Seattle Mariners Rumors: Are Wild Card Standings Close Enough To Give Mariners A Shot At MLB Playoffs?

Seattle Mariners rumors still reveal a shot at the 2015 MLB Playoffs. Though the Mariners are further down in the wild card standings, the team still has a chance to make the postseason if they can continue to play good baseball. On Friday night (August 7), Hisashi Iwakuma made a good start against the Texas Rangers, the offense came through with timely hits, and Carson Smith notched another save by shutting down hitters in the ninth inning.

Iwakuma went seven strong innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out six batters. Joe Beimel and Tom Wilhelmsen kept the Rangers from scoring in the eighth inning, and then Smith came in to close it out. The 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the series was a great way for the team to begin this home stand. Now the team will look to beat the Rangers on Saturday and Sunday (August 8-9) as well.

In the updated American League wild card standings, the Seattle Mariners (51-59) are 7 and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays (59-52) for the second AL wild card spot. It’s a tough road to take to the postseason, especially with just 52 games left in the regular season, but not entirely impossible. The team has played a lot better since the All-Star break and has continued to hit better since Edgar Martinez took over as the hitting coach. In fact, the team could be on a long winning streak right now if not for a series of blown saves that the bullpen registered at the end of July and the beginning of August.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, prior Seattle Mariners rumors indicated that general manager Jack Zduriencik made a decision to keep Hisashi Iwakuma for the stretch run. It was a risky move, especially since he could have acquired players at the MLB trade deadline for him. Iwakuma has come back very strong, pitching as well as he has since coming over to Seattle from Japan. If the team can get him to come back for the 2016 MLB season, that might help the starting rotation a lot.

Mike Montgomery takes the mound for the Mariners on Saturday afternoon as the team hosts the Rangers again at Safeco Field. Losing is no longer an option, as the team has to start putting together winning streaks to really start moving up the wild card standings. Game time for the Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers is 1:10 p.m. PT. There is a lot of work to do with the odds stacked against the M’s, but the season isn’t over yet.

[Image Source: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Image]