607 with three homers in eight games on the just-complete road trip. Speaking of revivals, the one by catcher Cal Raleigh over the past couple weeks is another cause for optimism. The revival of Diego Castillo, who looked downright unhittable Wednesday, is a hugely positive development, and the possibility of adding converted starter Matt Brash as a potentially dominant late-inning arm is intriguing. The return of Ken Giles is said to be imminent - but he gave up three homers out of five batters faced Wednesday night with Tacoma. There are still obvious concerns that could sidetrack the Mariners, starting with the lack of bullpen depth. 610) it’s how many wins it will take to catch the teams in front of them for the bonus wild-card berth, all of them possessing their own set of flaws. And it’s why the relevant math is not to figure out what sort of winning percentage it’s going to take for them to get to 90 wins again (for the record, it’s a daunting. 500 are nonetheless within four games of a playoff spot, when they could have been buried already. That is why the Mariners at five games under. At one juncture just a few days ago, the leader for the third wild card would have been under. No one else in the wild-card chase is over. 500 after beating the Angels yet again Wednesday.
Boston’s recent surge, combined with the Angels’ complete and utter collapse (14 consecutive losses entering Thursday’s game with the Red Sox), has given Boston control of the third wild card.Īnd yet the Sox sat just three games above. Once again, the AL East is poised to contend for a clean sweep, and right now they have it. The Blue Jays, with 91 wins, would have grabbed that spot behind division winner Tampa Bay and wild cards New York and Boston. It’s not a guarantee - if the third wild card had been in place last year, 90 wins still wouldn’t have been enough for Seattle to surpass any of the AL East’s four-deep power barons. The addition of a third wild card greatly increases the chance that mere mediocrity keeps you in contention for a playoff spot.
A LITTLE SPOT OF EMOTION BOX SET FULL
That’s less a statement of full confidence in their composition as it is a manifestation of the structure of baseball, and the state of the American League, in 2022. They are going to be in this thing, in some semblance, all year. But here’s a reality that should be becoming clearer as the Mariners try to decide which version of this team is their true selves: The record is still a subpar 26-31 - on pace to go 74-88, which wasn’t part of their playoff-drought-busting game plan.
A LITTLE SPOT OF EMOTION BOX SET SERIES
That streak includes their most satisfying win of the year in the aforementioned rancor-filled game, part of the Mariners’ first series win in Houston since 2018. The M’s have won four consecutive series, including two over the Astros, as they prepare to open a critical - aren’t they all? - 11-game homestand Friday night. From their darkest point of the season - losing two out of three to Oakland to fall into last place behind the A’s team that dismantled its roster in the offseason - doom and gloom is slowly being replaced by sun and fun. The fact is, things are looking up for the Mariners, who inspired little else but gripes for the first two months. Maybe the ensuing near-brawl - followed by Julio Rodriguez’s legend-building home run - will prove to be the line of demarcation in the Mariners’ season. When the manager burst out of the Mariners dugout his players followed, united in their mutual rage against Hector Neris and the Astros.
Players can smell insincerity like a shark seeking its prey.īut those people had to have loved the fire in Servais’ eyes Monday night after Ty France was plunked by the Astros. Striving to emulate his personality, when it’s totally out of character, is a fool’s errand. And besides, there’s only one Lou Piniella. Baseball is a long-haul sport, where even-keeled steadiness is a virtue, not a sin. Never mind that baseball isn’t like football, where each game is of vital importance or basketball, where coaches will bluster their way into a technical foul to fire up the squad because it’s a game that thrives on bursts of intensity. One common email/Twitter complaint that Times reporter Ryan Divish and I get often - yes, we compare Mariners gripes from the masses - is that manager Scott Servais needs to show more emotion.
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