American League Playoff Tracker (Aug 14): Mariners in Mix For Both AL West and AL Wild Card
The Seattle Mariners lost to the Detroit Tigers 15-1 on Tuesday night in what was the worst start of George Kirby's career. He gave up 11 runs (six earned) on 13 hits as he fell to 8-9 on the year. As a result, the Mariners are now 1.5 games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West. In addition to the division, Seattle is also 2.0 games back in the wild card race, so we'll start monitoring that too.
What happened on Monday:
SEATTLE: The Mariners were pounced by Tigers, losing 15-1. Kirby lasted just 3.2 innings and gave up three home runs in the defeat. Kerry Carpenter got him for two blasts and Jake Rogers got him for a grand slam. Offensively, Seattle didn't muster much against Tarik Skubal. They had just three hits in total and struck out 12 times. You can read our full game story by clicking here.
HOUSTON: The Astros won again to take a 1.5 game lead on the Mariners. They beat the Rays, 3-2, behind a 5.2 inning gem from former Mariners' lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Alex Bregman homered yet again, as did Jeremy Pena.
AL West standings in real time
Here are the standings in the American League West after Tuesday's action. The Mariners have 42 regular season games remaining, the Astros 43.
Team | Record | Games Back |
|---|---|---|
Astros | 64-55 | -- |
Mariners | 63-57 | 1.5 |
As for the wild card chase, the Kansas City Royals were beaten by the Minnesota Twins (13-3). The Boston Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers (9-4). Here's a look at how the race shapes up for the third and final spot.
Team | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
Kansas City Royals | 65-55 | -- |
Boston Red Sox | 63-55 | 1.0 |
Mariners | 63-67 | 2.0 |
Wednesday's scheduled action
SEATTLE: The M's take on the Tigers again with first pitch coming at 3:40 p.m. PT. Bryan Woo (5-1, 2.27 ERA) goes up against Beau Briske (1-2, 4.57 ERA).
HOUSTON: The Astros will take on the Rays again with first pitch at 3:50 p.m. PT. Ronel Blanco (9-5, 3.02) goes against Zack Littell (5-8, 4.11)
KANSAS CITY: The Royals take on the Twins at 10;10 a.m. PT. Cole Ragans pitches for Kansas City. He's 9-7 with a 3.27 ERA.
BOSTON: The Red Sox play the Rangers at 3:10 p.m. PT. Tanner Houck goes for Boston. He's 8-8 with a 3.02 ERA.
What's left on the season?
SEATTLE: at Detroit Aug. 13-15, at Pittsburgh Aug. 16-18, at Los Angeles Dodgers Aug. 19-21. Home vs. San Francisco Aug. 23-25, Home vs. Tampa Bay Aug. 26-28, at Los Angeles Angels Aug. 30-Sept. 1, at Oakland Sept. 2-5, at St. Louis Sept. 6-8, home vs. San Diego Sept. 10-11, home vs. Texas Sept 12-15; home vs. New York Yankees Sept. 17-19, at Texas Sept. 20-22, at Houston Sept. 23-25, home vs. Oakland Sept. 27-29.
HOUSTON: at Tampa Bay Aug. 12-14, home vs. Chicago White Sox Aug. 16-18, home vs. Boston Aug 19-21, at Baltimore Aug. 22-25, at Philadelphia Aug. 26-28, home vs. Kansas City Aug. 29-Sept. 1, at Cincinnati Sept. 2-5, home vs. Arizona Sept. 6-8, home vs. Oakland Sept. 10-12, at Los Angeles Angels Sept. 13-15, at San Diego Sept. 16-18, home vs. Los Angeles Angels Sept. 19-22, home vs. Seattle Sept. 23-25, at Cleveland Sept. 27-29.
RELATED SEATTLE MARINERS CONTENT:
NEW PODCAST IS OUT: The latest episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast is out as Brady Farkas talks about the series loss against the Detroit Tigers, Mitch Haniger's final at-bat and the continued conversation about the future of Scott Servais. Patrick Dubuque, the leader of Baseball Prospectus, joins the show as well. CLICK HERE:
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BRADY FARKAS