CAL RALEIGH

The Seattle Mariners believe snapping their 21-year playoff drought is only the beginning.

There was bunting draped off the railings in October and logos painted on the grass of T-Mobile Park that were absent for the past two decades when the Seattle Mariners were stuck in baseball purgatory and left as a spectator every postseason.

Yordan Alvarez and his mighty bat did it yet again, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning off Seattle ace Luis Castillo that lifted the Houston Astros over the Mariners 4-2 for a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.

When Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, it will have been almost three years since his last playoff appearance.

Baseball is fun again in the Pacific Northwest in a way that it hasn’t been in more than two decades.

The Seattle Mariners clinched a Wild Card spot Friday night on a walk-off home run by pinch hitter Cal Raleigh. It's the first time the Mariners have made the playoffs since 2001.

The Baltimore Orioles knew the end was coming and had left the ballpark by the time they were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention when Cal Raleigh's ninth-inning homer gave Seattle a 2-1 win over Oakland and the American League's final wild-card spot. Baltimore arrived in New York needing to win its final six games while having Tampa Bay and Seattle lose all of theirs.

Aside from the clinching a spot in the postseason, Seattle stayed 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top wild-card spot and one half-game ahead of Tampa Bay as the three continue to jockey for seeding. It was all about punching the final AL ticket and ending two decades without the guarantee of playoff baseball. AWARD SEASONThe Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America presented its year end awards before the game. UP NEXTAthletics: LHP JP Sears (6-3, 4.22) makes his 12th start of the season and ninth since joining the A’s. Sears is 3-3 with a 5.36 ERA in his starts with Oakland, but beat the Mariners on Sept. 20 allowing one unearned run in five innings.

SEATTLE — (AP) — Cal Raleigh hit a game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Seattle Mariners ended the longest playoff drought in baseball with a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. Raleigh, pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens, hit a 3-2 pitch from Domingo Acevedo (3-4) just inside the right-field foul pole for a solo homer that sent the Mariners to the postseason for the first time since 2001. Aside from the clinching a spot in the postseason, Seattle stayed 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top wild-card spot and one half-game ahead of Tampa Bay as the three continue to jockey for seeding. It was all about punching the final AL ticket and ending two decades without the guarantee of playoff baseball. The Mariners are still the only current team never to have played in the World Series.

Cal Raleigh hit a game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Seattle Mariners ended the longest playoff drought in baseball with a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Mitch Haniger and Jarred Kelenic both homered twice, J.

Seattle right-hander George Kirby set a major league record by throwing 24 straight strikes to start the game and fellow Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez reached a new level, but Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-1 win.

Cal Raleigh homered twice, Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker each hit a two-run shot, and the Seattle Mariners overcame Shohei Ohtani’s four-hit performance to complete a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with an 11-7 victory.

Pinch-hitter Luis Torrens singled with one out in the 13th inning to score Eugenio Suárez, and the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in a game dominated by the starting pitching of Gerrit Cole and Luis Castillo.

Aaron Judge hit his 44th homer, Josh Donaldson went deep and drove in three runs, and the New York Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Seattle Mariners 9-4.

The Houston Astros ended the Seattle Mariners’ winning streak at 14 games, with Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez homering in a 5-2 victory.

The Seattle Mariners won their 14th straight game when rookie All-Star Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run double and Ty France homered after joining him on the AL team to beat the Texas Rangers 6-2.

Jesse Winker hit his second solo homer of the day and the Seattle Mariners won their 10th straight game, edging the Washington Nationals 2-1 to sweep a doubleheader.

Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a throw bust through the webbing of his glove and the Seattle Mariners took advantage for their eighth straight win, beating the Blue Jays 6-5 on two home runs by Carlos Santana.

Mike Trout homered for the fifth time in the five-game series and Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0.

Mariners manager Scott Servais was ejected for his role in a benches-clearing scuffle in the ninth inning of Seattle’s 7-4 win over the Houston Astros, a game in which Cal Raleigh had a career-high four RBIs and Julio Rodriguez hit a late two-run shot.

Gary Sánchez hit a grand slam into the third deck and Carlos Correa launched his first homer for the Minnesota Twins in a 10-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Mariners Astros Baseball Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Yohan Ramirez, right, celebrates with catcher Cal Raleigh after a baseball game against the Houston Astros Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, in Houston. Ty France tied the game with a solo home run in the ninth inning and put the Mariners on top with an RBI single in the 11th before Kyle Seager belted a three-run homer in a 6-3 win. Jake Meyers hit an RBI single with one out, Taylor Jones followed with another single and Jacob Wilson walked to load the bases. “I had to pitch like every pitch was the last pitch of the game because it really was," Sewald said. But the Astros didn't score again until the RBI single by Meyers in the 11th.

Ty France tied the game with a solo home run in the ninth inning and put the Seattle Mariners on top with an RBI single in the 11th before Kyle Seager belted a three-run homer in a 6-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Dylan Moore hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to an 11-8 comeback win against the Houston Astros.