A little more than a week ago, Seattle's visit to Kansas City had the potential to be important for both teams in the American League wild-card race.

However, with the Mariners aiming for a 10th straight victory and the Royals mired in an untimely rough stretch, this three-game set that begins Tuesday night has lost some luster.

On Sept. 6, Kansas City won its third consecutive contest to stay one game behind Seattle for the final wild-card spot in the AL.

Since then, however, the Mariners (82-68) have outscored Atlanta, St. Louis and the Los Angeles Angels 66-23 during a nine-game winning streak. That has them one game ahead of Houston in the AL West race prior to the Astros' home game Monday night against the Texas Rangers.

Their winning spree included Cal Raleigh's 54th homer of the

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