The Mariners have now won eight games in a row. They have moved to within 1.5 games of the final Wild Card Spot.
What seemed like a dream for the Mariners at the beginning of September, is now a reality. The playoffs are so close. The fourteen year drought could end this season. And the way the M’s are playing now, I should more appropriately say, “will” end this season.
Here are three things we learned in the 2-1 nail-bittern last night.
Cruz is Cruisin’
Nelson Cruz has had another phenomenal season. In just his second year with the Mariners, he has already established himself the premier home run hitter. His thirty-seventh home run was blasted down the left field line. It landed a handful of rows into the stands.
His home run last night versus the Los Angeles Angels was his second in as many days. Two of his last four hits have been long bombs. Half way through the month he has five home runs. If he were to hit three more, he would extend his forty-plus homer streak to three seasons, and make it back-to-back years having done so with the Mariners.
Diaz Moves Up Franchise Save List
Edwin Diaz continued to be a reliable force last night. He needed ten pitches (seven of which were strikes) to finish a perfect ninth. The save notched his sixteenth save in his brief, but budding Mariners career.
As for the bigger picture, sixteen saves is relevant for the rookie. He now has tied Danny Farquhar
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He is a far behind the Mariners all-time saves leader, Kazuhiro Sasaki, who finished his rookie season with thirty-seven saves. But Diaz has also played twenty-four games less then Sasaki did. In the long run, Diaz will most likely challenge Saski for the all-time record, but that’s a ways down the road.
8 Straight Creeps Towards Record
It is still a reach to believe that this Mariners squad can tie the 2001 team’s win record of fifteen games. These M’s club looks amazing, but fifteen in a row for any team, at anytime, is very rare.
In the modern era of baseball, only sixteen clubs have ever surpassed fifteen straight wins. To put that into perspective, in one hundred and sixteen years, SIXTEEN teams have ever achieved such greatness.
But of course we should celebrate this M’s club run. The Mariners organization is. For the massively important home-stand, M’s fans can buy eight dollar tickets to this weekends games.
This gives more incentive to come out to the season-defining home-stand coming up. Even though, there shouldn’t have to be any enticing with so much on the line.
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