Taking on water in Seattle

A quick update on the baseball situation: The Mariners and Yankees lost last night; the Red Sox and the Blue Jays won. The M's no longer control their own destiny. They will need the Yankees or the Red Sox to lose a game or two today or tomorrow in order for the M's to reach the playoffs as a wild card team, or to qualify for a tiebreaker to get a wild card. And the M's will have to win at least one, and probably both, of their remaining two to survive. Last night they scored exactly 1 run against the Angels.

Now, I'm lousy at charting playoff scenarios, but I always try. By my reckoning, if the Red Sox win both their remaining games (against the Nationals), the only way the M's make it past Sunday is if the Yankees lose both theirs (against the Rays). If the Yankees win both their games, the only way the M's make it past Sunday is if the Red Sox lose at least one of theirs. 

And then there are the Blue Jays. The Jays (playing the Orioles) are in the same position as the Mariners at this point. If the Yankees or Red Sox falter, it may come down to whether the Mariners or the Jays do better over the next couple of days.

A four-way tie, at 91 wins, is still possible. The Yankees already have 91; the Red Sox 90; and the M's and Jays 89 apiece.

UPDATE, Saturday afternoon: The Yankees lost today. The Jays are ahead 7-1 after four innings.

FURTHER UPDATE, later Saturday afternoon: The Jays and Red Sox both won today. Now the best that the Mariners can do is tie for a wild card spot. And they'll have to win both their games and have some other things happen to get that. Last night's loss was mighty costly.

FURTHER UPDATE, Saturday night: The Mariners survived a nail-biter. They will need to win tomorrow snd see a loss by the Yankees or the Red Sox, in order to play on Monday.