Mariners Break 21-Year Playoff Drought, Clinch Wild Card Spot
For the first time since 2001, the Mariners are headed to the playoffs. Seattle officially clinched a playoff spot with a dramatic win over the Athletics on Friday night
Cal Raleigh, pinch hitting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, blasted a walk-off homer to right field to send the Mariners to the postseason in epic fashion.
By clinching, the Seattle has officially snapped its 21-year postseason drought, which was the longest such drought among the four major sports. That record now belongs to the Sacramento Kings, who haven’t made the NBA playoffs since 2007.
Seattle will play in the Wild Card round of the MLB playoffs thanks to its infusion of talent over the last year. Star outfielder Julio Rodríguez has put up a. .844 OPS with 27 home runs in his rookie season, giving the Mariners a franchise cornerstone for the next 12 years.
The Mariners also added ace starter Luis Castillo at the trade deadline, then signed him to a contract extension of up to six years a few months later. Castillo, Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert are all under contract for the next four seasons at the top of Seattle’s rotation.
While the Mariners know they will play in the playoffs, who and where they play is still to be determined. If they finish as the No. 6 seed, they will play the Guardians in Cleveland. If they finish in fifth, they will likely have to go to Toronto to play the Blue Jays. And if they finish as the four seed, they will host either the Blue Jays or Rays for three games.
Currently, Seattle is 1.5 games behind Toronto for the fourth seed and half a game ahead of Tampa Bay for the five seed with six games to play.
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