Mariners clinch playoff berth, close in on AL West title - ESPN

SEATTLE — In the end, when they needed a big hit, it was Josh Naylor, the man who brought such a noticeable energy to this surging Seattle Mariners team over these past two months, who delivered it.

His eighth-inning, bases-loaded three-run double Tuesday night triggered a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over the Colorado Rockies, sent the Mariners back into the postseason and put them on the cusp of a long-awaited division title. The last time the Mariners won the American League West, it was 2001, a year highlighted by 116 regular-season wins. That can change as early as Wednesday, with either another win by them or another loss by the Houston Astros.

But first, the Mariners celebrated their first postseason clinch since 2022 — and hoped for many more.

«We wanna do all of 'em — and a big one in the end,» Naylor said, puffing on a cigar just steps away from a champagne-and-beer celebration in the middle of the Mariners' clubhouse. «With a nice parade around the city.»

Seattle remains the only current major league city that has yet to host a World Series game, but this season's team is continually inspiring hope for October.

Tuesday's win was the Mariners' fifth in a row and 15th in a stretch of 16 games — immediately following a 6-15 stretch that made fans wonder if they would be poised for another late-season slide. It followed a resounding sweep in Houston, one in which the Mariners never trailed. And it has them thinking their best might be ahead of them.

The Mariners' vaunted rotation — minus Bryan Woo, nursing a pectoral injury the team hopes won't keep him out of the playoffs — is dominating again as so many expected at the start of the season. Their lineup, bolstered by the midseason additions of Naylor and fellow