The Washington Mystics begin a stretch of six games in 11 days by hosting the struggling Seattle Storm on Sunday.

Washington is the youngest team in the WNBA, with only two rostered players beyond their second season of WNBA competition, but even its young roster is expected to be tested by the busy schedule.

Meanwhile, Seattle (6-18) has won three of its last six games but is still next-to-last in the league standings.

Washington (10-10) has won five of its last eight, but the Mystics come off a brutal 62-49 home loss to Golden State on Monday. Washington set a league season-low for scoring in the loss and tallied just 16 points in the second half, marking a league low for a half since 2021.

Kiki Iriafen notched 12 points and nine boards and Shakira Austin added 11 points and 11 rebounds. So meager was Washington’s offensive output that Iriafen and Austin’s total of nine made field goals equaled the rest of the team’s output combined.

The Mystics certainly missed guard Sonia Citron, out due to injury for her second straight game. Citron, in her second season, is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game, and Washington is hopeful of her return from right knee soreness.

“I think we’re still growing and getting better,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. “It’s really, really hard to win in this league … and we’ve got to lean into our player development and our daily work.”

Seattle fell to the host Atlanta Dream 89-78 on Thursday. The Storm trailed by 17 points at halftime, digging too deep of a hole to overcome in the second half. Natisha Hiedeman tallied 20 points and grabbed five boards, and center Dominique Malonga added 15 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson notched 14 points and five assists.

Coach Sonia Raman praised a second-half rally that saw Seattle trim a 20-point deficit to eight points.

“We have our standard and we know what we’re capable of,” Raman said. “It’s just a matter of building our consistency.”

Washington and Seattle have split their first two meetings, with the Storm winning 97-85 on May 24 and the Mystics countering with a 78-64 victory on May 27. Both of those games were played in Seattle.

–Field Level Media

Jacob Misiorowski was scheduled to oppose fellow ace Paul Skenes and the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon, but the hard-throwing Milwaukee Brewers right-hander was scratched due to arm fatigue and will also miss the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

Misiorowski, 24, told reporters that he will not be placed on the injured list and expects to rejoin the rotation following the All-Star break.

“It (stinks) to miss a start and the All-Star Game, but I know it’s the right thing to do in this situation,” Misiorowski said. “My arm is a little tired.”

Left-hander Robert Gasser will start in Misiorowski’s place Sunday as the Brewers try to salvage the finale of the three-game series.

Named an All-Star for the second straight season, Misiorowski is 10-4 in 18 starts, spanning 111 innings, and leads the majors with 167 strikeouts and a 1.62 ERA while walking 27. In two seasons, he is 15-7 with a 2.64 ERA in 33 games (32 starts) with 254 strikeouts and 58 walks over 177 innings.

Misiorowski leads all starting pitchers this season with a 100.5 mph average four-seam fastball velocity, and he has thrown 670 pitches at 100 mph or faster — the most in the majors.

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy made the announcement regarding Misiorowski’s status after Saturday’s doubleheader sweep by the Pirates.

“He didn’t recover well from his last start, and his throwing program was clunky today, so we’re just going to give him some extra rest,” Murphy said.

–Field Level Media

LaMonte Wade Jr. clubbed his first career grand slam in the third inning, the second of three homers hit by the visiting Houston Astros in their 9-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

The Astros evened the three-game series and set the stage to close the gap to one game behind the Rangers in the American League West in the rubber match on Sunday. They did so with a power display against Texas right-hander Kumar Rocker, who continued to struggle at home.

Rocker (2-8) entered 0-5 with a 4.70 ERA in his last eight home starts dating back to April 26. Two batters into his 16th start of this season, he tumbled into a two-run deficit courtesy of Yordan Alvarez, who homered for the second time this series and the seventh time in six road games against the Rangers this season.

Alvarez followed a leadoff infield single by Jeremy Pena in the top of the first with a 425-foot blast to straightaway center field. Alvarez recorded his AL-leading 31st home run.

Rocker surrendered a double to Isaac Paredes after Alvarez homered, but then retired seven consecutive batters before Alvarez came to the plate with one out in the third. Alvarez keyed that four-run frame with a double, followed by a walk to Paredes. Jose Altuve loaded the bases with a two-out single before Wade popped a 1-1 slider 400 feet to right for a 6-0 lead.

Christian Vazquez led off the fourth with his fifth home run, a line drive that just cleared the wall in left-center. Rocker departed with two outs in the sixth inning before facing Alvarez a fourth time. He allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Alvarez finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs.

Astros right-hander Peter Lambert (8-5) notched his sixth win in his last seven decisions and posted his sixth quality start. He allowed one run on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings.

Ezequiel Duran socked his ninth home run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth for Texas.

The Astros tacked on two runs off Rangers reliever Chris Martin in the ninth. Duran homered again in the bottom of the ninth, a two-run shot to left off Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh.

–Field Level Media