The Seattle Mariners made a critical three-game clash in Houston this weekend all that more interesting with a win on Thursday.

Seattle Mariners win a rare replay challenge, then add a run

The Mariners (84-69 record) bounced back from a tough loss and finished off a series win by beating the Kansas City Royals 2-0, pulling even with the Astros for first place in the American League West with just nine games to go.

The Mariners and Astros begin a three-game series at Daikin Park on Friday. The winner of the series will not only be atop the division at the end of the week, but will also earn the tiebreaker by winning the season series, which is tied at 5-5.

MLB Standings

Seattle also moved to only one game back of the Detroit Tigers for the No. 2 seed in AL, which comes with a bye in the wild card round and homefield advantage in the division series. The Mariners only need to catch the Tigers, not pass them, since Seattle holds the tiebreaker via a 4-2 record in the season series.

Additionally, the Mariners moved out of a tie in the wild card standings with the Boston Red Sox, who lost 5-3 to the Athletics on Thursday. Seattle and Houston are tied for the second wild card berth as well as the division lead. They’re one game in front of Boston in the standings.

Seattle is 2 1/2 games in front of the first AL team out of the playoffs, the Cleveland Guardians. It’s also five games in front of the Texas Rangers, who hold third place in the AL West.

The Mariners’ “magic number” to make the playoffs is down to seven games, meaning any combination of M’s wins and Guardians losses adding up to seven will clinch a playoff spot for Seattle.

According to FanGraphs’ playoff odds, Seattle has the best odds of winning the AL West at 59.9%. Its chances of reaching the playoffs are 98.5%. The M’s also hold the AL’s top odds of winning the World Series at 13.9%.

When playoff series would start

If the Mariners are able to win the division and claim the AL’s No. 2 seed, they would open the best-of-five-games ALDS at home Saturday, Oct. 4.

If they make the playoffs with the No. 3 seed or lower, they would begin the wild card round Tuesday, Sept. 30. They need to win the division or claim the top wild card spot to start the three-game series at home.

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