The Mariners have been eliminated from postseason contention
Sep 26, 2024, 1:03 PM | Updated: 2:01 pm
Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners reacts after lining out against Minnesota. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
(Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners, who led the American League West by 10 games on June 18, will miss the playoffs for the second straight year.
Requiem for a Mariners Season: The questions that await
The Mariners were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention while idle on Thursday when both the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers won in dramatic fashion.
Two wild card spots remain unsettled in the AL, but the Mariners are no longer a factor in the race.
The Tigers came back from a three-run deficit on Thursday, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Detroit.
It was perhaps even more painful for Mariners fans to see how the Royals came away with their 7-4 win over the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
Kansas City turned to former Mariners second baseman Adam Frazier as a pinch-hitter with the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, and Frazier dropped a single into shallow left field to score two runs for what proved to be the game-winning hit.
Adam Frazier puts the @Royals ahead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/QArqAlSlgr
— MLB (@MLB) September 26, 2024
The wins for the Royals and Tigers make them both 85-74 on the season with three games to go. The Mariners are 82-77 with a weekend series at home against the Oakland Athletics to go, and while Seattle could reach 85 wins, it does not own the tiebreaker over either Kansas City or Detroit.
The Minnesota Twins (82-76) could still potentially take one of the wild cards, but they’re on the brink of elimination themselves at 2 1/2 games back. Even if the Twins move into a wild card spot and somehow tied the Mariners, they won the season series against Seattle and would get the tiebreaker.
The Mariners were eliminated from AL West contention when they lost Tuesday to the Houston Astros, who clinched their fourth straight division title and seventh in the last eight years.
Seattle ended a 21-year playoff drought as a wild card in 2022 but has fallen short now in two straight seasons despite having one of the best starting rotations in baseball. Seattle currently has the lowest team ERA in baseball at 3.50, a year after they led the AL and were third in MLB at 3.74.
The Mariners owned a 44-31 record on June 18 to take a commanding 10-game lead in the AL West, but then went on a 9-20 swoon that let Houston right back into the race. A 1-8 road trip from Aug. 13-21 that notably included three losses at Detroit sent the M’s all the way to an even 64-64, and they even fell under .500 at 69-70 following four straight losses as the calendar turned to September.
Under new manager Dan Wilson, who replaced Scott Servais on Aug. 22, the Mariners have played much better this month. Since that low point on Sept. 3, Seattle has a 13-7 record, and its offense has been the best in the American League in September.
Why have Mariners been AL’s best offense this month? Passan weighs in
While Seattle has struck out more than any other team in 2024 and has a lower batting average (.224) than all but the potentially record-setting worst Chicago White Sox, in 23 games this month the Mariners have scored more runs, have a better average (.269) and a better OPS (.783) than every other AL squad. That’s been helped out by the in-season additions of Victor Robles, Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner, as well as the best stretch of the year from star Julio Rodríguez, who won AL Player of the Week honors on Monday.
Unfortunately for the M’s, the offensive improvements didn’t come soon enough for Seattle to make its way into October.
Mariners’ final series
The Mariners Radio Network will broadcast all three games this weekend against Oakland on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app, as well as KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM (play-by-play only) on Sunday.
• Friday vs. Athletics – 7:10 p.m. (pregame 6 p.m.)
• Saturday vs. Athletics – 6:40 p.m. (pregame 5:30 p.m.)
• Sunday vs. Athletics – 12:10 p.m. (pregame 11 a.m., Trident Talk 10 a.m.)
For details on how to hear Mariners radio broadcasts from Seattle Sports, click here.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Mariners are scoring now, with four names playing big roles
• Astros overcome terrible start to clinch AL West with win over Mariners
• Bryce Miller’s big leap has been ‘awesome to watch,’ says MLB insider
• Seattle activates reliever Gregory Santos from injured list
• Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez named AL Player of the Week
