DETROIT \u2013 One win. It\u2019s the margin that kept the Seattle Mariners from the postseason in each of the last two years. After thumping the Detroit Tigers in Game 3 of this American League Division Series on Tuesday, 8-4, it\u2019s all they need to reach their first AL Championship Series in a generation.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also all that separates the 2025 Mariners, who won 90 games in the regular season, from the 2018 Mariners, who won 89. One win, that is, and a paradigm shift as massive as Mount Rainier.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most important things we talk about all the time is knowing who you are,\u201d said Justin Hollander, the Mariners\u2019 general manager, at Comerica Park after Game 3. \u201cYou have to understand how good you are and how good you aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mariners decided after 2018 that they were not very good. They had just finished with their best record in 15 years, but their roster was the AL\u2019s oldest, and the Houston Astros were poised to rule the West for years to come. If they denied that reality, the Mariners believed, it would take even longer to unseat them.<\/p>\n
Hollander and Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners\u2019 president of baseball operations, sought to build the kind of roster they have now, with nearly every meaningful contributor in the same 24- to 32-year-old age bracket. From their first wave of trades, one pillar remains: shortstop J.P. Crawford.<\/p>\n
Each time Crawford batted on Tuesday, something important happened. He singled in the third inning, with Victor Robles scoring on a throwing error. He walked in the fourth, setting up another run, then homered in the sixth and drove a sacrifice fly in the eighth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always battles, he\u2019s always got good at-bats,\u201d said third baseman Eugenio Su\u00e1rez, whose fourth-inning homer helped chase Jack Flaherty. \u201cHe tries hard to make the pitchers work hard. It\u2019s not an easy out for him, and it helps the team a lot. When you have J.P. in the box, you always think he\u2019s going to do something well.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Mariners acquired Crawford in December 2018, they already had a shortstop who could handle the bat. Jean Segura was 28, had hit .302 in two seasons for Seattle and was signed for four more years.<\/p>\n
But the Mariners sent Segura to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a five-player deal that brought back Crawford, a former first-round pick with a .214 average in 72 major-league games. The Phillies were eager to contend and wanted proven veterans like Segura. Crawford fit better with Seattle\u2019s timeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was on the cusp of being a big leaguer and did a lot of the things that we valued,\u201d Hollander said. \u201cHe controls the strike zone, he\u2019s a good defender. We heard the makeup was really good and he plays really hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt Klentak, who was the GM with the Phillies at the time, had worked with Jerry and I in Anaheim, so we trusted that when we talked about the pros and cons of why they would be open to talking about JP, we would get the truth in terms of how he\u2019s wired.\u201d<\/p>\n
It turned out that Crawford, a Southern California native, was wired to stay out West. After three seasons with Seattle that included a Gold Glove award in 2020, he signed a five-year, $51 million contract that takes him through 2026.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nThe deal, Crawford said, was all about the potential for nights like Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis moment right here,\u201d said Crawford, now the longest-tenured Mariner, after Game 3. \u201cWe had a good foundation, and I love the city. We have a house up there; we stay up there. I love everything about Seattle. And now looking at this part of it, this is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford, 30, hit .265 with a .352 on-base percentage this season, well above the league averages of .245 and .315. He has now spent seven seasons with the Mariners, long enough to be the team\u2019s career leader in games played at shortstop. At his locker in Seattle, he has a commemorative base marked with \u201c787,\u201d the number of games it took to pass Alex Rodriguez for the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the spark plug, a leader on the team,\u201d said starter Logan Gilbert, who stifled Detroit for six innings on Tuesday. \u201cA guy that when he goes, the whole team follows.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Crawford, catcher Cal Raleigh and center fielder Julio Rodr\u00edguez, the Mariners are classically built, with strength up the middle. Those three have hit .361 (13 for 36) in this series, each with a homer, and their defense pairs well with an aggressive pitching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you have a Platinum Glove catcher, that\u2019s going to help, especially when he hits 60 home runs,\u201d Bryce Miller, the Mariners\u2019 Game 4 starter, said dryly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, no, J.P. has been great at shortstop all year, and Julio \u2013 I don\u2019t know how he hasn\u2019t had a Gold Glove yet, but it\u2019s coming, and he\u2019s got plenty in his future. So it provides us a lot of extra confidence knowing we have the guys behind us and in front of us as well. Anything to them, I\u2019ve got full confidence that they\u2019re going to make the play.\u201d<\/p>\n
For much of the season, the Mariners\u2019 offense looked painfully thin. But they traded for Su\u00e1rez and first baseman Josh Naylor in July, got Robles back from a shoulder injury in August, and entered October with a lineup so deep that Crawford bats ninth.<\/p>\n
The bottom of the order sparked the Game 3 victory, with hitters in the last four spots reaching base nine times in 16 plate appearances. The Mariners seized control early and never let go.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a good game, one through nine \u2013 that\u2019s the team that we are,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cWe create chaos and we keep the line moving.\u201d<\/p>\n
One more win and they will keep on moving. Right into the ALCS.<\/p>\n