teams at Kauffman Stadium, six have been decided by one run and two more have been decided by two runs. Seven of those nine games had a go-ahead run scored in the eighth inning or later, including five games with a go-ahead run in the ninth or later. With both teams firmly in the AL playoff picture right now, just imagine if these two teams were to meet in a postseason series at Kauffman Stadium.
Rough series on the hill
Even the best pitching staffs go through rough patches over the course of a 162-game season. For the Mariners, this weekend was certainly one of those times. Seattle gave up 23 runs in the three-game set, which was the most it had allowed in any three-game series this season.
The Royals average 4.98 runs per game, which ranks third in the American League behind the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians. And according to Statcast, Kauffman Stadium has the third-highest park factor in the majors, meaning its one of the game’s most hitter-friendly parks. So, if the Mariners were going to have a rough series on the mound at some point, it makes sense that it happened in this particular series.
Bryce Miller was scoreless through the first three innings of Friday’s opener, but gave up a three-run homer in the fourth and yielded a season-high seven runs in five-plus innings. After opening the season with a sparkling 2.04 ERA through his first six starts, Miller has a 5.36 ERA over his past seven outings. On Saturday, Luis Castillo surrendered a season-high five runs in five innings, ending an impressive streak of 10 consecutive starts of allowing two earned runs or fewer. George Kirby then stabilized things for Seattle’s rotation on Sunday, tossing seven strong innings of one-run ball.
The bullpen had a nightmarish series. Seattle’s relievers blew a pair of saves and allowed a combined nine earned runs, 11 hits and seven walks in 9 2/3 innings. The Mariners’ bullpen has been decimated by injuries, with Matt Brash out for the season, Gregory Santos out until at least July, Gabe Speier on the 15-day injured list and Andrés Muñoz recently missing a few days after aggravating a lower-back issue in a collision at home plate. On top of that, Seattle is entering the final week of a grueling stretch of 43 games in 45 days. The Mariners’ bullpen has held up admirably for most of the year, but it’s possible the injuries and lack of off days could finally be taking their toll.
The good news, however, is that Muñoz returned to pitch a one-two-three eighth inning on Sunday. With their bullpen’s depth already being significantly tested, the Mariners can ill-afford an IL stint from their standout closer. His return was undoubtedly the best sign of the weekend.
France heads to IL just as he was finding a groove
Heading into the season, there was optimism that Ty France could rebound from a rough 2023 campaign and recapture his All-Star-level production from the first half of 2022. France spent this past offseason honing his swing at the renowned Driveline training facility in Kent, the same place that helped Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford break out last year for the best season of his career. And after a strong spring training, it appeared the work was paying dividends.
France got off to a rough start once the regular season came around, batting just .235/.292/.326 with two homers, six doubles and a .618 OPS through his first 37 games. But around mid-May, he turned a corner. Over his past 24 games, France is hitting .279/.387/.532 with five homers, five doubles and an .919 OPS. However, in the first inning of Friday’s game, France got hit by a pitch on his right heel. He stayed in the game and went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, but was scratched from the lineup Saturday and then placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday after it was revealed that he’d suffered a hairline fracture. It’s a tough break for a hitter who seemed to have finally rediscovered his groove.
For the Mariners, the good news is that their most MLB-ready hitting prospect happened to be a first baseman. So, with France headed to the IL, they promoted highly regarded 23-year-old slugger Tyler Locklear and started him at first base for Sunday’s series finale. Locklear, who had a strong start to the season in Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma, made an immediate impact, delivering a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning of Seattle’s extra-inning win.
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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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