AL West-leading Mariners dealt a huge blow in pursuit of 1st-round bye

We wouldn't be surprised if some Mariners fans out there have a nosebleed following events over the weekend. The combination of completing a sweep of the Angels and the Astros losing to the Braves on Sunday, means this is the latest in a season that the M's have held first place in the AL West all to themselves since way back in 2001.

We do appreciate the Mariners have a crucial three-game series coming up in Houston this weekend, which will go a long way towards determining the destiny of the AL West. Still, at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, the M's are now in a position where they can also potentially get a first-round bye.

The allure of a first round-bye for the Mariners

Aside from this meaning invaluable homefield advantage in the Division Series, it would also result in some much-needed rest after a season of battling more than their fair share of injuries. However, one of the teams which the Mariners are chasing for a first-round bye have received some news which could be a significant blow to any chance of catching them in the standings.

The Mariners stand 3.0 games behind the Tigers, having closed the gap in the standings thanks to a season-high nine-game winning streak. And the M's appeared to have caught some more good fortune when the Tigers' Cy Young-winning ace Tarik Skubal suffered a scare in his last start on Friday night:

At the time it sure looked like a nasty incident, which had many wondering if Skubal would have to miss some playing time at a crucial point of the season. However, as per MLB.com's Justin Morris, the two-time All-Star is on course to make his next start on Thursday, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said:

"It’s all good news. So, obviously, that’s great for us, and great for him, and now we’ll work toward his work week. … We’ll get together with him on Monday. He’ll do his normal close-throwing workout that he does, and we’ll move forward."

A.J. Hinch

While no true baseball fan would ever wish an injury on an opposing player, the Mariners admittedly would have benefited from Skubal being out for a bit. The Tigers are 42-18 over these past two seasons in games he starts, and he's in contention for another Cy Young this year, leading the AL with a 6.2 rWAR, 2.26 ERA and 2.45 FIP, as well as the majors as a whole with a 0.862 WHIP.

Still enough reason to be optimistic about the Mariners

It's worth pointing out the Mariners do have the tiebreaker over the Tigers if the two teams finish the season with the same record. This is in large part thanks to a dominating (and yes, slightly surprising) sweep of the Tigers in Detroit prior to the All-Star break.

In addition, while the Tigers do have the easier remaining schedule, there isn't much to it in the grand scheme of things. As per FanGraphs, the Tigers' strength of schedule for their final 12 games is .499, while for the Mariners it is .502.

Before anyone gets too carried away, a three-game advantage at such a late stage of the season is big, which is why Skubal missing any starts could have proved advantageous to the Mariners. Regardless, they are at least still in within a shout of catching the Tigers for a bye, which is a scenario we're sure most M's fans would have taken going into the final two weeks of the regular season back in March.