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AG: Welcome back to The Wheelhouse: PLAYOFF edition. I'm Aaron Goldsmith, and with me once again is Jerry Dipoto.

JD: Thanks Aaron, and it is great to be with you still podcasting about the Mariners in October.

AG: It sure is! What a thrill to be heading to the postseason. As I've mentioned, the first time in 17 years that the M's have played meaningful baseball in October.

JD: It's terrific. And our team couldn't be playing any better in the last two weeks.

AG: The M's head into the playoff game against the Twins with a five-game winning streak, and 11 wins in the last 12 games. The only team hotter might be the Twins, who have won seven in a row themselves, and 10 of 11!

JD: A clash of the Titans! The whole American League was incredibly top-heavy this year. I can't remember a time where the fourth and fifth best teams in the league won 98 and 97 games respectively.

AG: Not to mention all three of the division winners winning 104 games or more. The Mariners are a great team, but the path through the playoffs is daunting, to say the least.

JD: I guess you could say that. But the other way to look at it is everybody is starting at 0-0 now, and we like our chances against any team.

AG: And let's take stock of this team and some of its many accomplishments this year. 98 wins is the second-most in team history, behind only the 116-win 2001 team, the last in Mariners franchise history, to make the postseason. The Mariners led the league in stolen bases with 172 stolen bases, 117 of those coming from Dee Gordon, which was the third-highest total since 1900 and the most since Rickey Henderson in 1982. They were fifth in the league in scoring and fourth in run prevention. The top three hitters in the lineup, Gordon, Jean Segura and Robinson Cano, all hit .300 and had at least 200 hits. The top six hitters in the lineup, which goes through Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Mitch Haniger, all played in at least 150 games. Gordon, Cano and Seager all exceeded five WAR apiece. On the pitching side, James Paxton finished second in the league in WAR with 6.0 and strikeouts with 241. Edwin Diaz pitched 103 innings in relief, the first time a reliever had pitched more than 100 innings in a season since 2006, and really functioned in a "stopper" role, with 153 strikeouts, a 2.27 ERA, 20 saves and 14 holds. Juan Nicasio and James Pazos both struck out over 100 in relief as well.

JD: You could go on and on with both the individual and the team accomplishments. It's been a terrific year.

AG: You now head into one game, winner take all, against the Twins at Safeco Field on Wednesday. James Paxton will be fully rested and ready to go. How do you match up against the Twins?

JD: I think pretty well, actually. Minnesota has a lot of left-handed hitters, which is great for James and allows us to leverage James Pazos against them as well late in the game. Plus their pitching staff is very thin on left-handed pitchers, so it gives Robbie Cano, Kyle Seager and Dee Gordon an opportunity to hit with the platoon advantage.

AG: There's some uncertainty from Minnesota about who's going to pitch in that game, with Paul Molitor not yet naming a starter because Jose Berrios, their ace, is dealing with a mild oblique strain. How does that affect your preparation?

JD: It doesn't, really, we'll be ready for Berrios, or Ervin Santana or Lance Lynn if they decide to go in that direction.

AG: Well, exciting times for you and the Mariners, Jerry. What's your plan for watching the game?

JD: I will be furiously biting my nails in the team box, Aaron. That's the plan, anyway.

AG: Let's take one question from the audience. This one coming from James in Yakima. James's question is, how does Scott Servais's approach change in the postseason?

JD: Good question. If anything, the hook for the starting pitchers is even shorter. I'd anticipate even James Paxton will just get two turns through the lineup before we turn it over to the bullpen, and we'll rely even more heavily on our big arms there in Diaz, Pazos and Nicasio. But for the most part, Scott has been managing with that mentality even through the regular season. The main difference is we have more off-days in the postseason so we can push even more innings onto the bullpen.

AG: All right, Jerry, I'll let you go, and we'll look forward to doing this again next week, with the M's into the next round.

JD: That's my hope as well.

AG: Thanks for being with us, Jerry, and we'll see you next week on The Wheelhouse.