Why the Mariners' last 3 outs of the 2025 season were particularly brutal

It probably does not need to be rehashed. The Mariners' season-ending loss in ALCS Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays was brutal in so many ways. Yet I'm going to rehash it, just one more time, to demonstrate just how bad it actually was for the M's.

Of course, the final sequence was awful. The Mariners went down in order in the top of the ninth, with Leo Rivas, Dominic Canzone and Julio Rodríguez all striking out in order against Jeff Hoffman to end the inning, the game, and the Mariners' season.

Striking out the side to lose the game is a sad way to go down, but it gets worse when you consider the man on deck: Cal Raleigh.

The Mariners' season with their best hitter stranded on deck

Cal Raleigh, the man who hit 60 home runs in 2025. The man who is either going to win the AL MVP or be a close runner-up. The All-Star catcher who hit for a 150 wRC+ in high-leverage at-bats in 2025. He tied Game 5 for the Mariners with one swing of the bat, hitting maybe the highest-leverage home run of his career. He also tied up Game 1 for the Mariners late. Three years earlier, he hit the home run that sent Seattle to the playoffs in 2022.

Raleigh has always lived up to the moment. And, waiting on deck after Raleigh was Jorge Polanco, who led all of baseball with a 259 wRC+ in high-leverage at-bats.

It's painful to admit it, but the Mariners were likely one baserunner away from taking back the lead in the top of the ninth inning. Raleigh, known for late-game heroics, could have come through for the Mariners like he did all year long. And even if he did not hit a go-ahead home run, he would have been followed on deck by the most clutch hitter in baseball, and the man who delivered the Mariners' victories in Games 2 and 5 of the ALDS versus Detroit.

Rodriguez, who ended the Mariners season by swinging at ball four, was a league-average hitter in high-leverage moments, posting a 101 wRC+ on the year. The Mariners didn't need him to be hero, however. All they needed was for him to get on base in any way possible. A walk likely was all he needed, and if he had not swung at ball four, he would have reached first base.

Of course, we don't know that Raleigh or Polanco would have came through. But based on their resume throughout the season, there was a good chance it would have happened. Unfortunately, the Mariners never gave them a chance.