(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Last season, the Seattle Mariners finally broke their 21-year postseason drought by securing the second Wild Card spot in the American League.
This year, the Mariners remain a force to be reckoned with in the American League.
The AL West is a division that has been dominated by the Texas Rangers for most of this season.
However, the Mariners have gotten hot while the Rangers are on an eight-game losing skid.
As such, Seattle has rallied from third place and climbed into a first-place tie with the Rangers.
According to Bob Nightengale, the last time the Mariners were in first place this late in the season was 2003.
The last time the Seattle #Mariners were sitting in first place this late in a season?
Would you believe, Aug. 26, 2003?
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 26, 2023
Back on August 26, 2003, the Mariners led the AL West.
It was ultimately the Oakland Athletics who won the division that year.
However, the Mariners are back in full force and are a dangerous team as the stretch run approaches.
The AL West is very much a three-horse race between Texas, Seattle, and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros.
But Seattle may soon pull away from the rest of the pack if they stay hot.
They have won nine of their last 10 games.
The last time the Mariners won the AL West was all the way back in 2001 when they picked up 116 regular season victories before being eliminated in the ALCS by the New York Yankees.
As September approaches, the Mariners have a chance to do something they haven’t done in over two decades.
The AL West should be an interesting race to watch in the final month of the season.
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