They’re in! Mariners clinch spot in playoffs after Naylor’s double

Sep 23, 2025, 9:19 PM | Updated: Sep 24, 2025, 1:51 pm

Seattle Sports

SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners are officially headed back to the postseason.

And they’re now on the precipice of their first American League West title in 24 years.

Seattle Mariners 4, Colorado Rockies 3: Recap | Box score | Standings

Josh Naylor lined a go-ahead, bases-clearing double into the left-center gap in the eighth inning, and the red-hot Mariners clinched their sixth playoff berth in franchise history with a 4-3 win over the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night in front of an electric crowd at T-Mobile Park.

JOSH NAYLOR CLEARS THE BASES!

THE @MARINERS LEAD IN THE 8TH! pic.twitter.com/OEIn0Bi3Ty

— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2025

It was the Mariners’ 15th victory in their past 16 games, and it not only secured a postseason spot, but also helped bring their magic number to clinch the AL West down to one.

With just five games to go, Seattle (88-69) now holds a four-game lead over the Houston Astros (84-73) atop the AL West after the Astros lost 5-1 to the Athletics shortly after the Mariners’ game went final. Since the M’s also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Houston, they need only one more win or one more Astros loss to lock up their first AL West crown since 2001.

The Mariners are also closing in on securing the AL’s No. 2 seed, which is significant because the top two seeds receive a bye past the best-of-three AL wild card round and into the best-of-five AL Division Series.

Seattle is now three games ahead of the AL Central co-leading Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers in the race for that all-important No. 2 seed. The M’s hold head-to-head tiebreakers over both teams, which means they could clinch the No. 2 seed as early as Thursday night with two more wins over the Rockies.

With playoffs clinched, Mariners’ magic number for AL West is 1

The Mariners’ high-powered lineup was quiet for most of Tuesday’s series opener against Colorado, mustering just two hits through the first seven innings. But trailing 3-1 in the eighth, the M’s mounted a rally.

It began with pinch-hitter Luke Raley getting hit by a pitch and J.P. Crawford drawing a full-count walk. Later in the frame, Julio Rodríguez also was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases with two outs.

Naylor then ripped a double into the gap that brought home all three runners and sent 35,000-plus fans into a frenzy.

Andrés Muñoz followed with a three-out save in the ninth to kick off a night of celebration.

BALLGAME!

The @Mariners are heading to the #postseason, and their magic number to clinch the AL West is down to 2! pic.twitter.com/VnK33itzzt

— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2025

The Mariners broke their 21-year playoff drought in 2022, but fell one game short of a playoff berth in both 2023 and 2024. Seattle’s other postseason appearances came in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001.

The opportunity for Seattle to clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday was made possible by the New York Yankees’ walkoff 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox earlier in the evening.

The reason the Yankees were connected to the Mariners locking up a postseason berth is a bit complicated.

Of the five teams that could have still earned one of the three AL wild card spots over Seattle, the Mariners hold the tiebreaker over every team except New York. But with the Yankees’ win, the M’s are now clear of being involved in any multi-team tiebreaker scenario (not counting seeding) that could include New York.

Of course, the Mariners hope those potential wild-card tiebreaker scenarios soon become a moot point as they look to secure the AL West crown.