SEATTLE -- Humpy won a Salmon Run.

For two years, that combination of words would have instantly singled someone out as a Seattleite, similar to “bring back the Sonics” or “cream cheese on hot dogs.”

But Humpy -- the slow, clumsy salmon mascot with a life preserver around his waist, who had failed to finish first in the first 167 runnings of the Mariners’ interinning mascot race -- finally won for the first time, in the 15th inning of Game 5 of the ALDS .

Then, Jorge Polanco immediately followed his act with a walk-off single to send the Mariners to their first ALCS since 2001.

“We were trying to do everything we can to reignite the crowd and try to get the Mariners a win,” said Tyler Thompson, the Mariners’ director of experiential marketing and game entertainment. “We think that

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