Exciting Weekend in NW Sports

This weekend the Seahawks not only an excellent draft though some of the national draft experts didn’t think as well as some did and then the Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians three out of four on the road. Sunday the Mariners behind the pitching of Marco Gonzales and the hitting of Robinson Cano, Jean Segura, Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy to name a few. Cano had his one hundredth home run as a Mariner on Sunday and then Ryon Healy who had his first as a Mariner on Saturday had two more on Sunday. This does not include Mitch Haniger who had his eleventh for the season and has driven in twenty-seven runs batted in. I expected the Mariners to win because Josh Tomlin the starter for the Indians was struggling going into this game unlike the other three starters who pitched for the Indians in the series.

Gonzales went six innings in the game giving up two runs on six hits one was a home run by right fielder Brandon Guyer in the second inning. Dan Altavilla came into the game in the seventh inning and struggled giving up two runs walking two batters though he didn’t give up a hit. James Pazos actually came in for Altavilla surrendered a double that scored both runners that Altavilla walked. That was it for the game for runs scored by the Indians in the 10-4 win. Besides the two home runs Healy scored three runs total and so did Haniger. Dee Gordon had the most hits in the game with four. Including the four home runs the Mariners had a total of fourteen hits which ten were off of Tomlin. The Mariners now have Monday off before facing the Oakland A’s on Tuesday with Felix Hernandez taking the mound.

In the NFL draft Thursday thru Saturday the following draft picks were running back Rashaad Penny out of San Diego State in the first round and twenty-seventh overall pick when the Seahawks traded with the Green Bay Packers to move down from the 18^th overall. The Seahawks pick in the third round went to defensive end Rasheem Green out of University of Southern California. In the fourth round the Seahawks stayed close to home drafting University of Washington tight end Will Dissly. The round that the Seahawks made most of their picks was in the fifth round. The started out picking linebacker Shaquem Griffin out of Central Florida and the twin brother of Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin who the Seahawks picked last year. This is probably the most exciting pick in the draft for the Seahawks with getting national attention since Shaquem has only one arm. Most likely he could have been a first or second rounder if other teams didn’t pass on him because of having only one arm. We will be seeing great things from him in the future.  

The other players in the fifth round were cornerback Tre Flowers out of Oklahoma State, punter Michael Dickson out of University of Texas and Australia. This is likely the end of Jon Ryan as the Seahawks punter. The Seahawks actually moved up to pick him. The final pick  that the Seahawks made in the fifth round was offensive tackle Jamarco Jones out of Ohio State. He dropped in the draft because of his poor performance at the combine. This could be a steal for the Seahawks and likely start out as a backup at left tackle.

In the sixth round the Seahawks went for Jacob Martin out of Temple University and then the final pick was quarterback Alex McGough out of Florida International as seventh round pick.

The Seahawks have signed several undrafted college free agents including local and Pac 12 players. Among those are Albert Havili defensive lineman out of Eastern Washington, Chris Hawkins safety out of USC, offensive lineman Viane Talamaivao out of USC as well, and quarterback Troy Williams from Utah. You will see them a few more along with draft picks at the rookie camp coming up real soon. Go Hawks!