Seattle Mariners season on the line in “home” series this weekend at San Diego
Trailing by three games for a playoff spot, the Seattle Mariners must do no worse than match Houston this weekend, before the teams meet on Monday.
It’s not over, but the heavy-set diva is warming up backstage. An untimely three-game losing streak has the Seattle Mariners 2020 season on the brink of elimination. There is, however, time to turn it around.
Wednesday and Thursday were tough days for the young Seattle Mariners. Due to unhealthy air quality in Seattle, MLB relocated the M’s two-game series against the Giants. Initially scheduled for T-Mobile Park, the games instead took place in San Francisco as the Eastern Washington wildfires cast a deep haze over the Emerald City.
Baseball wise, moving games to the Bay Area was a significant disadvantage to the Seattle Mariners. This season they have been a much better team in their home ballpark than on the road. Losing the pair of games Oracle Park wasn’t surprising, but it was inconvenient. As a result, the Mariners are three games behind Houston for second place in the AL West and the final American League playoff spot.
Seattle’s weekend home series against the Padres now takes place at Petco Park in San Diego. Frankly, it doesn’t matter where the game takes place. The only thing that matters is the M’s leave the ballpark on Sunday, three games or less behind Houston (hopefully less).
Due to the continued poor air quality in Seattle, our three-game series vs. the Padres at @TMobilePark has been moved to San Diego.
🔹 Tomorrow – 6:40 p.m.
🔹 Saturday – 6:10 p.m.
🔹 Sunday – 1:10 p.m.Catch all the action on @ROOTSPORTS_NW and the Mariners Radio Network. pic.twitter.com/tYmW5IyGgC
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 17, 2020
For San Diego’s part, they are in kind of a middle area. They are four games behind Los Angeles for first place in their division and six games up on San Francisco. It’s unlikely the Padres catch L.A. or gets caught from behind. Friars Manager Jayce Tingler could start resting players ahead of the postseason by Sunday.
Looking ahead
A few weekend showers in Seattle should clear the air before the battered and bruised Astros come to T-Mobile Park for a three-game series. If the M’s get on the plane back to Seattle on Sunday night four or more games back, the diva takes the stage for her aria. It’s over.
Houston may have an injury-riddled team, but they won’t completely collapse. After Seattle, they finish the regular season with four games in Texas. So not only do the Seattle Mariners need to gain ground over the weekend, they have to take Houston to the woodshed for a beat down, starting the next day.
After Thursday night’s loss, Mariners skipper Scott Servais remained upbeat. He told the media afterward:
“But these guys are pros, they understand what is ahead of them. We did play very well when we were in San Diego last time. Hopefully we continue there. We swung the bats well down there, and hopefully we can pick that up on the remainder of this trip.”
At least the M’s have their postseason fate somewhat in their own hands. Not many experts or even Mariners fans would have thought in July this team would still be in the hunt with 10 games left on the schedule. It’s up to Kyle Lewis, Kyle Seager, Ty France, and the rest of the Seattle upstarts to take care of business in Southern California.
Do you think the Seattle Mariners can make up ground on Houston this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.