Mariners on division title: ‘Fans here deserve that’

SEATTLE – The wait for a division crown had been oh-so-long for baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest.

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After 24 seasons, the Seattle Mariners put an end to that wait with a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. And while it was surely a special moment for the players and coaches, the long wait Mariners fans had been through wasn’t lost on the club, even though some of its members weren’t even born the last time Seattle won its division.

“It’s awesome. That didn’t happen for a long time. This team is really good, and I would say this is for the fans,” closer Andrés Muñoz said postgame. “This is for the fans… We’re going to do our best in (the playoffs), and the city of Seattle deserves this.”

It took a remarkable stretch run for this Mariners club to get to where it is.

After a couple of brutal road trips had their playoff hopes starting look a bit shaky, Seattle has rattled off 16 wins over 17 games to clinch the AL West, which included a pivotal three-game sweep of the Houston Astros over the weekend to set up the clinching scenario Wednesday.

“To do it in this fashion, it’s been crazy and exciting and fun and everything that I hoped and dreamed it would be,” slugging catcher Cal Raleigh said. “… This is a great, great, great moment for this organization and city. But we know we still got some work to do. We’re really excited to get that opportunity.”

For manager Dan Wilson, clinching the division at T-Mobile Park made it all that much more special.

“The electricity here has been incredible, and that’s why you love to do it at home. The fans here deserve that and to celebrate with us,” Wilson said. “What a just incredible evening, an incredible game they were treated to by these guys. Got a little emotional in the ninth inning as we got one out to go and it’s just loud as can be. It just brings back a lot (of memories), and it just feels really good that T-Mobile was as loud as it was and the feeling was as positive as it was – and these guys are the reason why.”

Even those who haven’t been around long highlighted the importance of winning the division for the city.

“Doing it for this city is something that we want to do,” first baseman Josh Naylor said.

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