SEATTLE — Momentum is a fleeting thing in the 162-game world of baseball, and the Seattle Mariners know that a successful homestand that included series wins over 2015 playoff teams Houston and Kansas City is no reason to begin making postseason plans.
But one thing that can’t be understated after a 4-2 homestand is the return of a baseball buzz in Seattle.
For the good part of a decade, this franchise has faded into the sporting landscape. A fourteen-year playoff draught and an ever-changing roster that has seen disasters like Erik Bedard, Chone Figgins, Carlos Silva and Milton Bradley don the Mariners uniform sent the organization into a spiral.
Hope that the Scott Servais era might be met with renewed interest came over the weekend, when 119,181 fans came out to watch the surging Mariners win a series from the defending World Series champion Royals. Evidence of how interest has piqued came Saturday night, when 43,444 fans came out for the 6-0 win over Kansas City. That crowd brought in more fans than the combined total of either the Houston (42,826 over three games) or Texas (41,909 over three games) home series that preceded the Royals coming to town.
Seattle is a notoriously bandwagon town, so the fans will come out in droves if the Mariners keep winning. The Mariners have shown signs of having the kind of team that can stay competitive all season, especially in the mediocre AL West. The starting rotation got a boost from newcomers Nathan Karns and Wade Miley, who both turned in solid starts during the homestand, while Seattle has shown marked improvement over last season in terms of clutch hitting and patience at the plate.
Seattle fell short in its series finale against the Royals on Sunday, losing 4-1, but the Mariners were in good spirits as they headed back on the road.
“I thought we had a very good homestand,” Servais said. “We played with good energy. We battled today. The atmosphere in the stadium was very good. We’ll be out on the road with two big series here on this trip.”
