Associated Press

Seattle Storm (17-10, 8-6 Western Conference) at Washington Mystics (6-21, 3-10 Eastern Conference)

Washington; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Washington Mystics takes on the Seattle Storm after Stefanie Dolson scored 23 points in the Washington Mystics’ 99-83 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

The Mystics have gone 3-10 in home games. Washington is 2-4 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Storm are 6-7 on the road. Seattle has a 1-1 record in one-possession games.

Washington averages 9.6 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 6.8 per game Seattle gives up. Seattle averages 6.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.4 fewer made shots on average than the 8.4 per game Washington allows.

The two teams play for the third time this season. The Storm defeated the Mystics 101-69 in their last matchup on May 26. Nneka Ogwumike led the Storm with 19 points, and Karlie Samuelson led the Mystics with 16 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ariel Atkins is averaging 15.5 points, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals for the Mystics.

Jewell Loyd is averaging 20.4 points and four assists for the Storm.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mystics: 2-8, averaging 79.8 points, 30.4 rebounds, 23.1 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 88.1 points per game.

Storm: 6-4, averaging 85.6 points, 33.9 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 8.5 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.1 points.

INJURIES: Mystics: None listed.

Storm: MacKenzie Holmes: out for season (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Seattle Mariners earned a much-needed win on Sunday when they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3. It was the first win for the Mariners on their current nine-game road trip. They lost their five road games before Sunday.

Seattle starter George Kirby earned the win for his efforts on Sunday against the Pirates. But arguably the worst outings of his career came on this exact road trip.

Kirby’s last start came against the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 13 in the first of the nine-game road trip. He pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 11 runs (six earned) off 12 hits. All 11 runs were originally ruled as earned before a play was retroactively changed to a throwing error to shortstop Leo Rivas.

Kirby followed one of his worst starts of his career up with a six-inning, five-strikeout quality start on Sunday.

“I just tried to put last week behind me. Take a couple things, learn from it,” Kirby said in a postgame interview Sunday. “Today I just tried to pitch angry, pissed off. It really worked the first four (innings). And it kind of was hard for me to reel it back in the fifth and sixth. Got a little wild. … But I’m just happy — quality start, gave the team a chance to win.”

It was a good bounce back for Kirby. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the game for two years but this season he hasn’t had the greatest win-loss record. Due to very little fault of his own.

According to the ROOT Sports pregame broadcast — Sunday was just Seattle’s second win in Kirby’s last nine starts. He has a 3.40 ERA this season in 26 starts with 148 strikeouts in 150.2 innings pitched with a 9-9 record.

That is indicative of the kind of season the Mariners offense has had. But there’s 37 games left in the season and the team’s four games out of the top spot in the American League West. There’s not a time better than now to give Kirby, and the rest of the pitching staff, some much-needed support.

SNIDER PUTTING UP CAREER NUMBERS: Seattle Mariners reliever Collin Snider added another solid outing to what’s shaping out to be a career-best season on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. CLICK HERE

MARINERS BATS COME ALIVE AGAINST PIRATES: The Seattle Mariners put up the best offensive performance of its current road trip with a 10-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. CLICK HERE

MARINERS OFFENSE GOES QUIET AGAINST PIRATES: The Seattle Mariners went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, left 10 runners on base, lost their fifth-straight game and lost the series to the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 7-2 on Saturday. CLICK HERE

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady

Unable to maintain a five-point halftime lead, the Seattle Seahawks dropped their first game of the Mike Macdonald era in a 16-15 preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night, leaving just one exhibition audition remaining for the coaching staff to evaluate the roster before final cut downs on August 27.

After taking a deeper dive into Saturday’s defeat in Nashville, which players will be on Seattle’s roster when the regular season opens against Denver on September 8? With less than two weeks until cut down day, here’s my latest shot at projecting the 53-man roster as well as the 16-player practice squad:

Starter: Geno Smith

Backup: Sam Howell

Practice Squad: TBD

Comfortable wearing a ball cap on the sidelines, Smith may finally get a few reps in the preseason finale next weekend, but his job has never been in danger. With that said, Howell continues to take positive steps forward running Ryan Grubb’s offense, as he completed almost 80 percent of his passes in Saturday’s defeat with a touchdown and no turnovers. The Seahawks should have growing confidence that if Smith gets banged up at any point, they can certainly win games with their new backup beginning to show off his skill set and play to his potential. The same can’t be said for PJ Walker, who has struggled in both preseason games and opened the door for the team to be looking closely to the waiver wire for a third quarterback.

Starter: Ken Walker III

Backups: Zach Charbonnet, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh

Practice Squad: Kobe Lewis

With Charbonnet nursing a lower body injury right now, it seems even more likely the Seahawks will hold onto each of their top four backs for the start of the regular season, as McIntosh may have locked up his spot with an impressive outing on Saturday night running the ball and snagging passes out of the backfield. Pass protection still remains a concern for him, but he’s shown more than enough to warrant inclusion on the roster, while Holani’s lack of snaps in Nashville suggest the team already has seen enough from him on offense and special teams to this point.

Starters: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Backups: Jake Bobo, Laviska Shenault, Dareke Young

Practice Squad: Cody White, Easop Winston

Atop the depth chart, Metcalf, Lockett, Smith-Njigba, and Bobo all entered Saturday as locks to make Seattle’s roster, and at this point, Shenault should be in that group as well. He laid a tremendous lead block to spring Dee Williams for a 41-yard kick return on Saturday night and has continued to make an impact breaking tackles after the catch and as a runner with the ball in his hands, providing a different skill set than the top four receivers on the roster. As far as competitions go, Winston may have closed the gap a little bit on Young after catching a 23-yard touchdown against the Titans, but it’s debatable whether he has done enough to overtake his teammate for a roster spot. With Young being a better overall special teams player and a superior athlete who can line up at multiple spots on offense, he’s still likely the sixth receiver to round out the depth chart.

Starter: Noah Fant

Backups: AJ Barner, Brady Russell

Practice Squad: Tyler Mabry, Jack Westover

Injured Reserve: Pharaoh Brown

It remains to be seen how severe Brown’s foot injury suffered during joint practices is, but the fact he had to be carted off the field and the Seahawks have yet to provide an update on his status several days later suggests that he may need to miss extended time. Depending on the severity, they could wait until after the final cut downs to place him on injured reserve to ensure he has a chance to play later in the season. Assuming he’s going to miss the start of the regular season, Barner and Russell would immediately step into bigger roles on offense, while keeping both Mabry and Westover as insurance options on the practice squad would be more important.

Starters: Charles Cross, Laken Tomlinson, Connor Williams, Anthony Bradford, Abraham Lucas

Backups: George Fant, Christian Haynes, Olu Oluwatimi, McClendon Curtis

Practice Squad: Mike Jerrell, Sataoa Laumea, Max Pircher*

*Doesn’t count against 16-man limit on practice squad as International Pathway Player

If anything was proven on Saturday night, there’s a massive, Mount Everest crevasse-sized gap between the Seahawks first and second-string offensive linemen and the third unit, which struggled mightily throughout the second half both in pass protection and run blocking. As late round picks, the team will hope to keep Jerrell and Laumea for further development on the practice squad, but it’s tough to envision either of them making the team if Lucas and Williams both are ready for Week 1 as hoped. Bradford’s dominant performance on Saturday night may have been enough to fend off Haynes – at least for now – in the right guard competition, while Curtis looked better than Stone Forsythe playing with the starters to further cement his roster spot.

Starters: Leonard Williams, Johnathan Hankins, Jarran Reed

Backups: Byron Murphy II, Mike Morris, Myles Adams

Practice Squad: Devere Levelston

Though they had to play deep into Saturday’s game in large part due to lack of numbers, Morris and Adams both played solid football against the Titans, combining for five pressures, a sack, and four run stops. There’s no question each player should have a spot saved for them on the 53-man roster and will play meaningful roles as rotational defensive linemen, at least until the team potentially brings someone else in off the waiver wire later this month. Murphy only played a few drives last night, which means he’s already in the protection zone for the Seahawks, and it may not be too long before he’s starting alongside Williams and Reed.

Starters: Uchenna Nwosu, Dre’Mont Jones

Backups: Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Darrell Taylor

Practice Squad: Jamie Sheriff, Nelson Ceaser

Since Jones remains sidelined, Mafe and Hall have played into the second half in both preseason games, but that shouldn’t send the message either player’s job is in jeopardy. Both have played well in the exhibition contests, with Hall being particularly effective registering a pair of sacks, and they will see extensive roles as rotational rushers in Macdonald’s defense. Taylor came back healthy to make his 2024 debut and while he had some promising rushes, he couldn’t turn any of them into sacks or quarterback hits. The lack of depth at the position keeps him on the roster as a situational rusher. In the undrafted ranks, Sheriff has been a revelation in the first two preseason games with seven combined pressures and the Seahawks would be wise to hang onto him for further development.

Starters: Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker

Backups: Tyrice Knight, Jon Rhattigan

Practice Squad: Patrick O’Connell, Drake Thomas

With Baker and Dodson not playing on Saturday, Knight saw his most extended action yet, leading the Seahawks with eight tackles and making an impressive stop sniffing out a screen for a tackle for loss. The fourth-round pick still has room to grow dissecting run concepts and handling coverage duties, but he stood out in a reserve linebacker group that had plenty of struggles on Saturday. Rhattigan was exploited a couple times in coverage with his inability to get deep enough on his zone drops, while O’Connell committed a killer defensive holding penalty on 3rd and 2 to extend a scoring drive for the Titans. Thomas should thrust himself into the competition in next week’s finale after returning from the PUP list last week, but this remains a position that could be ripe for improvement off the waiver wire.

Starters: Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen

Backups: Tre Brown, Mike Jackson, Artie Burns, Nehemiah Pritchett, Dee Williams

Practice Squad: D.J. James, Carlton Johnson

The Seahawks have a wealth of riches at cornerback with Witherspoon, Woolen, and Brown all being locks and Burns likely on the roster as well. Coming back from an injury, Jackson probably finds himself on the right side of the bubble, but he could potentially be dangled as trade bait for cornerback-needy teams with the goal of adding depth at another position or a late round draft pick. Rounding out the depth chart, Pritchett turned in a solid performance on Saturday night and has been far better than James, who gave up a touchdown in coverage and committed two bad penalties to lead to a Titans field goal in the second half. Of those two rookies from Auburn, Pritchett has earned the roster spot, while Williams continues to flash as a return specialist and looked good at cornerback on Saturday, which puts him on the right side of the bubble.

Starters: Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins

Backups: K’Von Wallace, Coby Bryant

Practice Squad: Ty Okada

PUP List: Jerrick Reed III

Saturday night was a clear step back for Bryant, who had two awful missed tackles in the first half, including one whiff that allowed Julius Chestnut to race off for a 23-yard gain on Tennessee’s lone touchdown drive. Still, his versatility and performance throughout camp should keep him on the roster, while Wallace’s spot appears to be safe as well. Recording a diving interception against Malik Willis, Okada has done enough in the preseason for consideration to make the roster as well, but he may be the odd man out due to a numbers game with Seattle likely to choose a player with kick return ability like Williams for one of the final spots instead. He should be a lock for the practice squad, however.

Starters: Jason Myers, Michael Dickson, Chris Stoll

Myers has irked some fans by his struggles with extra points – he missed one for the second straight preseason game on Saturday – but he also nailed all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50-yard connection that could have been a game winner if not for the defense folding in the final two minutes. There’s not another kicker, punter, or long snapper on the roster and the Seahawks have plenty of confidence in this trio moving forward.