Mariners back in the playoffs thanks to unwavering mental fortitude

The Mariners were listless for most of Tuesday night, but when it mattered most Josh Naylor stepped up for a comeback 4-3 win over Rockies.

If we’re being honest, the Mariners stunk the joint out for most of Tuesday night, with only two hits and 13 strikeouts through seven innings and trailing 3-1 with just a Dominic Canzone solo home to their name. The copious amount of strikeouts in particular stood out as a painful reminder of the past two seasons.

What stood out even more those two seasons was finishing one agonizing game out of a wild card spot, but that won’t be happening again this year. The Mariners are heading back to the playoffs, and it’s thanks to an unbreakable resolve and bouncebackability which makes this team different.

Josh Naylor lifts the Mariners again

With the Mariners’ total focus on teamwork and everyone doing their bit, anyone is capable of stepping up and being the hero on any given night. On Tuesday night it was the popular Josh Naylor taking center stage as the hero, with yet another reminder of why the organization needs to do whatever it takes to get him re-signed.

When Naylor came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth, he faced a bases loaded, two-outs situation for a Mariners team down and desperate for some magic. He proceeded to dig deep and do just this, as his double cleared the bases and gave the M’s their first lead of the night at 4-3.

As you can imagine the 35,925 fans in attendance at T_Mobile Park went crazy, in equal parts through relief and ecstasy. Andrés Muñoz then produced one of his less stress-inducing outings of 2025, as he got the three final outs of the game with the minimum of fuss to clinch the 4-3 win with his 38th save of the season.

You won’t win many games when you finish with just three hits and 16 strikeouts, but it’s a measure of the Mariners that they were able to dig deep and somehow still clinch victory. This speaks volumes about what a special team this really is and how they have repeatedly come back from the abyss, after being written off so often throughout the season.

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The key roster move of the Mariners season

Many understandably rejoiced when the Mariners reunited with Eugenio Suárez at the trade deadline. Really though, it was bringing in his Diamondbacks teammate Naylor a few days earlier which turned out to be central to the team’s success.

Naylor has a 2.1 WAR, .486 slugging percentage, .820 OPS and 134 OPS+ in 52 games for the Mariners and there’s no doubt he has been the sparkplug they needed. This is a dangerous lineup now one through nine, filled with so much potential and capable of striking fear into any opposing pitcher.

The Yankees of all teams helped the Mariners secure their return to the playoffs, with a walkoff win over the White Sox on Tuesday night. And with the Astros losing to the Athletics, the M’s can now clinch their first division title since 2001 as early as Wednesday evening.

Dan Wilson provides the perfect response to critics

After all the criticism Dan Wilson has received this year – a lot of it irrational and unjustified – he had the final word by leading the Mariners to the playoffs in his first full season as manager. And don’t look now, but this team has the inside track on the second AL seed and the invaluable first round bye which would come with it.

A jubilant Wilson spoke to the players in the clubhouse postgame and congratulated them on all the hard work they had put in throughout the season. As per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, he said:

“… outstanding job. Everybody in this room, a tremendous amount of gratitude for all the hard work that’s going into this thing. All season long, you guys have worked your tails off — everybody in here. We talked about in spring training, it’s a journey up the mountain. We’re now one of those teams that earns the privilege to finish the course all the way to the top, boys, and it starts tomorrow. Let’s go!!!”

What was encouraging was that as much as the Mariners celebrated with champagne, beer and cigars in the clubhouse on Tuesday night, they were also still thinking about what lies ahead. As per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Cal Raleigh said:

“We’re not done yet. Obviously, enjoy this moment and celebrate. But we’ve got bigger things on the horizon, hopefully.”

Naylor had similar comments when speaking to the media. He said:

“This is awesome, but we’ve got to keep rolling. We’re not done. We need (to) continue to have fun, playing hard and we’ve got to go for that World Series.”

This might seem like the stuff of fantasy for the only one of the 30 Major League teams to never make it to the World Series. However, anything seems possible with the 2025 Seattle Mariners, thanks in large part to an unwavering mental fortitude.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

Surely the Mariners will get the second AL seed now, given their favorable position? However, regardless of how the regular season concludes, what happens come playoff time? Do their FanGraphs odds as favorites to win the World Series fill you with optimism and confidence, or make you nervous? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.