The Seattle Mariners needed one swing to flip a tense night. Josh Naylor delivered it. His eighth-inning, bases-loaded double cracked T-Mobile Park wide open and sealed a 4-3 comeback over the Rockies, sealing Seattle’s return to October and tightening their grip on the AL West race.
How Seattle flipped the game around
For seven innings, the bats lagged against a staff with the league’s worst ERA. Then the eighth arrived. Luke Raley wore a pitch, J.P. Crawford walked, and after two strikeouts, Julio Rodríguez took a heater off the elbow guard to load them up. Naylor stayed short on a 2-0 fastball and rifled it into the left-center gap. Three runs scored. Rodríguez flew from the first like he had a head start.
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Andres Muñoz made the ninth look easy. The party was on, Playoffs secured. One more step toward the division the city has chased since 2001.
Seattle has been building to this. The rotation looks nasty again, even with Bryan Woo going through a pectoral issue. Midseason pickups Naylor and Eugenio Suárez brought thump and edge. The bullpen is handling the late-inning stress. After a 6-15 wobble that rattled nerves, the Mariners ripped through Houston, stacked wins at home, and reminded everyone what their ceiling looks like.
Seattle wants to keep rolling
The standings reflect it. Seattle is winning at home, widening space on Houston, and sitting in a lane for a first-round bye. It has been a long time since this city hosted a World Series game. Nights like this make it feel less like a wish and more like a path.
One swing lit it. Now the job is to keep the lights on.
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