Seattle Mariners end playoff drought on Cal Raleigh's walk-off home run

SEATTLE -- 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.

Seattle's celebration on the field lasted more than 10 minutes as fans and players lifted themselves from the burden of two decades without seeing playoffs from their baseball team.

It indeed had been a long wait -- the last time the Mariners advanced to…