The Seattle Mariners weekend series against the Oakland Athletics will have a long lasting impact on the American League wild card race. I have full faith in the hometown 9 to overcome the failure of the Houston Astros series and push themselves back into the lead for the wild card. For this to happen the bats need to start producing once again. This starts with Robinson Cano, he needs to get back to basics and just hit for contact or take pitches and draw the walk. It also seems the Mariners really miss Dustin Ackley, (I know I’m still shocked about his turnaround),  he might have been the M’s hottest, most productive hitter for the past couple of months. The third guy who needs to start hitting is Kendrys Morales. I’m still upset the M’s had to trade Stephen Pryor for him when all they needed to do was throw a couple extra million at Morales but that is water under the bridge. I knew it was going to take some time but I was expecting numbers closer to 2013; .277 AVG, 23 HR’s, 80 RBI’s and 49 walks. So far he is well behind this statistics; .215 AVG, 5 HR’s, 22 RBI’s and 8 walks. If the Mariners are to mount a late season surge and make the playoffs he needs to produce like the 2013 Kendrys Morales.

Both the Mariners and the Athletics have fantastic pitching rotations and rank 1 & 2 in the American League. James Paxton has looked like an absolute stud before and after his shoulder problems, if he hadn’t missed a couple of months he would have double digit wins by now. Hopefully he will be able to have a great off-season, work on his command and come to spring training ready to pitch 180+ innings next season. Felix Hernandez is the best right handed pitcher in the major league but he has a history of playing poorly in September. I believe this is the season he gets a second wind and finishes out the seasons strong. Felix’s past 2 starts have been strong performances with both resulting in wins so I’m crossing my fingers that he will keep it up. Finally the M’s have Chris Young pitching on Sunday against Tacoma native and Bellarmine Prep grad Jon Lester. Young should be near the top of the list for comeback player of the year for his 12-7 record a year after having major shoulder surgery to correct a nerve problem. In spring training I didn’t have any expectations for Chris Young and even thought he wasn’t going to make the starting rotation but I have been pleasantly surprised by his production. I am a little bit nervous because Young hasn’t had this type of workload in a couple years and could be slowing down due to arm fatigue. Luckily with the roster expansion and the overall quality the Mariners bullpen has shown there are plenty of options to choose from.

In the end the Seattle Mariners haven’t been this close in the playoff standing this late in the season since 2003 when they finished 93-69 and 3 games out of the playoff race. On one hand I’m ecstatic they are in the wild card hunt this late in the season but I’m also scared they will fall apart and this season will be all for naught. I believe Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon will be able to inspire the Seattle clubhouse and propel them forward into the 2014 MLB playoffs.