ARLINGTON – The Mariners entered the bottom of the sixth Sunday in their finale against the Rangers feeling like they were on top of the hill. Then, as the sixth inning later unfolded, Seattle slowly slipped off that hill and suffered one of the more devastating defeats in 2024. After a five-run lead evaporated in a 6-5 walk-off loss at Globe Life Field, the Mariners will enter the final six games on thin ice to make the playoffs.

“These guys have faced that challenge a lot during the last couple of weeks,” manager Dan Wilson said. “We talked about it a lot [and] how they’ve been able to be resilient, to bounce back and be ready to play the next day. We’re going to have to do it again.”

Seattle could not take advantage of a golden opportunity in the AL Wild Card race, with the Royals losing 2-0 to the Giants and the Twins being swept in a doubleheader in Boston.

The Mariners are one game behind the Twins and sit two games back of a playoff spot behind Kansas City and Detroit, which won at Baltimore, with a crucial three-game series starting Monday in Houston against the Astros.

“We know it’s a tough place to play, but we’re up for the challenge,” Cal Raleigh said. “But we’re up for the challenge, and we want to go in there, beat them, and keep this thing rolling.”

The Rangers tied the game up in the seventh on a Leody Taveras home run to right field off reliever J.T. Chargois' slider on the inner portion of the plate.

In the ninth facing Andrés Muñoz, Taveras got things started with a two-out single and immediately stole second base. Marcus Semien delivered the winning run on a single sneaking down the third-base line.

“A tough one when you don’t want to lose and we don’t have a lot of time to sit on and strew,” Raleigh said. “So, forget about it, throw it away, [and] move on.”

The Mariners’ offense began striking early, quieting a sold-out crowd in Arlington. In the second inning, Justin Turner extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a single, and came around to score on a Dylan Moore RBI knock.

In the following inning, Raleigh took an Andrew Heaney changeup and launched it 402 feet to extend Seattle's lead to 2-0. It was Raleigh's 31st home run this season and his 90th career homer, putting him two behind Mike Piazza for most by a catcher in their first four seasons.

Victor Robles added insurance in the sixth with a two-run single, then used his legs to steal second and came around to score on a pair of Texas errors on a pickoff, extending the Seattle lead to 5-0.

Texas broke through against Bryan Woo in the sixth inning with three straight one-out singles, the third of which – by Josh Smith -- put the Rangers on the board. One pitch later, Wyatt Langford took a Woo slider right down the middle 396 feet to left field for a three-run home run, cutting the Mariners’ lead to 5-4 in a span of six pitches.

“Not an awful pitch to Langford, but not the right pitch,” Woo said.

Woo's afternoon started as a positive spot, especially after coming off a career-high seven earned runs in Tuesday's loss vs. the Yankees. He faced one over the minimum in the first five innings and allowed two hits, rolling until the Rangers broke through in the sixth.

Woo finished the afternoon by going six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out four.

In his last two starts, Woo has allowed 11 earned runs, as many as he gave up in his previous six. He threw first-pitch strikes to only six of the final fifteen hitters he faced.

“Pretty sloppy most of the night,” Woo said of his outing Sunday. “[I was] falling behind. Not how it’s been this year, but I got a couple of hits [which was] nothing I was too concerned about. Not an awful pitch to Langford, but not the right pitch, but it is what it is.”

The Mariners did make a bit of history Sunday, with J.P. Crawford taking a Heaney fastball off his foot in the second inning for Seattle’s 113th hit-by-pitch of the season, setting a new MLB record.