SEATTLE (AP) — The Mariners won for the 10th time in 11 games and stayed in the thick of the AL wild-card race with a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night. It's Seattle's 12th straight win over the A's.
Ty France’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning gave Seattle the lead and Abraham Toro added some cushion with a home run in the eighth. Seattle stayed a half-game behind Boston for the second wild-card slot and is 1 ½ games behind New York for the top spot.
Jarred Kelenic had one of his biggest hits of the season in the sixth inning. He doubled in pair of runs to add to the anguish of A's starter Frankie Montas who was victimized by his defense.
Logan Gilbert allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four. Drew Steckenrider pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his 13th save.
The Mariners have the longest active playoff drought in Major League Baseball at 20 years. This is the closest the Mariners have been to earning a playoff spot with five games or fewer to go since 2001, when they last made the playoffs.
The loss eliminated Oakland from postseason contention. The A's had reached the playoffs in three straight years and six of the last nine.
Seattle will start a weekend series with the Angels on Friday. Los Angeles has already announced Shohei Ohtani will not pitch in Sunday's finale. He is 1-0 with 20 strikeouts against the Mariners this year.