Astros-Mariners finale takes an ugly turn

Mariners 3B Eugenio Suárez — who was on the on-deck circle at the time — told the Seattle Times he heard Neris use a homophobic slur while jawing with Rodríquez. 

“He started talking bad words in Spanish. He started doing something that is not good for people who speak Spanish and understand. I was in the on-deck circle and I heard that. That pissed me off,” Suarez said. 

No brawl broke out, but Astros catcher Martin Maldonado said the team used the incident to fuel a rally.

“We took advantage from it as a team,” he told the media.  

After the incident, Houston outscored Seattle 4-0 en route to an 8-3 win that gave the Astros a 1.5-game lead in the American League wild-card standings entering the season's final weekend. 

The Mariners (85-72), meanwhile, simply rolled over.

With a four-game stretch coming up against first-place Texas (89-69) in Seattle, the Mariners must sweep to guarantee a playoff spot. At a minimum, they must win two of four, but they would still need a sweep by the Diamondbacks (84-74) of the Astros (87-72) to make the playoffs.

After losing two of three to the Astros, Seattle needs Rodríquez to step up. The face of the team went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against Houston, including a four-strikeout game Wednesday. 

According to FanGraphs, the Mariners have a 27% chance to make the playoffs. Each of the remaining five games could be a de facto biggest game of the year. 

MLB will likely investigate Suarez’s claims of Neris’ use of a homophobic slur. In 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays suspended Kevin Pillar for two games for use of homophobic language during a game.