As the Mariners work to clinch their first division title since 2001, their record against the rest of the American League West stands out as hugely important.
The Seattle Mariners enter play on Tuesday night at 87-69 and in first place in the American League West. With a magic number of two, the Mariners are on the verge of clinching their first playoff berth since 2022 and, with an AL West magic number of three, they are closing in on their first division title since 2001.
If you've listened to the Refuse to Lose podcast at any point this year, you've heard me hammer home the idea that the Mariners need to be able to win at home, and that they need to be able to beat the teams they are supposed to beat.
If there was a third key on the list for a successful season, it would be the importance of winning inside your division. Seattle certainly did that too, going 34-18 against the West this season. That is the third best intra-divisional record in the league, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians, who each have three more divisional games to play.
This statistic is important for multiple reasons: First, by beating the teams in their division, the Mariners were able to directly separate from their divisional foes. Secondly, the Mariners took the season series against each divisional opponent, which also gave them the tiebreaker over each of them.
And thirdly, in the case of other tiebreakers, when the head-to-head is even, intra-division record is the next thing on the list. For instance, the Mariners and Boston Red Sox went 3-3 against each other this season, rendering head-to-head useless as a tiebreaker. But because of the M's record against the West being better than Boston's against the East, the Mariners have the tiebreaker there too.
Seattle Mariners right fielder Victor Robles (10) celebrates with center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) and left fielder Randy Arozarena (56) after the game against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Troy Taormina-Imagn ImagesSeattle will open up a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. PT as Bryce Miller pitches. The Mariners can clinch a playoff berth with a win and a win by the New York Yankees.
You can listen to the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose in the player below. It featured a conversation with reliever Gabe Speier and former MLB OF Doug Glanville.
