Mariners Win For 10th Time In 11 Games; A’s Out

SEATTLE (AP) — Jarred Kelenic stood extracurricular the Seattle Mariners dugout with the assemblage roaring and holding a placard with a operation borrowed from a fashionable tv show.

“Believe” has go Seattle’s rallying call, and the Mariners are charging into the last play of the regular play with plentifulness of content and close successful the heavy of the AL wild-card race.

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“This is fun. This is the mode it’s shot expected to beryllium astatine this clip of twelvemonth and we inactive got a batch of big, large games up of us,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

The Mariners won for the 10th clip successful 11 games beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2 connected Wednesday night, keeping the unit connected their chap competitors for the 2 wild-card spots successful the AL.

Seattle stayed a half-game down Boston for the 2nd wild-card slot and is 1½ games down New York for the apical spot, trying to extremity a 20-year drought since past reaching the postseason. The Mariners person an disconnected time connected Thursday earlier starting their last bid of the regular play astatine location against the Los Angeles Angles.

“You privation to beryllium that feline that breaks that curse, oregon breaks the atrocious vibes implicit here,” Seattle’s J.P. Crawford said. “You privation to beryllium remembered, to beryllium a fable successful this city.”

Ty France’s sacrifice alert successful the seventh inning gave Seattle the pb and Abraham Toro added immoderate cushion with his archetypal location tally since Aug. 31 with 2 outs successful the eighth inning.

Seattle won its 12th consecutive crippled implicit Oakland, the longest triumph streak implicit a azygous squad successful franchise history, and successful the process eliminated the A’s from postseason contention. The A’s had reached the playoffs successful 3 consecutive years and six of the past nine.

“We expected to spell to the postseason this year. We had our opportunities present down the agelong and we didn’t play good capable to get there. So guys are precise disappointing,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

The Mariners besides delayed Houston from clinching the AL West for astatine slightest 1 much day. The Astros’ magic fig stayed astatine one.

France’s sacrifice alert drove successful Dylan Moore, who moved into scoring presumption acknowledgment to a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Crawford. And portion France hardly missed a location run, Toro’s thrust carried implicit the partition for his 11th of the season.

And it was a model into Seattle’s promising aboriginal that acceptable the signifier for the precocious surge.

Rookie Logan Gilbert allowed 1 tally successful 5 2/3 innings successful the biggest commencement of his young vocation to date. The 24-year-old scattered 3 hits, walked 2 and struck retired four. Gilbert finished September with a 2.70 ERA successful six starts.

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And Kelenic, a chap rookie, ripped a two-run treble successful the sixth inning to springiness Seattle the pb aft managing conscionable 4 baserunners against Oakland starter Frankie Montas done the archetypal 5 innings.

“We amazed a batch of radical that said we wouldn’t adjacent beryllium present close present and present we are,’ Gilbert said. ”So the aboriginal is decidedly agleam here. But I besides deliberation close present is agleam too. We person a existent chance.”

Seattle’s bullpen was again solid, with the objection of Diego Castillo (5-5) allowing a solo homer to Seth Brown successful the seventh inning. Paul Sewald worked astir a two-out locomotion successful the eighth inning and Drew Steckenrider pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

Andrew Chafin (2-4) took the nonaccomplishment for Oakland moving the seventh inning. But it was sloppy errors by 2nd baseman Tony Kemp and shortstop Josh Harrison successful the sixth inning that provided the accidental for Kelenic to travel done with the treble that gave Seattle a 2-1 lead.

“To not beryllium capable to marque it this twelvemonth erstwhile we each cognize the benignant of squad we person … it’s conscionable pugnacious for everybody not to beryllium capable to marque the playoffs,” Montas said.

STARTING OFF

Kemp provided the lone tally disconnected Gilbert with a homer starring disconnected the sixth inning. But the 24-year-old rookie was capable to different support the A’s disconnected the committee contempt having to trust astir wholly connected his fastball.

Montas finished with 207 strikeouts for the season, 2nd astir successful A’s history. He besides went 4-0 with 1.59 ERA implicit his last 8 starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: INF Elvis Andrus underwent country successful Arlington, Texas, to repair the breached near limb helium suffered portion scoring the winning tally against the Astros past week. Andrus had an “internal fixation” to the fibula and a “tightrope” process to repair a sprain of the precocious ankle. The squad anticipates Andrus volition beryllium acceptable for the commencement of outpouring grooming adjacent February. … A’s manager Bob Melvin said the squad hasn’t decided if RHP Chris Bassitt volition transportation successful the last bid against Houston.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Oakland volition adjacent retired the regular play opening Friday nighttime astatine Houston. LHP Sean Manaea (10-10, 3.94) volition commencement the opener.

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Mariners: After an disconnected day, Seattle opens its last bid connected Friday nighttime against the Angels. LHP Marco Gonzales (10-5, 4.00) is scheduled to commencement the opener.