The Seattle Mariners had their first winning season in five years in 2014, but the first year for Robinson Cano in the Emerald City will end just shy of October. The Mariners were officially eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the regular season with the Oakland Athletics' 4-0 win in Texas.
Mariners’ wild card pursuit ends with Oakland win
Tom Szczerbowski
The Mariners rode a strong pitching staff (first in American League in ERA) behind Felix Hernandez, in contention for another Cy Young Award after going 14-6 with a 2.18 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 33 starts entering Sunday.
Seattle was tied with the Royals for the second AL wild card spot as late as Sept. 20, just one game behind the wild card-leading Athletics, but a five-game losing streak undercut the Mariners' October dreams.
Cano, in the first season of a 10-year, $240 million contract, was still one of the best players in the game, hitting .314/.382/.454 entering Sunday with 14 home runs and 37 doubles in 156 games. The Mariners also got another solid season out of 26-year-old Kyle Seager, who hit .270/.336/.457 with 25 home runs and made his first All-Star team.
Seattle hasn’t made the playoffs since winning 116 games in 2001. This will be its first winning season since going 85-77 in 2009.
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