Last fall, the Seattle Mariners came within one game of reaching their first World Series.
The Mariners entered this, their 50th anniversary season, with high hopes.
But those were officially dashed Thursday when the defending American League West champion Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention, hours before their 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
The Mariners (74-85) and last-place Angels (61-98) will continue their season-ending, four-game series Friday night in Seattle.
“It’s disappointing,” said Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who followed his historic 60-homer campaign with an injury-plagued season in which he has 23 homers and is batting just .179. “We definitely didn’t deserve to make the playoffs. Just a frustrating year in general with a lot of areas to improve on. Ultimately, it sucks because you know you failed, but you’ve got to accept it …
“We were kind of riding high off of last year, and somewhere along the way things just didn’t click, didn’t come together, and we were never able to right the ship,” he said. “That’s the frustrating part. I thought we would be able to get there, and we just never did. We never got better. It’s a learning point that we’re all going to have to take accountability for.”
Julio Rodriguez’s 451-foot shot off the batter’s eye in center field at T-Mobile Park, the second-longest homer of his career, was one of the few highlights Thursday for the Mariners.
“Clearly disappointing,” manager Dan Wilson said of the team’s season. “This is not what we expected, not what we hoped for when we started out, and this is always a very difficult day when this happens.”
Wilson was asked about his job security.
“Obviously, tons of speculation,” he said. “Just trying to get through these next four days and push hard, finish up as strongly as we can and find some positives here at the end. Then we will take things as they come.”
Christian Moore had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs on Thursday for Los Angeles, which snapped a three-game losing streak but still has the worst record in the AL.
Josh Lowe had two hits, one of which was a double, and scored three times for the Angels, who are trying to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history.
Los Angeles placed hard-throwing reliever Ben Joyce on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a right shoulder impingement, and right-hander Ryan Watson earned the save in Joyce’s place.
Joyce returned early last month after undergoing shoulder surgery in May 2025.
“It was encouraging to know that I still have it in there,” Joyce said. “I still have the velo and stuff. When I first came back, it was probably some of the best I’ve felt pitching. I think it just kind of caught up with me, I guess. But I’m excited to have a relatively healthy offseason.”
The Angels will send left-hander Reid Detmers (6-8, 3.47 ERA) to the mound Friday against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller (4-9, 3.99).
Detmers didn’t get a decision Saturday against visiting Minnesota in a game the Angels won 6-5 in 11 innings. He allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks over five innings.
In his previous start, Detmers defeated the Mariners 6-4 on Sept. 14 in Anaheim, Calif., giving up three runs in six innings with eight strikeouts. He is 3-2 with a 5.15 ERA in 14 career appearances against Seattle, including nine starts.
Miller has lost seven straight decisions since his last victory, 1-0 against the visiting Angels on July 2, when he pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball with no walks and eight strikeouts.
He’s 3-2 with a 2.58 ERA in eight career starts against L.A. Miller pitched well his last time out Saturday at Colorado, giving up one unearned run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings in a game the Mariners lost 5-3.
–Field Level Media
