Felix Slammed, Mariners On The Brink

Felix Hernandez lasted 4.2 innings, allowing eight earned runs as the Seattle Mariners lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 10-2. The M’s aren’t officially done, but damned if that wasn’t another blowout loss. Four of those in a row, and this one was all Felix. The M’s are as good as done.

React as you will – anger, frustration, and plain ol’ melancholy will all do. Personally I’m not devastated by the Mariners potentially (probably) missing the playoffs, as that was a long shot all along. What sucks for me is the way it’s happened – a brutal, unwatchable collapse right when things were getting extra-close and the impossible seemed the most possible. What’s worse is what it could say about the team.

We looked at the Mariners all season long and thought “wow, this run prevention unit just might be sustainably elite.” Hard to keep that line of thinking alive when the most critical stretch of the decade is met with total defensive breakdown. The 2014 Mariners have all but pitched themselves out of the race. That’s incredible, in that it seemed impossible. As we know, it’s not impossible. Not much is.

Now is not the time to eulogize the 2014 season – worse teams have won five straight at less likely occasions – but that time may be soon, sooner than we’d have wanted it to be. We’ll save the postmortem for later, but now seems like as good a time as ever to remind ourselves how fun this has been. The 2014 Mariners won more games than they lost. That’s awesome. That’s amazing.

Taijuan Walker vs. Mark Buehrle tomorrow at 4:07. The Mariners may be on the brink, but that means they’re still alive. Remember, none of us know what happens next. This could still become the most amazing thing we’ve ever seen.