James Paxton’s first game in his native Canada in more than seven years turned into an epic fiasco Monday night that pushed the Mariners’ postseason aspirations to the brink.

Tuesday: It’s hard to admit when you are wrong. But it’s also good for the soul. Cathartic is the term, I believe. But I could be wrong. Again. Looking at the Mariners’ schedule down the stretch last week, I noticed something simple. They had James Paxton pitching Friday night against the A’s in the opener of a key three-game series. After that was: Felix Hernandez, one of the top three pitchers in baseball; Chris Young, at Safeco, where he’s really tough; and, on Monday night in Anaheim, Hisashi Iwakuma, though struggling, still lights out in his career against the Angels.

HOUSTON –  An opportunity to surge to the front of the wild card standings beckoned Saturday night to the Mariners after the results elsewhere from earlier in the day. So how did that go?

Seattle starter Chris Young got hit hard and the Mariners missed a chance to move up in the A.L. playoff race, yielding five home runs in a 10-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

HOUSTON – Here was an amazing snapshot Friday of the Mariners’ postseason chase: Mike Zunino pulled the bat back on a bunt with runners at first and second in the fourth inning of a tie game against Houston. Zunino then hit what might be the most eye-popping homer of the season by a Mariner – a moonshot drive to left field that nearly hit the train that sits high atop the wall at Minute Maid Park.

Mike Zunino's towering three-run home run started the Mariners on a seven-run fourth inning that turned into a 10-5 victory over the Houston Astros.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – And the Mariners fight on. Logan Morrison’s three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning Thursday night lifted the Mariners to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels and, just maybe, saved their postseason aspirations.

Logan Morrison hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning that broke a scoreless tie, and the Seattle Mariners boosted their wild-card hopes with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.