Mariners Miss Out on Playoffs With Loss

Saturday night the Seattle Mariners in the next to last game of the season had their toughest loss of all as well. Winning on this night would have gotten them closer to getting into the playoffs but the loss cost them the playoffs.

The Mariners fought hard all night in the end they lost the game in the 10^th inning when rookie second baseman Joey Wendle drove in a run with a double. The Mariners were unable to match the A’s like they did in the rest of the game. I find it interesting that in the third inning Ketel Marte made a throwing error after making a fine stop on a grounder to deep short. Instead of holding onto the ball he tried to get the runner at second. The Mariners made scored in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0. After Marte’s error that allowed the runner go to third the A’s scored four runs in that inning. Wendle later on tried to scoop a ball hit to him that became an error that allowed the Mariners to get back into the game.

Both Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz each hit two-run homes to help the Mariners to get back into the game however we see it was never meant to be. Wendle who never let the error affect him the rest of the game was the player to win the game. I am not saying that Marte’s error affected his play but he was unable to make the play to win the game.

The final game of the season Sunday afternoon Felix Hernandez the King will go against the Oakland A’s. It would have been nice to have a sweep at least but three out of four to end the season not bad.

Whether the Mariners have eighty-six or seven wins on the season we will all be thinking about the what ifs; the game they should have beaten the Cubs in Chicago and won at least one game at Safeco Field against the Minnesota Twins to name a couple. Another what if would have been that the Mariners could have gotten across the ten game above .500 earlier. The thing though is the team had a good season despite the fact they did not make the playoffs.

The plan that General Manager Jerry Dipoto made when he came to work for the Mariners last September he made it work other than getting into the playoffs his first year. He wanted the team to win at least eight-six games and see the chances which they will do. This is a good stepping stones to what the team can do in the future. The Mariners learned to win in 2016 though it was not always easy. There will be spots that will need to improve and players that most likely won’t be back.

This coming week I will give my final grade of the season. It certainly is better than last year that is for sure. Jack Z was fired before the season ended and Lloyd was not asked to return when the season ended. Actually Dipoto had a discussion with Lloyd and it was obvious what was said did not match. Dipoto added some needed parts though they not all pan out. This off-season he will add some more parts though they should not be as many as last time. Over the off-season we will discuss and see what Dipoto comes up with. As always though Go M’s.