The Wild Card Standings look really good for the Seattle Mariners. With a 7-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night (August 8), the Mariners moved into a tie for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. It took extra innings to do it, but the Mariners came up huge in a really important game.
Leonys Martin was the hero of this game, connecting on a home run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Seattle Mariners their first lead of the night. Martin had two hits on the day, but the biggest one was the go-ahead homer that allows manager Scott Servais to call on closer Elias Diaz.
Diaz had a tough time in the bottom of the 10th inning but eventually closed the door on the save. Diaz has been one of the best closers and leads Major League Baseball in saves since the All-Star Game.
Updated American League Wild Card standings
Following the victory over the Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Mariners are now 58-56 on the season. That puts the Mariners two-and-a-half games behind the New York Yankees (59-52) for the first AL Wild Card spot and into a tie with the Kansas City Royals (57-55) and Tampa Bay Rays (58-56) for the second AL Wild Card spot. Tiebreakers don’t matter, as it would be a best-of-three series if the three teams finish in a tie for the final playoff spot.
At one point, the Mariners had trailed 5-1 against the Athletics.
The offense slowly battled back, though, scoring two runs in the sixth, one in the seventh, and one in the eighth to tie it up. The Mariners also had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning, but were unable to get the tying run across. It wasn’t until Martin came up to bat in the 10th inning that the Mariners actually took their first lead of the day.
What’s on the schedule for the Seattle Mariners?
The Seattle Mariners are back on the field against the Athletics on Wednesday (August 8) to end this series. It will also be a shot at taking over sole possession of the second Wild Card slot. It’s another important game, but it does bring an end to this long road trip. The Mariners will then get a day off before opening a series at Safeco Field on Friday (August 11).
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has been busy trying to improve the team. On Tuesday he made a trade with the Texas Rangers to acquire more pitching. This followed a trade he made with the Athletics over the weekend to acquire Yonder Alonso. Now the Seattle Mariners will try to hold that spot in the updated Wild Card standings and build up some second-half momentum.
