Notebook: Scott Servais sticks with Ketel Marte, plus Mariners’ wild-card scenarios

HOUSTON – On Wednesday morning, the Mariners’ clubhouse looked and sounded like it does before any other day game. It may have actually been louder. There was life in the team, and that was exactly what manager Scott Servais wanted to see after Tuesday night’s costly loss to the Astros.

“We’re fine,” Servais said. “That’s what I said last night. We turn the music on, we chirp at the umpire, we do exactly what we have done all year. Don’t try any harder. Don’t (think), ‘We have to win now.’ Just play the game. You want to be locked in mentally, give it your best shot, but if you do try harder, the result doesn’t usually get a whole lot better. Just do your job.”

We have seen this team press at times and the results have not been good. Servais believes his group plays best loose, and to that end, he has done what he can to take the pressure off in these final regular-season games. That includes sticking with Ketel Marte at shortstop. The 22-year-old’s error Tuesday was costly, but it wasn’t about effort or even bad decision-making.

“He was having a very good game last night up until that point,” Servais said Wednesday, noting he was happy to see some adjustments from Marte at the plate. “Plays happen. It’s part of the game. You are going to make a few errors. It was just untimely. He will be fine today.”

Servais knows the decision to keep Marte in the lineup will be unpopular with a number of fans, but he believes it is important to not be reactionary when it comes to lineup moves.

“You can’t just remove everybody every time they make an error; we won’t have any players at the end of the year,” he said. “You just have to ride through it with him. He is young. There’s been some really good days; there have been some days that haven’t been so good. He’s in there today. You have to put yesterday behind him.”

The long-term picture, both for Marte and the rest of Servais’ players, plays into any such decision. Reactionary moves do little to build trust in a clubhouse.

“Sometimes the fan base wants to see you go absolutely crazy and blow your top and yell and scream,” Servais said. “It’s baseball. You play 162 games. I appreciated when managers were like that. I think it is the way you need to be with the fact that we play so many games.”

If the Mariners are hoping to play more than 162 games, Wednesday’s is a must win.

Cruz playing hurt

Nelson Cruz’s wrist still hurting but he will remain in the lineup until he tells Servais he can no longer play.

“You feel bad for him,” Servais said. “You play the whole year and you hope you are at your best at the end of the year, and he is having to deal with that. Somehow he finds a way to put bat on the ball when we need him to get a few hits. It says a lot about his character and the other guys on the team notice, too. When you are not feeling 100 percent, you have to suck it up because he is. It’s what leaders do.”

Wild-card scenarios

Here are the Mariners’ wild-card scenarios entering the finale against the Astros:

• The Mariners can clinch a wild-card berth with a 5-0 record to finish if Baltimore goes 2-3 and Detroit goes 3-2.

• If the Mariners finish 4-1, Baltimore must go 1-4, Detroit must go 2-3 and Houston must lose one of its final four games.

• Should the Mariners force a tiebreaker, they hold home-field advantage over Baltimore but not Detroit. Should there be a three-way tie, Seattle gets first choice in the three-team format.