The Seattle Mariners kept their playoff hopes alive Wednesday afternoon, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in 12 innings. Seattle will end the day either two or three games out of the second AL Wild Card spot with 10 games remaining, depending on how the Baltimore Orioles fare against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday evening.
The Mariners led 1-0 going into the ninth with closer Edwin Diaz on the mound, but Jose Bautista hit a mammoth home run on a 98 mph fastball to send the game into extra innings. In the top of the 10th Mariners substitute shortstop Mike Freeman made an incredible diving snag of Kevin Pillar’s liner with a runner on third and one out, maintaining the tie. Then in the bottom of the 12th Seattle was handed a pair of gifts by Toronto third baseman and reigning MVP Josh Donaldson, who first threw Guillermo Heredia’s grounder away for a two-base error, then dropped the ball when they had Heredia dead to rights at third on Ben Gamel’s sacrifice bunt. Robinson Cano ended it with a sacrifice fly to left.
But while the victory was absolutely crucial to Seattle’s playoff chances, the real story of the game was Felix Hernandez.
Seattle’s star pitcher didn’t have amazing stuff Wednesday. His fastball topped out at 92 mph and was sitting at 89 or 90, and he wasn’t able to put batters away with two strikes. Nevertheless, he tossed seven scoreless innings to put the Mariners in position to win.
Hernandez hasn’t had the chance to pitch in many meaningful games during his decade-plus with the Mariners. But his performance Wednesday showed exactly why he’s the King. Hernandez may not have been at his best, either Wednesday or for the season as a whole, yet he gutted out a performance when Seattle needed it most.
It was a weird vibe at Safeco Field on Wednesday, with the vast majority of the 39,595 in attendance rooting for the Blue Jays (I thought Toronto’s home-field advantage in Seattle came to an end when the Kingdome was imploded). But when Hernandez left the mound after the seventh he emphatically shouted, “This is my house!” And that’s why Felix is the King of Seattle.
Though the Mariners still need a lot to go their way to make the playoffs, the schedule is in their favor. They begin a three-game series at Minnesota on Friday, and the Twins have the worst record in the majors. After that is a three-game series at Houston, which will give Seattle a chance to make up ground on one of the teams they need to beat. The Mariners close the season with four games back home against Oakland, which has nothing left to play for.
The playoffs may still be a longshot, but at least Seattle still has a shot.
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