THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016

Who knows when this season is going to end for the Seattle Mariners.

But you can’t say you’re not the least bit entertained, right?

SO THE downside of the team’s win streak — which reached eight entering Friday’s game against Houston — is that those wins have came against teams that have long packed it in for the summer and are looking forward to the offseason. Not that Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels have quit, but it wouldn’t shock me if both are under new leadership when the 2017 season gets going.

As much as I’d like to think that this year’s Mariners are a team of destiny, fans will have to see just how the next week goes.

Seattle entertains Houston this week, then begins a three-game series against Toronto on Monday at Safeco Field. In the final two weeks of the season, Seattle will play at Minnesota, at Houston and conclude the regular season at home with a four-game series against Oakland.

To some, that might seem like an ideal situation with Minnesota and Oakland still on the schedule.

Don’t forget, Seattle was swept by Minnesota earlier this year — in Seattle — even when the Mariners were playing well heading into the series. Oakland has traditionally been a spoiler for teams trying to make it into the playoffs, and why not again this year?

It has been said that all a team needs to do is get into the tournament (or playoffs) and then they’ll find a way to get the momentum heading in the right direction.

As it appears — at least lately — the Mariners seem to have found that momentum again.

BUT TO get where they want to be, which is the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, they’ll have to jump a few teams — Baltimore, Detroit, Toronto — just to have a shot at hosting that wild-card game, and even that was unthinkable a few weeks ago.

After being swept by the A-Rod-less Yankees and being whipped out of Texas, it seemed as if it was just a good run that resulted in tripping a few miles from the finish line.

Then the team started hitting again on Labor Day, beating the Texas Rangers 14-6 in a game where the Rangers ace Cole Hamels didn’t make it out of the second inning.

And they’ve only lost once since.

Sure they’ll play October baseball because the season extends into next month, but it’s very possible that the Mariners could extend their season for another week or two, just by playing as consistenly as they’ve been in the recent week.

THERE HAS been more twists and turns in the season, much like riding a rollercoaster at Silverwood Theme Park in Athol.

One thing is for certain — at least the final two weeks of the baseball season will be entertaining, win or lose.

And that’s something that hasn’t been the case in a very, very long time.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.