Infuriating Mariners losses that could haunt them as playoff hopes dwindle

There are plenty of two-word phrases trending across the Pacific Northwest right now. Although "Tough one" has gained the most traction, there are two others that Mariners fans know a little too well: "What if?" and "If only."

It's hard to look back at the 2026 season and not have those words creep into your mind. From missed opportunities to costly mistakes, Mariners fans can't help but wonder how different things might look if any of those moments, even just one, had gone another way. A different decision, a different outcome, maybe one moment changes everything. Maybe it even pushes the Mariners a little closer to the greatness this team has shown it is capable of.

But, as we know, there is no replay button on the season. All we can do now is wonder.

There have been plenty of frustrating moments throughout the season, but ask any Mariners fan which one made them roll their eyes, yell at the television, or even turn it off, and you'll probably hear a familiar list. With the playoff picture getting tighter by the day, there are some moments that are going to linger, even long after this season is over.

The Mariners' most recent mistakes have nailed their coffin shut

As if the season as a whole hadn't been painful enough, the Mariners recently dropped three of four games to the Athletics. What many believed to be guaranteed wins for Seattle turned into additional losses that don't quite make sense when you look at the bigger picture.

Before that, another mistake, still painfully fresh. On Monday August 3, in a game against the Boston Red Sox, Julio Rodríguez raced for a ball and slid in an attempt to make the catch. Somehow, he missed. It is the kind of play that only gets worse each time you watch the replay.

The mess-up allowed Boston to tie the game before taking the win in extra innings. The most frustrating part is that the situation didn't require a desperate all-or-nothing play. Rodríguez could have played it safe, but instead Seattle paid for the mistake.

Just two days earlier, Mariners fans watched as another lead disappeared before their eyes. Seattle had an early 3-0 advantage over the Toronto Blue Jays, only for the game to completely unravel. In the later innings, reliever Eduard Bazardo walked two batters before a ball got away from catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh recovered and threw to Bazardo near home plate, but Bazardo forgot to tag the runner. Another run scored and another "What if?" added to the list.

In another game set to become the kind of comeback story baseball fans love, Seattle rallied from a 5-2 deficit against Houston in the sixth inning. Brock Rodden collected his first hit in the majors, and the bullpen caught fire, throwing just over 5 perfect innings and carrying Seattle into the 10th. Closer Andrés Muñoz was one pitch away from ending it all when the Astros found back-to-back singles followed by a three-run homer off Muñoz for the walk-off finish.

The Mariners' 2026 tragedy goes well beyond the recent losses

And then there's Cleveland. The June 28 loss to the Guardians is still one of the more painful losses of the season. It knocked the Mariners out of first place in the American League West, and they have yet to find their way back.

While it is unfair to pin the whole thing on Dan Wilson, the Cleveland loss put him in an especially bad light. While the Mariners have had an unlucky, injury-riddled season, it's hard not to look back at this game and wonder whether Wilson did enough to counteract the team's bad luck.

What if he had strengthened the bullpen and learned from this mistake? If only he had shown some urgency earlier on in the season, maybe things would look different now.

Or, maybe they wouldn't.

There isn't one single moment you can look at and say, "That's why the Mariners are where they are right now." Instead, it is a combination of all of them. But, with Seattle's playoff hopes dwindling by the day, those two little phrases are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

What if? If only.

For Mariners fans, those words may end up defining the 2026 season.

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