The Seattle Mariners seem to have run out of time in their quest to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2001.They’ve lost four of their past five games to fall 9 1/2 games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League. Seattle has 17 games left heading into its series opener Thursday night against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.Article continues below ...The Mariners (79-66) had a three-game lead over the Oakland A’s for the second wild-card position at the All-Star break Alen Hanson Jersey , but Oakland has surged past the Mariners with a 34-15 mark in the second half.Seattle is 21-27 since the All-Star break.“The second half of the season has been very poor,” Seattle manager Scott Servais told the Tacoma News Tribune after a 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. “It’s focus. It’s being prepared and ready to come with an edge to your game every day, and that is a personal pride matter.”The Angels (73-73) are playing better of late. They’ve won six of their past seven to get back to .500. They lost six of the first nine games against the Mariners this season before winning four of the past six.The Angels are getting productive at-bats of late from some of their most inexperienced players.Francisco Arcia hit two home runs in an 8-1 victory against the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday, and Jose Fernandez homered in a second straight game after hitting his first major league home run Tuesday.“I just want to hit the ball and put it in play,” Arcia told Fox Sports West after Wednesday’s win. “I feel amazing. I try to do my job and play hard.”On Thursday, Mariners right-hander Mike Leake is scheduled to make his 29th start of the season and fifth against the Angels. He’s 1-3 against Los Angeles this year with a 5.59 ERA.Leake has made at least 30 starts in each of the past six seasons, a mark only reached by Ian Kennedy, Jon Lester and Max Scherzer in that span.Leake (9-9, 4.11 ERA) made back-to-back starts against the Angels in July and neither went well.He allowed four runs (three earned) and nine hits in four innings of a 7-4 loss in Seattle on July 4, and seven runs (five earned) and 12 hits in four innings of a 9-3 loss at Angel Stadium on July 10.“They’ve just been aggressive,” Leake told reporters after the second loss.Leake got on a roll after the second game against the Angels, producing six consecutive quality starts from July 15 to Aug. 15.Leake struggled in back-to-back outings against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s in late August, but was sharp in his most recent appearance, holding the Baltimore Orioles without an earned run over six innings in a 5-2 victory Sept. 5.Leake http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , who was selected eighth overall in the 2009 draft, 17 spots in front of Angels center fielder Mike Trout, has a team-leading 18 quality starts this season.Overall in his career against the Angels, he’s 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA in six career starts.The Angels plan to start Odrisamer Despaigne (2-2, 6.40) on Thursday and continue with a string of relievers, a tactic that worked well Tuesday against the visiting Texas Rangers. Eight relievers combined for a 1-0 victory, holding the Rangers without a hit for 7 1/3 innings.Despaigne has not faced the Mariners this season, and he allowed one hit and no runs in one inning of relief in 2016 in his only career appearance against them. Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles Dodgers probably won't return to the World Series if they again commit four errors and surrender a home run to an opposing pitcher in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.Those improbable outcomes likely won't carry over into Saturday's showing. Yet they nearly overcame these obstacles, as the Milwaukee Brewers' revered bullpen barely salvaged a dramatic 6-5 victory Friday.For the second day in a row, each squad willcommence the game with a left-handed starter on the mound. Both of them kept the opposition scoreless in National League Division Series sightings.After horrid defense and a Brandon Woodruff homer undid Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers will turn to Hyun-Jin Ryu, an unheralded ace over the past two months. The Brewers will counter with Wade Miley, an innings-eater who has transformed his career by overhaulinghis pitch arsenal. Dodgers vs. Brewers: Game 2 ScheduleWhen: Saturday, Oct. 13 at 4:09 p.m. ETTV: FoxLive Stream: Fox Live TVTickets: StubHubSurging SouthpawsWade Miley will look to continue his career revival in the NLCS.Dylan Buell/Getty ImagesAt first glance Ryon Healy Jersey , Ryuvs. Miley doesn't represent a superb pitching duel befitting the grand stage. After all, Chris Sale and Justin Verlander clash later in the evening.While Ryu can't match the pedigree of his superstar rotation teammate, the 31-year-old quietly registered a 1.97 ERA and career-high 27.5 strikeout percentage in 15 superb regular-season starts. He then opened the NLDS by scattering eight strikeouts and no walks over seven shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves:ESPN Stats amp; Info ESPNStatsInfoThis is Hyun-Jin Ryus 2nd career postseason start of 7 scoreless innings (2013 NLCS).The only other Dodgers to do it multiple times are Sandy Koufax, Jerry Reuss and Orel Hershiser. l9GV2AopwdDominating in a Game 1 nod received over Kershaw marks quite a turnaround for someone left off last year's postseason roster. Havingundergoneshoulder labrum surgery in 2015, he hadn't made a playoff appearance since 2014 despite the Dodgers' winning the NL West in each of the past six years.Following his latest gem, Ryu has relinquished one run in his past four starts. He has also not given up more than three earned runs in a single turn this year, so the Dodgers can at least count on a competitive outing.He's somehow not even this matchup's most improbable Game 2 starter. Playing for his fifth team in as many years, Miley posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the past two seasons. That makes this season's 2.57 clip extra shocking when paired with a mediocre 50 strikeouts and 27 walks in 80.2 innings.A 37.1 hard-hit percentage and 4.66 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) foreshadow a vengeful regression. Yet perhaps those predictive measures don't appreciate the journeyman's adjustments.Miley sidelined his fastball for a previously seldom-used cutter. The pitch's usage skyrocketed from 11.5 to 41.8 percent, and opponents are hitting .190/.258/.303 against the offering.Buoyed by his new weapon, Miley accomplished exactly what the Brewers needed in the NLDS by holding the Colorado Rockies scoreless for 4.2 innings at Coors Field. Their extraordinary bullpen yielded one hit the rest of the way.Brewers manager Craig Counsell will hope to execute the same plan on Saturday. He won't, however, have Josh Hader at his disposal after the shutdown reliever recorded nine outs over46 pitches鈥攁 longer appearance than starter Gio Gonzalez鈥攖o secure Game 1's victory:ESPN Stats amp; Info ESPNStatsInfoJosh Hader made it difficult on the Dodgers in Game 1.He induced 15 swings and misses, tied for his most in a game in 94 career outings (regular season amp;amp; postseason).Haders 15 swings and misses are 2 more than any other reliever in a postseason game in the last 10 seasons. qQxrzxaoyLBy using another starting southpaw, Counsell is daring Dodgers counterpart Dave Roberts toagain sit Max Muncy鈥攈ardly a necessary move since he managed an .891 OPS against fellow lefties鈥攁nd Yasiel Puig. Their weighted runs created plus (wRC+) dropped from 117 against righties to a slightly above-average 101 versus leftiesduring the season."There's going to be some kind of chess played this series http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-dee-gordon-jersey , and that's part of the fun," Roberts said prior to Game 1, per The Ringer's Michael Baumann.Yet they have plenty of depth to deal with any adversary, especially after adding right-handed infielders Brian Dozier and David Freese during the summer.Travis Shaw is the only Milwaukee regular who's a major liability (66 wRC+) with a lefty on the mound, but Counsell replaced the out-of-position second baseman for Hernan Perez on Friday.Pick: Dodgers 5, Brewers 3The Dodgers can again field a nearly all-righty lineup鈥攚ith exception to Cody Bellinger鈥攖hat saves Muncy, Puig and Joc Pederson for big spots against Milwaukee's premier bullpen. With Woodruff and Hader almost certainly unavailable, Counsell may think twice before again turning to a righty so early.Yet Miley tallied the sixth-lowest strikeout percentage (14.8) of any starter with at least 80 innings pitched, so the Dodgers could force an early hook by jumping to a significant lead.Propelled by major league-caliber defense and a strong performance from Ryu, look for the Dodgers send the series back to Los Angeles even. It's impossible, however, to feel overly confident about any prediction in a series wherein a reliever who was batting from the left side took Kershaw deep.All advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.