The Seattle Mariners stayed in the AL playoff race Saturday night, forcing the chase down to the final day when Austin Jackson barely beat a double-play relay in the 11th inning to edge the Los Angeles Angels 2-1.
The Mariners moved within one game of Oakland for the second AL wild-card spot. The A's lost 5-4 at Texas.
Seattle ace Felix Hernandez will start against the AL West champion Angels on Sunday, the last scheduled day of the regular season.
Brad Miller hit a one-out double in the Seattle 11th off Mike Morin (4-4) and Chris Taylor's short fly to center fell in for a single, sending Miller to third.
Jackson, who had twice previously been the third out in innings when Seattle stranded runners on third, hit a grounder to second.
The Angels got the forceout at second, but the relay throw was a shade late as the speedy Jackson crossed the bag. Miller raised his arms as he scored the winning run.
Dominic Leone (8-2) pitched the 11th to earn the win.
Seattle entered the game needing to win its final two games and Oakland to lose its final two in order to tie for the second AL wild-card spot and force a one-game playoff Monday.
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The Athletics' loss in Texas finished at nearly the same moment as Seattle tied the game at 1 on Logan Morrison's RBI double in the seventh.
The Mariners weren't able to pull ahead in the seventh, even after a sacrifice bunt put Morrison on third with one out. Taylor and Jackson both struck out to end the inning.
Seattle had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth on Los Angeles reliever Jason Grilli and couldn't get a run across.
Grilli struck out Miller and Taylor before getting Jackson to fly out and send the game to extra innings.
Seattle also stranded a runner on third in the sixth inning, the first time they threatened to score on Angels starter C.J. Wilson, who left in the seventh after allowing one run on four hits.
Mariners starter James Paxton ran into trouble early. In the second inning David Freese doubled and Paxton hit Erick Aybar with a pitch before C.J Cron's grounder bounced off the mitt of diving third baseman Kyle Seager, allowing Freese to score on the single.
Paxton then walked Collin Cowgill to load the bases with two outs before getting out of the jam when Kole Calhoun flied out.
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The Angels, who clinched home-field advantage in the playoffs Friday, pulled most of their regulars in the seventh and eighth innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM:
Angels: OF Josh Hamilton, who has played just one game since Sept. 4 due to a sore muscle in his side and a sore shoulder, will hit from a tee and take soft toss tomorrow, manager Mike Scioscia said. ... RHP Matt Shoemaker (oblique) felt good after a long-toss session Saturday and may throw from a mound Sunday.
Mariners: Starter Hisashi Iwakuma left Friday's game in the middle of an at-bat in the seventh inning with discomfort in his side but is fine, manager Lloyd McClendon said.
UP NEXT:
Angels: RHP Cory Rasmus (3-1) will take the mound for Los Angeles' final regular season game. It will be the sixth start for Rasmus, who is 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA as a starter.
Mariners: Hernandez (14-6) has a chance to take the American League ERA title Sunday. A scoring decision Saturday charged Hernandez with an error in Tuesday's 10-2 loss at Toronto, a play originally called a hit. The change removed four earned runs from Hernandez's record, dropping his ERA from 2.34 to 2.18 going into his final start of the regular season. Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox, who made his final scheduled start Wednesday, leads the AL at 2.17.
