Maybe it’s naiveté born out of inexperience and youth. They’ve never been here before, so they don’t know how difficult of a situation they find themselves in following the heartbreak in Houston.
Maybe it’s a true belief borne out of comebacks after being counted out and finding ways to persevere and produce when everyone felt they should pack it in.
Whatever the reason, and it’s probably a combination of the two, plus an unwavering conviction in the character of each other and their ability climb out of a self-created hole with a 29-39 record on June 20 and into the first postseason appearance since in 2001, the Mariners believe if others don’t.
In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Astros, dropping them to 0-2 in the American League Division Series and on the brink of elimination, the Mariners were resolute in their resiliency and their ability to rebound Saturday when postseason baseball returns to the city for the first time since 2001.
“We play well with our backs against the wall,” infielder Dylan Moore said.
They are backed up to a brick wall against Houston.
“We got the team together after the game yesterday,” Servais said. “And I thought it was appropriate at that time to kind of talk where we’re at in this moment and what it’s going to take to turn it around.”
There have been eight teams who have been down 0-2 in the division series that rallied to win three games and take the series to advance to the championship series. Most recently, the 2017 Yankees rallied to beat Cleveland in three straight games. And obviously, the 1995 Mariners were down 0-2 to the Yankees and rallied to win three straight at the Kingdome, culminating with Edgar Martinez’s legendary double to left to score Ken Griffey Jr. from first base.
It can be done, but will it?
“We don’t have to change anything,” third baseman Eugenio Suarez said after the game. “I just tried to tell everybody we’ve got to calm down and just play our game and nothing changes. Don’t worry about the crowd. Don’t worry about anything, but just play our game.”
The Mariners focused on the back-and-forth games in the two games at Minute Maid Park where they had leads after the sixth inning in both as a reason for their optimism.
“We’re a good team and they’re a good team,” Dylan Moore said. “We’ve come this far. We have the players and we’re just confident in each other’s ability to get it done.”
A day later, that mindset hadn’t changed. If anything, their resolve was stronger with a return home despite being delayed for almost four hours because of the luggage loader slamming into their plane after Thursday’s game.
“It seems like anytime that we’ve been counted out, we’ve always come back strong and we’ve always bounced back,” catcher Cal Raleigh said Friday afternoon. “It’s not over. I don’t feel that, and I don’t think anybody else does.”
The Mariners believe that they were one or two plays away from changing the results of those two losses in Houston and that provides confidence.
“I just feel like everybody that has been watching the games and just things didn’t go our way in those games,” Rodriguez said. “We did everything we could. We just didn’t catch break. We’ve just got to keep putting the pressure on, keep putting good at-bats. We faced very much the two best pitchers they got and we played good games. Respect to them, because they’re a really good team too. But I feel like we’re right there with them. I feel like we got the stuff to compete and we got enough to turn everything around.”
Servais has called this the most resilient team he’s ever managed. It will need to be to keep this magical season going.
“The belief for me comes from the collective group that we have been there before,” Servais said. “We have come back when people have written us off. And really every team in the playoffs, outside maybe the Astros or the Dodgers, who didn’t really have to go through those parts of the season, everybody else did. And when you make it through to the other side, when you go through a lull or a low period like that, it does build confidence within the group. And I think that’s what you’re seeing come out.”
He believes that the sellout crowds expected for Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary) could be the biggest difference.
“The factor that I don’t think is getting talked about enough, I think it’s going to show up tomorrow in the first inning, is when there’s 45,000 Mariners fans in the stands pumped and ready to go and all behind us because we certainly need it,” Servais said. “I talked about it when we clinched or ended the drought, how valuable our fan base has been to this team. This team, we really get wired, we get going when it gets loud here. And I really ask everybody to bring it. Not just our team, but all 45,000 people that are going to show up here tomorrow. Because we need it.”