The Astros Swept The Mariners Thanks To A 1-0 Win In 18 Innings In Seattle

The Seattle Mariners got to host a playoff game for the first time in 21 years on Saturday afternoon and the folks who were starved of postseason baseball for two decades were provided with two full games for the price of one.

Neither offense could do anything all game and the two sides went to extra innings tied 0-0. That continued for another eight innings, with the two pitching staffs combining for more than 100 outs without a single run being scored, a legitimately unbelievable feat that had never been achieved in playoff history — it was the fourth 18-inning game in playoff history overall, but the first to get there scoreless.

There weren’t a lot of “highlights” aside from some impressive pitching displays, but in the 16th, Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez helped keep the game stalemated at 0-0 with an unbelievable diving grab in the right center gap.

However, in the top of the 18th, Jeremy Pena launched one deep into left center that Rodriguez was not afforded a shot at, as it carried over the wall for a home run to, finally — and mercifully, for those watching — put a run on the board.

Seattle was unable to find their own miraculous run in the bottom of the 18th, bringing their incredible season to an end in about as painful a loss as you can have — especially for fans who sat there for 11 innings sobering up after they stopped serving alcohol in the seventh. Playing two full games worth of innings and losing 1-0 feels like an especially cruel way for a season to end, particularly for the pitching staff, and the Mariners will feel they let all three games in this series slip through their hands in various ways having blown two late leads in Houston prior to Saturday.