The Seattle Mariners have been eliminated from the postseason despite leading the Angels at the time of the post at Safeco Field.
The M s weren t in charge of their own destiny. Trailing the division rival Oakland in the American League wild card race the Mariners needed the A s to lose Sunday in Arlington Texas. Oakland beat the Rangers 4 0.
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez had seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings Sunday. (Otto Gruele Jr/Getty Images)
The 40 823 fans at Safeco Field rose to their feet to cheer their Mariners regardless. And when M s manager Lloyd McClendon relieved starter Felix Hernandez in the top of the sixth inning fans gave him a wild ovation.
Striking out seven batters and holding the Angels scoreless through five innings Hernandez lowered his season ERA to 2.14 best in the A.L. and potentially leading to his second career Cy Young Award. With Sunday s strong start King Felix surpassed White Sox ace Chris Sale in ERA.
Fans also cheered when McClendon yanked his star second baseman Robinson Cano later in the sixth frame. An offseason free agent acquisition Cano helped inject new life into a Mariners club that had low expectations heading into 2014.
But after a slow start the M s developed into one of Major League Baseball s most exciting teams. Seattle became the hottest team in the American League for several weeks during the summer and despite lackluster offense at the plate remained in the postseason hunt thanks to a lights out pitching staff.
It was Seattle s pitching corps however that faltered down the stretch. Seattle went 5 11 on its final grueling road trip and returned home to Safeco Field on Friday riding a five game losing streak. Poor offense a trend for the M s throughout 2014 didn t help either.
But Oakland s own collapse kept the Mariners in it. Seattle beat Los Angeles in the first two of its final three game homestand and led the Angels 4 0 in the sixth inning at publication time.
If Seattle wins it will finish 2014 with an 87 75 record. If the M s lose they ll drop to 86 75. Regardless it is the Mariners first winning season since 2009 and just the third since 2003.
Loading ...Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Mariners news. Contact sports editor Nick Eaton at nickeaton seattlepi.com or njeaton.
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