One team from the American League West has already clinched their spot in October. It must be the Athletics, right? Wrong. The Los Angeles Angels are your 2014 division champions, making a strong push down the stretch to demolish the A's. The A's now sit one game up on the Royals with the first wild card . Three games out of the race sit those feisty Seattle Mariners. The past month has been a series of ups and downs for Seattle Mariners fans. The constant wondering and anticipation looms on the brink of insanity in Seattle. Now, with only a handful of games back, the question must be asked: Is it time to panic in Seattle?

"True to the Blue" is the motto that has taken the city by storm. While some may argue that many Mariners fans are not so "true" when it comes to the Mariners, and are more of the infamous "Band Wagon" fans, the message remains the same. Fans have to believe in the Mariners. Fans must stay faithful to the team until it becomes impossible for the team to make the postseason. Similar to the "Refuse to Lose" motto in 2001, "True to the Blue" has taken these Mariners fans to another level. Conveniently, the "Refuse to Lose" motto was founded in the Mariners last historic trip to the Postseason. Lately however, the Mariners have seemed very reluctant to win. Now losers of three straight, the Mariners elimination number sits at 5. After their first game in Houston, the Mariners laid down to die, and lost the series. Then in game one of the Blue Jays series, the Mariners scored early and with James Paxton on the hill, things were looking up for the M's. That was until the bottom of the first inning, where the Blue Jays struck for 4 runs on their way to a 14-4 landslide victory in Toronto. Here they are, our 2014 Seattle Mariners, struggling to pull out a win against teams that should not pose much of a challenge. But wait, that's not the scariest part. One aspect of the Mariners 2014 club, that was so solid for so long, has fallen off the table.

"Bueller...Bueller", more like the Mariners pitching staff. Where have they gone? This does not seem like the same staff that has lead the American League in ERA and WHIP. While the team is still near the top of the league in these statistics, they have been absolutely horrible in the past month, owning an ERA above 4.00. To make matters worse, in his last 5 starts, Hisashi Iwakuma has been terrible, with an ERA above 8.00. Chris Young has earned himself a first class ticket out of the starting rotation while Roenis Elias has been sidelined with an elbow injury. Even the bullpen has been bad as well, giving up 8 earned runs in their last 2 games. It seems that the pitching staff may have finally run out of gas. James Paxton walked 6 Blue Jays in 2.2 innings pitched on Monday. Maybe these pitchers are not used to pitching in big games this late in the season, but you must take into account the pitchers that have been used. James Paxton is still a rookie, as well as Roenis Elias. So, both pitchers have never worked this far into the season. Chris Young is back on the mound for the first time in years after having multiple shoulder surgeries. Hisashi Iwakuma and Felix Hernandez are the only two that have been used to this kind of workload over the last few years. Speaking of which, King Felix has been fantastic in the month of September, increasing his run for the American Cy Young. Felix toed the rubber tonight against the Blue Jays in game two of the series, however, and was demolished for 8 runs.

The broken record plays on, as the Mariners offense is less than spectacular. Believe it or not however, the M's have scored 23 runs in their last 6 games. Yet, somehow, they still have managed to go just 2-3 over that span. How can that be? It's that pesky pitching staff. The Mariners have 38 runs against in their last 5 games as well. That's not going to win many ballgames. Robinson Cano has been automatic all year, Kyle Seager has been as good, if not better.  Dustin Ackley has been great since the All-Star break, and Logan Morrison has had a great last few months. Then there is Mike Zunino, who has hit 21 long balls, but has been victim to a terrible average and the strikeout. Not much can be said for the Mariners shortstops either, as both Brad Miller and Chris Taylor have not had the most success this season. Center fielder Austin Jackson is not the MVP caliber player we saw in Detroit just a few years ago, but he has been good for the M's. James Jones has seen his time pinch running and has found success. The point is, the Mariners offense has been better lately, yet the pitching staff has been terrible. It seems that the team cannot have both clicking at the same time.

The Mariners would love to see postseason play for the first time in 13 years. In fact, 2014 marks just the third time in the last decade that the M's will finish above .500 on the season. No matter what happens, this has been a great season for the Seattle Mariners. Is it time to panic? Yes. It absolutely is. The Mariners need to be absolutely perfect the rest of the season to make their way into the Wild Card, while the Kansas City Royals need to see some more losses. The idea of postseason play looks bleak for the M's, and the road is not easy. The Mariners have 2 more games against the Blue Jays in Toronto, and then they finish up the season at home against the Division Champion Los Angeles Angels. Buckle up Seattle, it's do or die time.