Seattle, WA
Seattle Mariners Breakdown: Analyzing playoff race after series win
The Seattle Mariners took one small step closer as they attempt to rally for a playoff appearance and their first American League West title in 23 years.
Watch: Seattle Mariners outfielders slug two-run HRs in same inning
The Mariners topped the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 on Wednesday to secure a second consecutive series win and wrap up a brief six-game homestand. As a result, Seattle gained one game and sits 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Houston Astros, who dropped two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“We’re excited,” Mariners manger Dan Wilson said postgame Wednesday. “This is a good one to build on – another good series win – and we’ll take it on the road.”
The Mariners improved their playoff odds to 17.5% with the series victory over Tampa Bay, per FanGraphs. They entered the series at 15.1%.
“I think we just got to keep piling up series wins. I think that’s the key,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t really matter how they come. Again, we’ve got a lot of work to do here and we’re looking at it that way – just keep putting together good baseball, good at-bats, good pitching performances and turn around and see where we’re at.”
Seattle has the day off Thursday before starting a three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. Meanwhile, Houston begins a four-game home series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday. After Thursday, the Mariners and Astros will each have 28 games remaining. They square off once more for three games in the penultimate series of the season Sept. 23-25 in Houston.
The Mariners also alive in the wild card picture, but their chances are bleaker than their shot at winning the division.
They’re currently 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the third and final AL wild card berth. Seattle was 6 1/2 games out of the final wild card spot entering Monday. However, the Boston Red Sox are also just three games behind Minnesota.
The Royals, Twins and Red Sox all hold the tiebreaker over the Mariners.
Seattle has just a 3.3% chance of clinching a wild card berth.
Schedule watching
A look at the remaining strength of schedule, toughest remaining opponent by record and easiest remaining opponent by record for the Mariners, Astros, Twins and Red Sox, per Tankathon.
• The Mariners have the 25th-toughest remaining schedule with an opponents’ winning percentage of .481.Their toughest remaining opponent is three games against the Yankees. Their easiest remaining opponent is three games against the Angels.
• The Astros have the 14th-toughest remaining schedule with an opponents’ winning percentage of .499. Their toughest remaining opponent is three games against the Diamondbacks. Their easiest remaining opponent is seven games against the Angels.
• The Twins have the 16th-toughest remaining schedule with an opponents’ winning percentage of .497. Their toughest remaining opponents is three games against the Orioles. Their easiest remaining opponent is thee games against the Marlins.
• The Red Sox have the 18th-toughest remaining schedule with an opponents’ winning percentage of .496. Their toughest remaining opponent is four games against the Yankees. Their easiest remaining opponent is three games against the White Sox.
Up next
The Mariners open a three-game series at the Angels on Friday. Seattle’s pitching probables (in order) are right-hander George Kirby, right-hander Bryan Woo and right-hander Bryce Miller, while Los Angeles is set to counter with right-hander Carson Fulmer, left-hander Tyler Anderson and right-hander Johnny Cueto.
The Angels sit in last place in the AL West at 54-78, which is better than only the historically bad White Sox in the AL. However, they have won five straight against Seattle.
The Mariners are 4-6 overall this season against the Angels.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Mariners activate shortstop J.P. Crawford off IL, send down Canzone
• Passan: The one thing that makes Mariners’ rotation phenomenal
• Did Brant Brown’s interview hint at problem with Mariners’ offense?
• Dan Wilson details how he became the new Mariners manager
• Drayer: Looking at Scott Servais’ legacy, why Seattle Mariners let him go
Seattle, WA
FOLLOWUP: Sound Transit Board finalizes $400+ million spending installment for West Seattle light rail
Two weeks ago, we reported on the Sound Transit Board‘s System Expansion Committee recommending approval of actions to allot $406 million toward West Seattle light rail – the first big commitment after the ST3 plan revision that cemented ST commitment to WS. At this afternoon’s meeting of the full board, the actions all got final approval, as did a much-smaller installment of spending on Ballard light-rail planning.
(Here’s the full slide deck as presented at the committee meeting, also including the current WS light-rail cost estimate of around $5 billion.)
On the horizon, according to the most-recent ST email update, is work to advance the plan for the new cross-Duwamish River light-rail bridge, shown in this rendering:
(Sound Transit rendering)
That work on the south end of Harbor Island (in a parking lot at 1001 Klickitat, according to city docs) will see crews drill a test bridge shaft approximately 10 feet wide and 250 feet deep to better understand ground conditions,” ST says, to obtain “key information needed to finalize the bridge design.”
SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
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