Podcast: Shannon Drayer talks Mariners’ postseason scenarios

I joined John Clayton on 710 ESPN Seattle Thursday morning to talk all things Mariners, and topics included the must-win (near must-sweep) series against the A’s, Wild Card and tie-break game scenarios, the current state of the team and what to look for in the offseason. The full conversation can be heard here.

Some notes:

Writing out the playoff scenarios is much easier than trying to articulate them. To be clear – because I may not have been on the Clayton show – the Wild Card scenarios for the Mariners are as follows:

• If the Mariners win out, the Orioles must finish no better than 1-3 and the Tigers 2-2 for the Mariners to advance to the Wild Card game.

• If the Mariners lose one game, then the Orioles must lose out and the Tigers finish no better than 1-3.

I think if the Mariners are to play past Sunday, the more likely thing we will see is a tiebreaker game. The Mariners can force a tiebreaker by going 4-0 with the Orioles going 2-2 and the Tigers finishing 3-1.

In the case of a tie with the Orioles, the tiebreak game would be played in Seattle. If the Mariners finish tied with the Tigers, the game would be played in Detroit. If the three teams finish with the same record, the Mariners hold the advantage and would get to chose to play against the other two teams at home or take a bye and play the winner of a game between the other two on the road. The Mariners would almost surely take the road game.

• Of particular interest, as John pointed out, there is a possibility we could see a game at Safeco Field on Monday. If that is to happen, James Paxton would get the start. With Felix pitching the final regular season game on Sunday, Paxton is next up. We’ve seen this coming for some time, sneaking peaks at the pitching board in Scott Servais’ office. Paxton figured it out a few weeks ago when there was a shuffle in the rotation. I asked him after his start Wednesday in Houston if he realized that might not have been his last start this year, and that if he indeed make another start, it would be in a very big game.

“Yes it is,” he said with a smile. “I am looking forward to getting in the bullpen and getting that curveball back to as sharp as I wanted it to be and getting that opportunity to pitch again.”

Bullpen work won’t be the only work put in. Paxton was preparing to address the mental aspect of such a big game as well.

“I will be talking to my sports psychologist guy that I talk to, getting my mind ready and figuring out how to treat that game. It’s going to be a new experience, it’s going to be fun and I am looking forward to the opportunity,” he said.

Follow @shannondrayer