Twenty of the last 22 games come against losing teams
The Mariners host the Athletics tonight to open a four-game set. Seattle sits at 66 wins and 74 losses. The record is ugly. The schedule is kind.
Seattle is five games behind Houston in the American League West and 4.5 behind Cleveland for the third and final wild card spot. At this point of the season, that is not dead and buried.
They also arrive on a two-game winning streak. After four straight losses, Seattle closed its trip to Toronto and Boston with a 9-6 win on Tuesday, sparked by Lazaro Montes homering in his major league debut, then added an 8-3 win on Wednesday.
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Seventeen games against the three worst records in baseball
Twenty-two games remain. Nineteen come against American League West opponents. Twenty are against teams currently below .500, the only exception being two home games with the Astros, who are 71-69.
Better still, 17 of those games line up against the Athletics (54-86), the Angels (53-87) and Colorado (54-86). The three worst records in all of Major League Baseball.
The talk inside the clubhouse has shifted. “Everyone knows what’s at stake now. We have to go for it,” shortstop J.P. Crawford said after going 3-for-3 with two runs scored on Wednesday. Manager Dan Wilson is talking urgency too.
The A’s have just woken up
The visitors are not showing up to make up the numbers. Oakland snapped a five-game skid on Wednesday in Texas with a 9-2 win, led by rookie Henry Bolte, who went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs. Zack Gelof, Jonah Heim and Alika Williams also went deep.
On the mound tonight the A’s hand the ball to right-hander Jack Perkins, 3-10 with a 6.42 ERA. Seattle counters with Kade Anderson, a young lefty making just his third career start and his first against Oakland. His last outing, on Saturday in Toronto, saw him give up two runs in four and a third innings after a 3-0 lead was left to a bullpen that could not hang on.
The margin is thin. Seattle already blew a three-run lead in Boston on Monday before losing 9-8 in extra innings.
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