Behind the eight ball.

Backs against the wall.

In dire straits.

Up a creek without a paddle.

They have their work cut out for them.

Being down 0-2 in a best-of-five playoff series brings out the cliches. And, right now, that’s about all the Seattle Mariners can cling to.

After having their hearts stomped on with the crushing last-second loss in Game 1, they came back at it in Game 2. They took the briefest of leads, 2-1 in the fourth. But Houston has too many weapons and they unloaded them on Seattle, eventually winning 4-2. 

The ugly truth is, the team despised for cheating to win a World Series in 2017 is, unfortunately, a really good team. They are one win away from appearing in the sixth straight American League Championship Series. 

*****