Surprising Mariners keep winning the close ones

The Seattle Mariners have worked their way into the postseason race — one run at a time. The Mariners improved to 23-8 in one-run games, and that remarkable record has them just 1 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second wild card in the American League. Seattle has been outscored by 52 runs on the season, but the Mariners are eight games over .500. This last series against the Athletics was a microcosm of Seattle’s season. The Mariners lost 4-1 in the opener before taking three straight one-run games.