During their Scary Stretch, from July 28 to August 10, a fourteen-game stretch when the Mariners faced the Astros and Yankees twice, the team went 7-7. They opened that stretch by losing a series against Houston in pretty deflating fashion, including a 1-11 loss to Verlander and the Astros, but dusted themselves off, went into the Big Apple, and took a series from the Yankees there, as well as one later at home. (They also split a very winnable series against the zombie Angels, but we won’t focus on that now.) Now the Mariners enter into an enviable stretch of play that sees them gifted the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the AL:
However, in order to get to the rarefied air of the playoffs, the Mariners will have to make hay against these bad teams, rather than whatever it was they did against the Angels (made.