The pressure’s on for the Mariners. Can Seattle keep its playoff run alive?

We'll find out Friday if the Seattle Mariners have what it takes to make it to the American League Championship Series for the fourth time in their 49-season history. That's what's at stake in game five of the team's division series against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park.

To catch up on some M's history and get a look at what may be ahead, KUOW’s Kevin Kniestedt checked in with longtime Seattle sportswriter Art Thiel.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kevin Kniestedt: Art, the M's played in the American League Championship in 1995, 2000 and 2001. We certainly don't need to remind fans that they lost each of those series. That makes them the only major league baseball team that's never made it to the World Series. So, no pressure, right?

Art Thiel: Right. No pressure, only the excruciating kind. These guys are two generations removed from 1995 really. That was the year that the Mariners captured the fancy of a lot of Seattle fans by coming from nowhere to not only get into the playoffs for the first time in their 18-year existence but winning a series against the New York Yankees. Down two games, they won the next three. It was absolutely astonishing.

The game five pressure tonight is equal to anything Mariners fans have experienced before. I think this team is built to tolerate it, and certainly having the home-field advantage speaks for itself. But they've got something going here that's pretty special this year.

Well, let's talk about that. What's got them this far?

Balance. They finally have what I think is substantial, consistent veterans at all positions, and they have two superstars in Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez. That fits a profile of a championship team.

You wrote that M's managers made some smart moves before the trade deadline. What's been paying off?

Well, I think the two acquisitions from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez, filled the void at first and third base, and I think that's the key move in season. The ownership is finally playing some of the game that the successful teams are playing, and that is a positive sign to me that the ownership has finally gotten a little bit weary of being 49-year laughing stocks, not only in Seattle, but throughout Major League Baseball.

All right, I promise I'm not trying to jinx anything, but if they do win tonight, the M's will play the Toronto Blue Jays. If they're able to beat the Jays, they would break this historic dry spell and get into the World Series. So, what will it take for them to get there?

Well, in tonight's game, if we assume the win, and I am doing that for theoretical reasons, they have a very formidable adversary in the Toronto Blue Jays. And I think the main thing to success, should they get an American League series with the Jays, is that the Mariners starting pitching is still better than what we've seen from the Blue Jays. If they can sustain four good pitching outings and not have the dip that they had in the bullpen production in game four, I think they've got a better than 50% chance of moving on.

But I think probably the key thing that fans can take away is the Mariners have established that they have an organization that can develop players to be quality major leaguers. I think they have a serious Major League Baseball team in Seattle.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.