Commentary: Mariners sucked some of us back…only to mess with our hearts again

It's just that kind of year. The problem is, with this team, it's ALWAYS that kind of year.

SEATTLE - It’s probably a good thing today was the final day of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. Because Mariners fans don’t need any other rollercoasters, and season ticket holders are the ones who purchased the real "Dizzy Pass" this year.

Up 5-0 in the sixth inning, the Mariners were on the verge of pulling to within a game of the final wildcard playoff spot in the American League with six games left. After everything this team has been through this season, it was hard to believe they’d be this close in the final week of the regular season.

The Royals have lost seven straight games. The Twins have gone 11-22 over their last 33 games. The prospect of making the playoffs was going from a miracle situation to a viable possibility.

And then, the M’s again messed with our hearts - again.

That 5-0 lead dissolved into a 6-5 loss, dropping Seattle to essentially three games behind the Royals and Tigers because they’d lose tiebreakers to both teams. While mathematically not impossible, the M’s playoff hopes have once again dwindled to "pie in the sky" possibilities, leaving us with the ever-familiar question of "what could have been?"

I guess that’s appropriate. But it doesn’t make it feel any better. Because we’ve said it all season: You either make the playoffs or you don’t. There are no consolation prizes for finishing one game out.

And think about why the Mariners are losing the tiebreaker to the Royals. It’s literally because they dropped an 8-0 lead in a game against Kansas City earlier this year. Win that game, and they’d lead the head-to-head series against the Royals and Seattle would hold the tiebreaker. Instead, they lost the game, 10-9, the season series is tied, and the Royals own the tiebreaker.

It’s just that kind of year. The problem is, it’s always that kind of year. And whoever is to blame, it’s simply unacceptable.

In about a week, if they even decide to have an end-of-season press conference, we’ll be bombarded with excuses from the front office, talking about how the M’s played better at the end of the year. How they never gave up. How they finally started to get the offense going, and how they’re hopeful a similar formula can get them over the top next season.

But fans don’t want to hear that tired old story anymore. They don’t want to hear the promise of next season when they fully wasted the potential of this one – again.

There have been too many losses, too many heartbreaks like the one we saw today, to give anyone a pass for this season. Because as we’ve said for years, this fanbase deserves better. They deserve to be rewarded far more for their patience than having to pray for a miracle in the final week of the regular season.

The "Put Up or Shut Up" mantra still holds. And at this point, the Mariners failed to do their part, thanks to a lot of things, including games like today.

The rhetoric that comes from here will be as empty as the trophy case waiting for their first championship prize.