SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners kept dim playoff hopes alive Thursday night with a thrilling walk-off win orchestrated by team leader J.P. Crawford.
In order for the Mariners to find a way to sneak into the postseason, they will need to win and get some help from around the league. That's why Seattle fans should be all in on backing the Arizona Diamondbacks in the season's final weekend, as they host the Houston Astros for a three-game series beginning Friday.
Going into Friday, the Mariners trail Houston by one game in the standings, and the Toronto Blue Jays by two games. Seattle does hold the tiebreaker over the Astros, so if the teams end the season with the same record, the Mariners would be back in the postseason.
Astros-Diamondbacks will get underway about 30 minutes before the Mariners and Texas Rangers will face off in Seattle Friday night. One of the best pitchers in the National League will be on the mound for Arizona in Zac Gallen, who has a 17-8 record and a 3.49 earned run average (ERA) in 2023.
A Mariners win against the Rangers on Friday night and an Astros loss to the D-Backs would put Seattle and Houston in a tie going into the last two games of the regular season. If the Mariners win but the Astros also win, the margin in the standings would hold at one game. Of course, if the Mariners lose Friday night, they would need to win their last two games and Houston would have to lose its last two just for Seattle to have a chance.
Arizona has incentive to play the Astros tough as well, with the Diamondbacks in a similar position to the M's in desperately trying to earn a Wild Card spot in the NL.
The Toronto Blue Jays have three games against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend, and a series win for Tampa would also improve the Mariners' chances. With a two-game lead on Seattle, the Mariners would need the Blue Jays to lose twice just to have a chance to catch them, not to mention also needing to win at least two of their final three games. The Mariners likely would have the tiebreaker over Toronto due to their intradivision record.
Simply put, Friday night's Mariners game at T-Mobile Park is one of the biggest regular-season games in recent memory. A win keeps the season alive, a loss makes it exponentially more difficult to qualify for the playoffs.
However, keep an eye on the scores of the games in Arizona and Toronto on Friday, as they could make a significant impact on the Mariners' chances depending on the results.
In case you needed an extra reason to root for the Diamondbacks, Arizona's star outfielder Corbin Carroll hails from Seattle and graduated from Lakeside High School. Tampa Bay also has Andrew Kittredge in its bullpen, who is from Spokane, attended the University of Washington and was initially drafted by the Mariners.