The party is on for the Seattle Mariners after they clinched their spot in the playoffs with a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, but an even bigger party may be just one night away.

They’re in! Seattle Mariners clinch spot in playoffs after Naylor’s double

Not only did the Mariners (88-69 record) win on Tuesday night, but the division rival Houston Astros (84-73) fell 5-1 to the Athletics in Sacramento.

That means the Mariners’ magic number to clinch their first American League West title since 2001 is just one. So with the next M’s win or Astros loss, either of which could come Wednesday, the division crown returns to Seattle after 24 years.

Hugs all around for Naylz 🤗 #SeizeTheMoment pic.twitter.com/nnmcXaQjUV

— Seattle Mariners – x (@Mariners) September 24, 2025

Seattle plays the second game of its three-game series against the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday night, while the Astros will play the middle game of their series with the A’s at 7:05 p.m.

The Mariners, who have won 15 of their last 16 games, also moved closer Tuesday to clinching the AL’s No. 2 seed, which is significant because the top two seeds receive a bye past the best-of-three AL wild card round and into the best-of-five AL Division Series.

Seattle is now three games ahead of the AL Central co-leading Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers in the race for that all-important No. 2 seed. The Mariners own the head-to-head tiebreakers over both teams.

Seattle’s clinch of a playoff spot came in a somewhat complicated way, with the opportunity created by the New York Yankees (89-68) walking off the Chicago White Sox earlier in the night to punch their own ticket to the postseason.

Yankees win opens door for Mariners to clinch playoffs

As the only team in the wild card race that the Mariners don’t own a tiebreaker over, New York’s win cleared it of any multi-team tiebreaking scenario (not counting seeding) that could include Seattle.

By reaching 88 wins, the Mariners guaranteed that not each of the Guardians (85-72), Tigers (85-72) and Boston Red Sox (86-71) could finish higher in the standings.

The M’s won the season series against both the Guardians and Tigers to win the tiebreaker against them. Seattle split the six games this season against the Red Sox but will finish with a better record in its own division than Boston, which is the second tiebreaker.

Cleveland and Detroit are currently tied for both first place in the AL Central and the AL’s third and final wild card spot, but the Guardians own the tiebreaker. Boston is a game ahead of them for the second wild card.

The Astros are currently the first team outside of the playoff picture, a game behind Detroit and Cleveland.

The Mariners could clinch the No. 2 seed in the AL as soon as Thursday, when they are set for their series finale against Colorado.

Seattle will wrap up the regular season at T-Mobile Park with three games starting Friday against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Radio coverage of Wednesday’s Mariners-Rockies game on Seattle Sports will begin at 5:30 with the pregame show.

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