SEATTLE — As the Seattle Kraken scattered following the end of their second season in existence, general manager Ron Francis and coach Dave Hakstol received an overwhelming message from their players.
Getting to the playoffs and making a run was great and will go a long way in helping establish the Kraken in their hometown. But there was also a missed opportunity to do something really special with this season.
“We didn’t have to say that. Our players were saying that to us,” Francis said Thursday. “They understood that they had a good season, but they were not happy that they didn’t advance beyond this round.”
Seattle’s management was still dealing with the mixed emotions that came with the Kraken’s unexpected playoff run and the disappointment when it ended earlier this week in a Game 7 loss to Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals.
Making the playoffs was significant for the second-year franchise. Knocking out defending champion Colorado galvanized the community. But there was a bitter taste left behind from falling to the Stars.
“We felt like we had a great commitment right from Day 1 of training camp all the way through,” Hakstol said. “There was a real purpose to everything that the guys were doing on a daily basis. That tracks back to your leadership.”
The messages both given and received by Hakstol and Francis also were pointed toward next season and not letting the playoff run be a one-time event in the infancy of the franchise.
Francis noted there will be room to improve the roster. Seattle has 10 draft picks and is expected to have a chunk of space under the salary cap. Some of that money seems destined to go to defenseman Vince Dunn, who’ll be a restricted free agent, with forward Ryan Donato and defenseman Carson Soucy highlighting Seattle’s list of unrestricted free agents.
“We’re hopeful, yeah. But we’ll see how those go. We haven’t started them yet,” Francis said of talks with Dunn, who had a career-high 64 points. “Usually if you get a deal where the team is not happy and the player is not happy, that’s probably a fair deal. So we’ll see if we can strive to get to that point.”
One player Seattle would like to get a full season from is forward Andre Burakovsky, who missed the final three months because of injury. Francis provided clarity about what happened with Burakovsky, who was Seattle’s leading scorer when he last took the ice for a game in early February.
Francis said Burakovsky tore a groin muscle in his first shift of Seattle’s first game following the All-Star break against New Jersey. The initial diagnosis was that Burakovsky should be back just after the trade deadline and would be, in turn, Seattle’s roster addition.
But Burakovsky had a pair of setbacks along the way that eventually led to surgery to fully repair the injury in mid-April. If Seattle had advanced to the Stanley Cup final there was a chance Burakovsky could have returned.
“We missed him. But also, great job by the guys in that locker room. They didn’t use it as an excuse or a crutch,” Francis said. “They continued to fight and battle and believe in what they had and found a way to still have some success.”
Francis said the expectation that Burakovsky would return played into Seattle’s decision not to make any moves at the trade deadline. That also worked out in Seattle’s favor, giving the Kraken maximum flexibility going into the offseason.
“If there’s a way we can improve our team and we feel makes us better we’re certainly not going to hesitate to do that,” Francis said. “But we think we’ve got a good group and we’re headed in the right direction.”
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.