Mariners within 1 game of AL West lead after Astros collapse

Sep 9, 2025, 9:18 PM | Updated: 9:50 pm

Editor, Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners’ hopes of winning the AL West received some help from Canada on Tuesday night.

In a few ways, actually.

ESPN’s Passan gives Seattle Mariners a good chance of overtaking Astros

The Mariners pulled within one game of the rival Houston Astros for first place in the division following their 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, which came later in the night after the Astros collapsed and ultimately lost in extra innings on the road to the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays.

In addition to Canada’s lone MLB team opening the door for the M’s to draw closer in the standings, the Mariners received important contributions from two Canadians on their roster.

Recap: Arozarena’s four RBIs lift Mariners over Cardinals 5-3

Josh Naylor went 3 for 4 with a go-ahead solo home run in the fourth inning, and his fellow Ontarian, Matt Brash, threw one of five scoreless innings from Seattle’s bullpen on the night.

NAYLZ. CRUSHED. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/VWUucLleiH

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 10, 2025

It was certainly a rough night in Toronto for the Astros.

First, starting pitcher Luis Garcia left in the second inning with elbow discomfort in just his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery. Garcia had not pitched since May 2023 before making his return on Sept. 1.

Despite losing Garcia in the game, Houston actually had a combined no-hitter going until former Astros slugger George Springer emphatically broke it up with a 450-foot solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied things up for the Blue Jays at 3-3 with a two-run single. And after Toronto kept Houston from scoring in the top of the 10th, Tyler Heineman delivered a walk-off fielder’s choice against new Astros reliever Craig Kimbrel to give the win to the Jays.

SOMEHOW. SOMEWAY.

MAKE IT HAPPEN. #WALKOFF pic.twitter.com/MM63rXIVDO

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 10, 2025

Houston has now lost three of its last 10 games, including four of its last five, and sits at 78-67 on the season.

The Mariners, meanwhile, won their fourth straight game Tuesday and are 77-68.

Seattle remains in position for the American League’s third and final wild card, but the team just behind it is another AL West rival. That would be the Texas Rangers, who held off the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Tuesday to stay just 1 1/2 games back of the M’s. The Rangers (76-70) continue to shake off serious injury woes, having gone 13-4 since Aug. 22 to get back into the wild card picture and make it a three-team race in the division.

The Mariners will wrap up their three-game series against the Cardinals at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, with radio coverage on Seattle Sports beginning at 5:30 with the pregame show. The Rangers will play the finale of their series with the Brewers at 11:35 a.m., while Astros will play the third game of their four-game set in Toronto at 4:07 p.m.