Frei had three saves for Seattle (8-6-6) and has 1,002 since joining the club prior to the 2014 season. The 39-year-old Frei is just the second player in MLS history to record 1,000 saves with a single team, joining Real Salt Lake's Nick Rimando (1,128).
Columbus (10-3-8), which had won three in a row, in unbeaten in four straight.
Rothrock put away a one-touch shot, off a feed from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, from the left-center of the area to make it 1-1.
Diego Rossi gave Columbus a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Ibrahim Aliyu, on the counter-attack, slipped a perfectly-placed cross between three defenders to a charging Rossi for a first-touch finish from point-blank range.
The Sounders are 8-4-6 all time against Columbus, which includes a 4-0 road win in the only meeting between the clubs last season.
Kossa-Rienzi was shown yellow cards in the 87th minute and the second minute of stoppage and the Sounders played the final few minutes a man down.
Evan Bush stopped one shot for Columbus.
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