SEATTLE (AP) — Considering it took two decades to end a postseason drought a couple of seasons ago, it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s been 21 years since the Seattle Mariners hit the month of June sitting in first place in the AL West.
But that’s where the Mariners find themselves, holding a four-game lead in the division entering Monday after winning seven of their last eight games.
Seattle (34-27) has taken advantage of a lackluster division in which Houston and defending champion Texas both have underperformed to date. The Mariners are a flawed team, especially on the offensive side, where they rank near the bottom of the league in many categories.
But Seattle has had some of the best pitching in baseball and is off to the second-best home start in franchise history.
“We’ve pitched very well here. No question about it. Our guys are very comfortable here. We pitch, we play good defense here. It’s a pitcher’s park from what they tell me. So it’s not surprising,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “But the key thing on the road is you’ve got to hit better on the road, be more consistent. We have not done so. We have a lot of season left. We need to get better on the road.”
The last time Seattle reached the month of June sitting in first place in the AL West, its current star center fielder Julio Rodríguez was a toddler. That 2003 Mariners team ended up winning 93 games but finished three games back in the division to Oakland and two games behind Boston for the only wild-card berth at the time.
This time, the Mariners’ likelihood of staying atop of the division rests mostly with an elite set of starting pitchers. The fivesome of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and George Kirby have put together a spectacular first two months of pitching.
