AL Playoff Race (Sept. 28): Mariners Beat Rangers, Inch Closer to 1st Playoff Since 2001
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The Seattle Mariners had a huge schedule edge coming down the home stretch of the American League playoff race, but they haven't fully taken advantage of it.
Manager Scott Servais tried to ease the pressure Wednesday by telling his players to come in late, and skip batting practice. It worked. Playing loose and relaxed, the Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 and. combined with Baltimore's loss at Boston, has now dropped the Mariners' magic number to three. That means that any combination of Mariners wins and Orioles losses sends Seattle to its first trip to the American League playoffs since 2001.
“We played a crisp game tonight. Guys were on every pitch, the energy was great,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We’ve had a nice year, but we need to get it turned, and hopefully it turned in the right direction tonight.”
The Mariners have the luxury of playing the five worst teams in the American League in their final five series of the season, but they haven't played well enough to take control of the wild-card race. They've lost consecutive series to the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals, and lost the first game of their series with the Rangers on Tuesday night.
All that's saved them is the Orioles have been struggling too, going just 9-14 since Sept. 4, The Mariners have a 4 1/2 game lead for the final wild-card spot, and they also hold the tie-breaker against Baltimore. With the magic number at three, they could clinch as soon as Friday. They are also now just a half-game behind Tampa Bay for the No. 5. The Rays lost 2-1 in 10 innings at Cleveland.
In other playoff news, Houston lost to Arizona and the New York Yankees beat Toronto, so the Astros' magic number to clinch home field throughout the AL playoffs remains at one.
And in individual news, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge finally got his 61st home run, tying Roger Maris for the most in AL history.
Sep 28, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) hits his 61st home run scoring two runs against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning at Rogers Centre. (Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports)
Wednesday's results for playoff contenders
- Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Houston Astros 2 (10 inn.)
- New York Yankees 8, Toronto Blue Jays 3
- Cleveland Guardians 2, Tampa Bay Rays 1 (10 inn.)
- Seattle Mariners 3, Texas Rangers 1
- Boston Red Sox 3, Baltimore Orioles 1
Thursday's schedule, with pitchers
- Baltimore Orioles (Mike Baumann 1-3, 4.32 ERA) at Boston Red Sox (Nathan Eovaldi 5-3, 4.15 ERA), 1:35 p.m. ET
- Tampa Bay Rays (Jeffrey Springs 9-4, 2.56 ERA) at Cleveland Guardians (Cal Quantrill 14-5, 3.49 ERA), 6:10 p.m. ET
- Texas Rangers (Jon Gray 7-7, 3.64 ERA) at Seattle Mariners (Marco Gonzales 10-15, 4.05 ERA), 9:40 p.m. ET
If the playoffs started today ...
- No. 1 seed — The Houston Astros (102-54, AL West champion, would get first-round bye) are the top seed, and their magic number to clinch the top seed remains at one. They have already clinched a first-round bye.
- No. 2 seed — The New York Yankees (96-59, AL East champion, would get first-round bye) are almost locked in to the No. 2 seed with Houston's magic number down to one. The Yankees can't be caught by Cleveland.
- No. 3 seed — The Cleveland Guardians (87-68, the AL Central champion are locked in to the No. 3 seed and would host No. 6 seed in best-of-three first-round series). They clinched the division thanks to epic collapses by Minnesota and Chicago. They would host Seattle in a 3-6 matchup as of Wednesday
- No. 4 seed — The Toronto Blue Jays (87-69, the top wild-card team, would host the No. 5 seed Tampa Bay in a best-of-three first-round series). The Jays are now 1 1/2 games clear of Tampa Bay for the top wild-card spot, but they do not hold the tie-breaker with Tampa Bay. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one.
- No. 5 seed — The Tampa Bay Rays (85-70, the second wild-card) is 1 1/2 games behind Toronto and now just a half-game ahead of Seattle. They are five games clear of the Baltimore Orioles, with a magic number of two to claim a wild-card spot
- No. 6 seed — The Seattle Mariners (84-70, third wild-card team, would play at No. 3 seed Cleveland in a best-of-three first-round series). They are 4 1/2 games ahead Baltimore with eight games to play, and their magic number is three.
Outside looking in ...
- Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles are the last team standing without a playoff spot, and they are running out of time after losing to the Red Sox for the second straight night. They trail Seattle by 4 1/2 games, with one game left at Boston, then three games in New York and three home games against Toronto to end the season.
Eliminated ...
- Minnesota Twins (76-79)
- Chicago White Sox (76-79)
- Boston Red Sox (74-81)
- Los Angeles Angels (69-86)
- Texas Rangers (66-88)
- Kansas City Royals (63-92)
- Detroit Tigers (62-92)
- Oakland Athletics (56-99)
