A little different feel at Safeco

For the record, up until last Thursday’s game, I’ve seen the Boston Red Sox take on the Seattle Mariners four times at Safeco Field.

This time, it was a little different.

Sure, Red Sox nation was out in full force.

However on this night, the home team had a few fans cheering as well.

WHEN THE game started on Thursday, Seattle still held a slight lead in the American League West division over Houston.

That being said, some fans hanging out before the start of the game were still a little in the dark as to just how well things have been going for the team that occupies Safeco Field.

“So who’s pitching tonight,” asked a fan as I strolled down the sidewalk at CenturyLink Field.

“Umm, David Price for Boston,” I replied, thinking since he had a Mariner jersey, he knew who the M’s had on the bump that night.

“No, for us. Who’s pitching?” he replied.

“Felix is pitching,” I told him as I walked away.

“Sweet,” I heard him answer as I went on to my next stop.

AT FIRST, when getting into the stadium, it was hard to tell just what to expect.

As the fans began to find their seats — or at least where they wanted to stand to try to get a glimpse during batting practice — those fans in the red jerseys outweighed those of the Mariner variety.

Over the years, I’ve seen guys like Bartolo Colon, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester take the mound and dominate the Mariners lineup. Of those, the lone win that the M’s had was against Justin Masterson in 2009.

To be honest, outside of Felix pitching that first matchup against Colon, I couldn’t tell you who started for the Mariners on those particular nights.

For the first time in quite a while, Seattle is hanging around at the top of the AL West standings. Granted, Houston was in the midst of a nine-game winning streak — all on the road — and regained the lead after a 2-1 Mariner loss on Thursday.

The Mariners have toyed with fans’ emotions in recent years — hanging around late in September and coming a game short of the playoffs a few years ago comes to mind.

Yeah, they were in the mix again last year until a few losses down the stretch ended up costing them shot at the postseason.

But this time, it just feels different.

Seattle is finding a way to win one-run games in 2018, with 21 such wins so far this season. And sure, it’s early and there’s still a lot of baseball remaining to be played. But if this continues, there’s really no reason why the Mariners can’t just run away and land a wild-card spot.

All they’ve got to do is find a way into the postseason, and the rest will take care of itself.

MAYBE THE most amazing thing that has came from this latest run is that the Mariners are doing it without Robinson Cano, who was suspended on May 15 for 80 games for testing positive for a banned substance.

You know, the guy that was the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player last year and signed a 10-year, $240 million contract to get the team back to the postseason in 2013.

Now that Seattle shows signs of getting back to the postseason, Cano isn’t even allowed to be near the field when the rest of the team is there, and has almost became an afterthought as the Mariners prepare to make a run through the remainder of their schedule.

Should Seattle actually make the playoffs, Cano won’t be eligible for the postseason, but can play in the team’s remaining regular season games when he returns in August.

How much it helps or hurts them remains to be seen.

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 jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.