The Seattle Mariners made short work of the Houston Astros this weekend with the series sweep propelling the team forward in the MLB playoff picture. Following the recent Mariners-Astros series ending on September 21, 2025, Seattle sits as the No. 2 seed in the AL standings.
As a reminder, the top three seeds in each league go to the division winners. For example, the New York Yankees have a better record than the Mariners, but Seattle would get a higher seed as the Toronto Blue Jays are the division leaders.
Here is a look at the the AL playoff standings, seeding and potential postseason matchups following the Mariners’ win against the Astros on September 21 .
MLB Playoff Picture: AL Postseason Picture
The teams listed in bold would make the MLB playoffs if the postseason started today. Toronto has already clinched a playoff berth.
Team W L GB 1. Blue Jays* 90 66 – 2. Mariners 87 69 3.5 3. Tigers 85 71 5 4. Yankees 88 68 2 5. Red Sox 85 70 4.5 6. Guardians 84 72 5.5 7. Astros 84 72 6 8. Rangers 79 77 11 9. Royals 78 78 12
Mariners Playoff Opponent: Seattle Projected to Have Bye Then Face Winner of Astros-Tigers Series
If the MLB playoffs started today, the Mariners would have a bye as the No. 2 seed. The top two teams in each league avoid the wild card round.
Seattle and Toronto would advance to the ALDS to await the wild card winners. The current playoff picture has the Mariners playing the winner of No. 6 Astros versus No. 3 Tigers series.
Projected AL Playoff Matchups as of September 21
Here’s a look at what the AL playoff matchups would be if the postseason started on September 21.
AL Wild Card matchups:
No. 6 Houston Astros vs. No. 3 Detroit Tigers
No. 5 Boston Red Sox vs. No. 4 New York Yankees
The Mariners would face the winner of the Astros-Tigers series, while the Blue Jays battle the winner of the rivalry clash between the Red Sox and Yankees.
Cal Raleigh Hit 58th Home Run Against Astros
Seattle found themselves in a bit of a slump before their recent slump. Fast forward to a few weeks later and the Mariners still have a chance to chase down the Blue Jays to be the top team in the American League standings.
Cal Raleigh hit his 58th home run of the season against the Astros on September 21. During the Mariners’ previous slump, Raleigh spoke about what needed to change.
“Nobody is going to give it to us,” Raleigh said on September 3, per MLB.com. “We’ve got to go take it. We can’t sit around and just expect teams to hand it to us and that it’s going to be easy, because it’s not.
“… If you’re expecting it to be easy, expecting it to be handed to you, it’s going to be a harsh reality.”