THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's stuck waiting for that wave

There's nothing tougher in sport.

Nothing that can own you like momentum.

When a team or individual gets rocking — or stumbling in the wrong direction — it's almost impossible to turn things around.

You KNOW when a quarterback will make a miracle play to keep a drive going with barely seconds on the clock.

Same thing with a hoop star, who simply will not miss with the game on the line.

And he knows it, even before the ball leaves his hand.

Momentum is a killer, in both directions.

Meet the Seattle Mariners.

This club was high on the list of teams with the talent and experience to reach the World Series.

Even after a slow start and some injuries to start the season, NOBODY gave up on the Mariners.

The players themselves insisted that when guys got healthy, and a few balls scooted through the infield to drive in runs in the eighth and ninth innings, things would spin their way.

Except.

They didn't.

For months at a stretch, the Mariners were dead last in MLB at hitting with runners in scoring position.

Remember, this is a team that did almost everything right a year ago.

Pretty much the same roster.

But.

Momentum keeps kicking their butt.

YOU WANT just one play to prove that when the Mariners take off running, they wind up in quicksand?

Monday night in Boston, the M's were shooting to stop a four-game losing streak and led 8-7 in the ninth inning.

Roman Anthony led off for the Sox with a line drive to center, where Mariners star Julio Rodriguez had to make a decision.

Now, you learn when you're a kid to keep a ball like that in front of you.

Julio knows that.

Instead, he tempted the baseball gods and got humiliated, which happens when momentum is on the other side.

"My instincts told me to go for it," Rodriguez said. "And being in between, I felt like: It's not an option, so I just went for it.

"Couldn't get it."

Julio didn't really come close. There was enough space that the ball bounced clean over him.

Anthony, meanwhile, legged out a triple and — shortly thereafter — scored a tying run that sent the game into the 10th inning.

The Red Sox finished things off and won it 9-8 — a game that the Mariners led 8-5 in the eighth inning.

Ugh.

"It's frustrating, you know," Rodriguez said, "when we're all trying to get things rolling, trying to build momentum."

Yep, that's what we've been saying for a while.

Life's hard when you're upside down.

HOW DO you deal with momentum, either riding the wave when it's on your side — or finding a way out of the tunnel if momentum has left you in the dark? 

One obvious answer: If fate is being kind, go crazy.

If there's something available to win, grab it.

Don't apologize.

Just assume that you deserve good fortune, and besides, it's probably going to turn sideways at some point, so pocket your reward and stay prepared.

You'll know when momentum feels like testing you.

Sam Darnold threw four interceptions in a game against the Rams, but Sam knows when he's flinging it — and eventually he'd wield that dagger.

At win-or-lose time, Sam had to stand tall and brave in a wild, crazy pocket and somehow deliver a dart to tight end Eric Saubert.

Zip!

That one rang up a two-point conversion, and the Seahawks were on a ride to the Super Bowl.

Are you getting the picture here?

Applause for Darnold and Saubert, absolutely.

But remember ... they had to wait for a bout of momentum. 

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