Seattle s Brad Miller celebrates after scoring the winning run Saturday over the Angels at Safeco Field. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)
The Mariners beat the Angels on Saturday and the Athletics lost to the Rangers. That means Seattle is miraculously still in the wild card race.
The final game of the regular season Game 162 is Sunday at Safeco Field. And for the first time in a decade it actually means something for the M s.
Felix Hernandez will take the mound for the Mariners with the chance to vie for the postseason for the first time in his 10 year pro career. He ll look to shut down the Los Angeles Angels the team with the best record in Major League Baseball and keep the M s playoff dreams alive.
Mariners fans young and old were going crazy Saturday as their team beat the Angels in 11 innings. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)
But Seattle is not in charge of its own destiny. In order to advance the Mariners need the Oakland A s to lose again in Arlington Texas.
With the A s loss and the M s win Saturday Seattle is now just one game back from Oakland in the race for the American League s second wild card slot. And there is just one game remaining.
If the M s win Sunday and the A s lose the division rivals will meet in a one game tiebreaker Monday. Whoever wins that game would officially advance to the postseason and play the Kansas City Royals in the A.L. wild card game.
Updated 11 50 a.m. Sept. 28 The MLB has announced that the tiebreaker would start at 1 07 p.m. Monday at Safeco Field.
The atmosphere at Safeco Field has been electric the past two nights. Mariners fans haven t given up. Neither have their team.
Sunday will be an epic day in Seattle baseball whether the Mariners win or not. For the first time since 2001 the M s are relevant at Game 162. And considering the team s performance over the past decade that fact alone is miraculous.
All we know is we re still in the ring M s manager Lloyd McClendon said after Saturday s 11 inning victory. We re still throwing punches.
Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Mariners news. Contact sports editor Nick Eaton at nickeaton seattlepi.com or njeaton.
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