A Grip on Sports: Though the box score swears it was the Mariners, exhaustion finally won last night, at least for those of us who watched at home

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Open your eyes. It’s over. Finally. Not the M’s season. Nope. That rolls on for at least four more nerve-wracking, stomach-churning, why-the-heck-do-I-put-myself-through-this games. What’s over is that breaking-ball-fest that broke out in T-Mobile last night. After 15 glorious, fingernail-chewing innings, matched by just, if not more, wasted chances. For both teams.

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• Only one could win, of course. That it was the home team should come as no surprise. Well, if the home team wasn’t the Seattle Mariners. And they hadn’t seen their last postseason foray end in an 18-inning failure-filled loss to the Houston Astros three years ago this month.

But that was then. Now? This team is a bit better at dealing with failure, the one word that describes what baseball really is. A game of failure. Succeed three of 10 times you step into the batter’s box and you are a Hall of Fame player. And a modern anomaly.

Fail to make contact with the ball any of the at least three chances you are guaranteed each at-bat and you are nothing if not normal. Heck, the M’s struck out 20 times last night and won 3-2, the third time in five Division series games with the Tigers that final score hit. As did the under, pegged at 5.5 before George Kirby’s first pitch.

Who knew that 471 pitches later, J.P. Crawford would be toe-tapping home plate, Jorge Polanco would be dodging a Gatorade bath and the 47,025 in attendance would finally be able to sit down.

Though, thanks to what had just happened – the M’s earning their fourth-ever American League Championship Series berth, and the accompanying chance to finally break the franchise’s nearly 50-year World Series’ drought – no one wanted to. Until Cal Raleigh uttered his now-famous tag line about, and we’re paraphrasing again, winning the whole thing.

Then they could leave. The M’s? They went back into the clubhouse to celebrate once more.

The failures? The missed opportunities to put the Tigers away before every pitcher on the roster either threw or stretched in preparation of throwing? The managerial miscues? The inability to make contact? Heck, the Raleigh passed ball, first of its kind seen this season?

That none of that made a difference in the final outcome – though it all might have impact on the next series, which begins Sunday at 5:08 p.m. PDT in Toronto – is a testament to the maturity that has settled in with the Mariners since that October three years ago.

Oh sure, the same “I’ll-win-it-with-a-solo-home-run” attitude prevailed after Leo Rivas came off the bench and singled to tie the game at two in the seventh inning. But it was an attitude the Tigers displayed as well, which is why Raleigh, who understands such things as well as anyone who ever donned M’s gear, called breaking balls about 80% of the time. He and the guys making the pitches understood anxiety. Understood how it makes every hitter not named Kerry Carpenter jumpy. And took advantage.

The winning run? That was a relief. The Tigers finally put a reliever on the mound who the M’s understood. Tommy Kahnle. Mr. Change-Up. No more sliders. A Crawford base hit. A Randy Arozarena walk. Raleigh’s line drive out that moved them both up. Julio Rodriguez intentionally walked. And finally, one guy, Polanco, being patient enough to earn a 3-2, bases-loaded, game-on-the-line count. And not missing the ensuing hit-me pitch, after Seattle had missed about 325 of them.

The only thing left after that was self-examination. Not by the M’s. By those of us who watched.

Is it worth it? All the stomach acid – a family member looked to be visibly sick during the last couple innings – and angst and anger and actual “what-the-(bad-word)” shrieks that emanated from mouths that never use such language?

All four the chance to go through the same gut-wrenching torment again Sunday and Monday and Wednesday and Thursday and (possibly) more? And then maybe again in the World Series?

What a stupid question.

Of course it is. See you Sunday. Same time. Different place. Bring new fingernails. And Tums.

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WSU: Before we get back to the whole stressful Mariner-postseason-baseball thing, we have to get through a Saturday of college football. Though there probably won’t be a lot of stress this morning on Lane Kiffin and fourth-ranked Mississippi. Not with the host Rebs being a more than 30-point favorite. Not with the Cougars probably dealing with a talent deficit at 21 of 22 starting spots. (That’s just a rough estimate, it could be 22 of 22 but even a $10 million payroll has to leave one hole, doesn’t it?). If the Cougars can earn a financial victory – covering the spread – for their followers, that has to count for something, right? Greg Woods has a good argument today for why Ole Miss will win. And he has his usual game preview. Plus, in case you can’t get enough before the 9:45 a.m. kickoff on the SEC Network, his keys to victory. … There is also another football story. On scheduling. Mississippi State and WSU canceled their home-and-home series that was supposed to happen next decade. … And a basketball story. Also on scheduling but a little more current. The Cougs will be on national TV at least 10 times. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s Friday mailbag appeared on the S-R site yesterday. His pass-along of a West Coast recruiting column? That is on the Mercury News one.

• Here is the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 schedule today (along with Friday’s results), listed chronologically. The schedule below also includes any game in which finding news about turned out to be nearly impossible.

– Washington 38, Rutgers 19: After being down 10-0 – maybe the players and fans were too invested in what was happening at T-Mobile? – the Huskies turned on the Demond Williams Jr. jet engine and roared to an easy win. … Christian Caple has his thoughts on the Big Ten win, as does Mike Vorel in the Times. … A UW linebacker is suing the NCAA for another season of eligibility.

– Colorado State 49, Fresno State 21: Didn’t see this one coming. Not just the loss, but a blowout loss for the Bulldogs, who had been playing well. E.J. Warner was awful – three interceptions and a fumble – and the Rams played their best game of the season.

– UCLA at Michigan State (9 a.m., Big Ten): How long does momentum last? We may find out about 9:14 this morning.

– Stanford at SMU (9, The CW): The early start is probably going to have less impact on the Cardinal than the Mustangs’ ability to score. Stanford may just be overmatched, as it was last season at home.  

– No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon (12:30 p.m., CBS): This is the biggest game of the day. That’s why the Cougar flag is waving in Eugene today despite the game being on CBS. And that’s why John Canzano has this column on his discussion with Duck athletic director Rob Mullens. And Chuck Culpepper, my current favorite college football writer, has this story on Dan Lanning in the Washington Post. … How big would a win today be for either team? Big.

– No. 22 Iowa State at Colorado (12:30, ESPN): Want to pick an upset today? Why not this one? Maybe because the Buffs aren’t very good? And the Cyclones suffered their upset last week? OK, we can buy that.

– Wake Forest at Oregon State (12:30, The CW): For the Beavers to top Jake Dickert’s team, they will have to eliminate, or limit greatly, the mistakes that have led to their 0-6 start.

– No. 15 Michigan at USC (4:30, NBC): It’s weird to me how this matchup of longtime Rose Bowl foes is garnering such little attention this week. Does no one trust Lincoln Riley’s Trojans to make a game of it?

– No. 18 BYU at Arizona (5, ESPN2): Maybe, just maybe, the Wildcat fans will be respectful of the Cougars. And still be so loud UA earns the upset in what is expected to be a driving rainstorm. It would be the signature win for Brent Brennan’s team, led by a quarterback, Noah Fifita, who may break a lot of Arizona records before he is through.  

– Troy at Texas State (5, ESPN+)

– New Mexico at Boise State (6:45, FS1): Not sure why, but the Broncos seem to be everyone’s pick to click this week.

– No. 21 Arizona State at Utah (7:15, ESPN): The bad West Coast weather is reaching all the way into Salt Lake City. That and ASU missing quarterback Sam Leavitt makes handicapping this one difficult. But it’s probably not a bad idea to favor the home team this week.

– San Diego State at Nevada (7:30, CBS Sports): The Aztecs have won often this season. At home. Now they need to prove they can win away from Snapdragon.

– Utah State at Hawaii (9 p.m.): The Aggies have a chance to leave the Mountain West with an unblemished record vs. the Warriors.

• In basketball news, recruiting never stops for Oregon State’s men. … The same can be said for the UCLA women. … San Diego State’s men are counting on a veteran who has gone through an offseason reset.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs will make at least 17 national TV appearances this season.

EWU: No football game this week on the red turf, but the Eagles’ athletic department brain trust gathered around it Friday anyway. To break ground on the first phase of much-needed improvements. Cannon Barnett explains what those improvements will be. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, No. 4 Montana hosts improved Cal Poly for homecoming. … Idaho State is in Bozeman to face the fifth-ranked Bobcats. … Weber State and Sacramento State, two teams who have disappointed this season, meet today. … Northern Arizona faces another ranked foe, this time No. 6 UC Davis. On the road.

Idaho: The Vandals host Northern Colorado today for homecoming. How can they leave the Kibbie Dome with a win? Peter Harriman has some thoughts on that and he shares them.

Preps: Friday night’s football games included a featured early matchup at ONE Spokane Stadium, pitting Mt. Spokane and Lewis and Clark. Dave Nichols was there and has this game story as the Wildcats held on for a 21-18 win. … Samantha DiMaio was at Central Valley and has this coverage of Cheney’s 37-7 victory. … We can also pass along this roundup of the other games.  

Chiefs: Dave walked across the street to the Arena and covered Spokane’s home game with Wenatchee later Friday evening. The Chiefs, who are about to head off for a long road trip, kept the Wild winless with a 4-0 decision.

Mariners: There is a lot to pass along this morning. We start with Jacob Thorpe’s column, focusing on how Polanco came through to end the nearly five-hour game. … We also can pass along Ryan Divish’s game story as well as Adam Jude on Logan Gilbert playing the Randy Johnson role. And a Matt Calkins column on why the Mariners were destined to win. … Of all the reasons folks are crediting for the Seattle win, this one is the dumbest. Except maybe me telling my son his mom finally coming down to watch – in the bottom of the 15th – was the reason the M’s won. … The Tigers will bemoan their wasted chances. So will the Mariners, but not to the same degree. After all, they came through one time and that was all that was needed. … Jerry Brewer has this column in the Washington Post. … There is one more game today in the National League divisional series. Either the Cubs or Brewers will meet the Dodgers in the N.L. Championship Series.  

Seahawks: We linked this Jaxon Smith-Nigba story from the Times yesterday. It appeared on the S-R website after that. … The Seahawk secondary is still decimated by injuries. Three of the four starters are doubtful this week against Jacksonville.

Storm: Another Seattle player earned WNBA recognition on the day Las Vegas rolled over Phoenix to win its third league title in four years.

Sounders: National team duty (mainly) and injuries (slightly) mean Seattle’s final home match of the regular season – with Real Salt Lake in town – will be a crapshoot.

Reign: Seattle opened the weekend with a late goal and a draw at one against Bay City.

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• We will be back here soon. We are watching the Cougar game from our living room and writing a TV Take about the experience you and I will share. Oh, and the Cougars’ experience as well. Say a little prayer. We’re babysitting our son’s two dogs, who are a handful. If the weather was better they would outside. But the morning rain has made that hope disappear. If we use words or phrases in the column such as “woof” or “bark” or “Kim, the old dog is peeing on the carpet again” you’ll understand why. Until later …