SEATTLE — Two years ago, on the second-to-last day of the regular season, they silently watched their playoff hopes end on the televisions in their own clubhouse of T-Mobile Park.
There were curse words muttered under the breath and terse words from a young catcher, frustrated with the failure, demanding more from the front office and ownership.
A year ago, they were eliminated from postseason contention on an off-day at home leading into the final three-game series of the season. It was an outcome that seemed inevitable. They had been mathematically alive, but realistically they were ostensibly done days earlier due to their failures weeks and months before that day.
Hoping other teams fail to offset your failures is no way to make the postseason.
Not this year, not this team.
“You want to control your own destiny,” Cal Raleigh, that aforementioned young catcher, said just a few days earlier. “You don’t want to rely on someone else.”
On Tuesday night, they relied on themselves to secure a spot in the American League playoffs, rallying from an unexpected two-run deficit going into the bottom of the eighth in a way so typical of their second-half surge — a group effort and a big two-out hit.
Josh Naylor, the trade deadline acquisition who has grown into a fan favorite in just a few months with his mixture of grump and thump, gave an anxious crowd of 35,925 on their feet in anticipation of something special, the defining moment in a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and the Mariners trailing, 3-1, Naylor torched a 98-mph fastball from Victor Vodnik, sending a line drive into the left-center gap to clear the bases and give the Mariners a one-run lead.
When Andrés Muñoz struck out Kyle Karros to end the bottom of the ninth for a 1-2-3 inning and his 37th save, a stadium-shaking roar of triumph and jubilation filled the night air. It was a salute to a team that won it their way.
“These guys wanted to earn it on their own,” said general manager Justin Hollander. “They didn’t want anybody giving them anything they want. And they took it, starting the second day in Atlanta to today. They took it every day.”
Standing in the Mariners clubhouse enshrouded with plastic sheeting and filled with coolers of beer and champagne everywhere, manager Dan Wilson addressed the team before a celebration that has been six months in the making.
“I’m going to keep it short tonight because we got more celebrating to do in a few days,” Wilson said, with his cap backward, ski goggles on his head and a bottle of champagne in his hand. “So listen, outstanding job. Everybody in this room, a tremendous amount of gratitude for all the hard work that’s going into this thing. All season long, you guys have worked your tails off — everybody in here. We talked about in spring training, it’s a journey up the mountain. We’re now one of those teams that earns the privilege to finish the course all the way to the top, boys, and it starts tomorrow. Let’s go!”
And with that, chaos ensued, screams of “Yeahhhhhhh!” pops followed by corks flying through the air and a massive downpour of champagne and beer soaked the players and staff, who welcomed the drenching.
“There is no better feeling than this,” said shortstop J.P. Crawford, the longest-tenured Mariner. “You work so hard throughout the season, and this is a testament to everyone working their asses off every day.”
As Wilson mentioned, there will be more celebrating in the days ahead, providing more substance and more importance to this magical season of accomplishment. The Mariners can clinch their first American League West Division title since 2001 on Wednesday night with either a win or a Houston loss. They can also grab one of the two top seeds in the AL on Thursday, ensuring a bye through the wild card round.
They can get all that by simply continuing to win over these next six games, not by waiting for someone to lose.
“That’s our mentality,” Julio Rodríguez said. “We aren’t satisfied yet. We want to win every night. We want to take it ourselves. We are here for it.”
How the Mariners won their clinching game is very typical of their success over the last two months — a variety of contributors doing little things to help set up one big thing.
Down 3-1, the eighth started with pinch hitter Luke Raley sticking his knee in the way of a 99-mph fastball from reliever Juan Mejia to give the Mariners a leadoff hitter.
“It was so Luke,” Raleigh said. “He was either going to get on with a bunt or get hit by a pitch. It’s his mindset to doing anything to win.”
J.P. Crawford worked a walk to put the tying run on base.
After Randy Arozarena and Raleigh each struck out, Rodríguez was hit by a fastball on the elbow to load the bases to bring Naylor to the plate.
The Rockies brought in right-hander Victor Vodnik to face Naylor. With a crowd standing on its feet and cheering in anticipation, Naylor wore the look of a person playing chess.
He worked the count to 2-0 and knew a fastball was coming. He lashed the heater up in the zone, sending a rocket to left-center that was a double off the bat. The normally stoic Naylor turned into a volcano of emotion at second base.
Victory was imminent.
“We play it all the way to the end,” Naylor said. “It’s never over to the last out.”
With T-shirts ready to be handed out and a celebration just three outs away, Muñoz made quick work in the ninth to get the party started.
Naylor sat back in the celebration, wearing goggles and a grin and smoking a big cigar and sipping on a beer.
“This is awesome, but we’ve got to keep rolling,” Naylor said. “We’re not done. We need continue to have fun, playing hard and we’ve got to go for that World Series.”