The 2026 season refuses to die.
Josh Naylor walked off the Astros 6-5 in the 10th inning on Wednesday to keep the Mariners longshot playoff hopes alive. The Mariners entered the bottom of the inning down a run, but drew three walks to force the Manfred Man across to make it 5-5. Naylor followed with a bloop single to secure the win.
Advertisement
The game was broadcast on national television because the series figured to have playoff implications way back when ESPN set their schedule. Technically, that wound up being true. The Mariners entered the day still in the race but facing elimination. They need to win out and for the Astros and Rangers to each lose out to force a three-way tie at 78-84, which somehow would give the division to the Mariners. What are the odds? Well, FanGraphs this morning said literally 0.0%, so certainly not high. Even with the win, they still need 12 consecutive results to go their way, in a season where absolutely nothing has gone their way. This made ESPN’s coverage feel less like a postseason preview and more like an autopsy of a living corpse, as their analysts interrogated every nook and cranny of failure that got the Mariners to this point.
George Kirby got the ball in his final start of the year. He imploded in the third, giving up four runs on a walk, a double, a single, a double, and a home run. It was the type of inning we’ve seen plenty from Kirby in 2026, where he’s cruising, showing great stuff, generating whiffs, then suddenly unravels at the first sign of trouble. It’s always on a weird play, too. The single in that sequence was a bizarre grounder down the line line that skipped over the bag and glanced off the umpires ankle and into left field for a run. I mean, if anything, this helped Randy Arozarena get to the ball quicker, so it was hardly a transgression. But flukey play you rarely see followed by extra bases and runs seems to how this year has gone.
Your browser does not support the video tag. Download the video.
It’s been a weird season for Kirby. Or “was” a weird season. It was surely his worst as a big leaguer. The “why” isn’t unclear. His repertoire hardly changed. His stuff hardly changed. I can’t find anything discernible in where he threw the ball. Batters just seemed to have him figured out, neither whiffing nor chasing, waiting to pounce on the occasional mistake left hanging over the plate. It’s surprising because he’d taken a notable step forward last year in the late summer after his return from the injured list. Like so many of his teammates, 2026 represents an inexplicable step back in an otherwise strong career. I guess we’ll see if he figures it out by next year, if he’s still in Seattle.
Advertisement
The Mariners, to their credit, got some runs back in the bottom of the third. Lazaro Montes led off with a walk, J.P. Crawford singled behind him, and Randy Arozarena walked to load the bases. Dominic Canzone followed with a 112-mph line drive single to right field to score a pair of runs. Julio picked up another run with a double to cut the lead to 4-3.
They tied the game in the fifth inning on a Randy single, a Randy steal, and a Canzone single. That duo has made up so much of the offense this year, and they were the main reason the Mariners were in this game at all.
The game sat tied for a while for a while form there. Jose Ferrer pitched a clean inning. So did Gabe Speier, Carlos Vargas, and Seranthony Domínguez. The Mariners bullpen was great in this one, racking up seven strikeouts over four scoreless innings in regulation.
Then it was the bottom of the ninth. Dan Wilson called on Taylor Ward to pinch hit for Montes to face Josh Hader. This wasn’t a popular decision because Ward has been terrible since joining the team at the trade deadline. But platoons are platoons are platoons. Ward nearly ended the game with a hard line drive that went just foul. He followed it up by dropping a bloop single into right, briefly getting him off the hook. But it was all for not, as Hader picked him off at first to end the threat.
Advertisement
Ward couldn’t find any place to hide after that. In the 10th inning, with the Manfred Man on second, Yainer Diaz roped line drive to right. Ward ranged over and gave it a diving effort but couldn’t quite get there, allowing the ball to roll the fence for an RBI triple to give the Astros a 5-4 lead.
That brought the Mariners back up in the 10th with the Manfred Man on second. The Astros left Hader in the game despite having already thrown 19 pitches in the ninth. He walked Arozarena on seven pitches. He walked Cal on six to load the bases. He dotted Julio up and down and all around, but Julio battled, fouling off pitches eventually taking a tough slider out of the zone for ball four. The walk forced in a run and tied the game at five. Hader’s next pitch (number 44 on the night) was a sinker way up and out of the zone to Naylor, whopoked it into center for the game winning run.
Your browser does not support the video tag. Download the video.
Again, the Mariners are still technically alive entering the final weekend of play. They face the Angels at home for a four game series. The Astros face the A’s in Sacramento. The Rangers have one more against the Mets then go to Minneapolis. The Mariners need all 12 results to go their way.
Read the full article here
