THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Signs the struggling M's still have a shot

Yes, it’s still going to be a steep climb.

Getting to the postseason without a powerhouse lineup or your original starting rotation was always going to be hard work.

But when Jose Cabellero hits a 437-foot home run to wake the Mariners out of a hitting slumber, maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.

Jose Caballero?

Indeed, and after his career-best bomb, Caballero ripped a single, stole his 26th base, and scored on a double by our old friend Luis Torrens to ignite a 5-0 win at Oakland Monday night.

Look, you could be forgiven for giving up last weekend, when the Dodgers — the incredibly annoying Dodgers — reduced the Mariners to a catatonic state during a three-game sweep that seemed to kill any lingering playoff dreams in Seattle.

The only TINY thread of hope remaining had to do with the Astros somehow losing two of three to both Oakland and Kansas City — plus the Texas bullpen collapsing to the point that manager Bruce Bochy must be ready to pull volunteers out of the stands.

SEATTLE should have fallen five or six games out of the AL West race with less than two weeks remaining — ditto the wild card picture — but somehow, the Mariners’ improbable pennant chase is still alive.

Not exactly bursting with health and vigor, but alive.

Sure, maybe the Astros will become the Astros again when it matters, as they routinely do.

Sure, maybe the Rangers will find somebody to pitch the eighth and ninth innings.

Sure, maybe Toronto will get hot and slam that final wild card entrance shut — once and for all.

Sure, maybe the Mariners have used up all the gas in the tank, and some kind of head-to-head run against Houston and Texas over the final 10 games is asking too much.

But before you give up on this marathon, before you see the guys gasping toward the end and shake your head sadly — think of Jose Caballero.

Seriously.

Sometimes, players just show up from another planet and become Willie Mays for a couple of weeks.

I saw it happen when Alcides Escobar, free-swinging but rare-contact shortstop, led off the 2015 World Series with an inside-the-park home run and kept up the heroics until Kansas City had dispatched the Mets to win the club’s first title in 30 years.

So, don’t discount an arrival from some far-off galaxy in the last days of a playoff dash, through a postseason that goes off as predicted in the Tarot cards, and on to a magical Series.

Cue the champagne.

Look, I’m not giving you any guarantees here.

Everything good that happened on Monday night — with the Astros and Rangers both blowing late leads — could be reversed a day later.

Still, I’ve watched the tape of Caballero blasting that thing into the dark recesses of the Oakland Coliseum second deck, and I can’t help thinking that maybe it’s just meant to be.

Jose’s last home run was back in June, and I promise you it didn’t leave the bat at 109 mph and crash down beyond the land of Julio Rodriguez or Teoscar Hernandez.

Every once in a while, baseball gives you a sign.

HOWEVER the standings look today, for better or worse, there is still hope.

The Astros occasionally look as though it’s all kind of boring, almost like they’re tired of winning and they’d rather not have to work at it again.

And Texas?

Hell, you’d need a fireproof suit and boots to visit that bullpen.

Seriously, these guys come to the mound carrying gas cans.

You can’t exactly say they are calming results.

It insists that Bochy is 68 on his driver’s license, but he’s actually going on 105.

The Rangers had lost four straight through Monday night, and led in all of them.

Will Smith was the latest reliever to cough one up to the Red Sox, but Aroldis Chapman is likely the best-known culprit.

During a stretch in which the Rangers simply could NOT close out a game, Chapman allowed a walk-off hit batsman, and he and Smith both blew saves in the same game.

As of the Monday dumpster fire, Texas relievers had converted 27 saves — and blown 31.

The MLB record for save opportunities squandered in a season is 37, so the Rangers still have a chance at history.

They’re going for it, too, having blown 13 saves in their last 16 tries.

Yikes!

At some point, this sort of thing can become mental, so maybe Texas — even with Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia back in that awesome lineup — won’t be able to get over the hump.

Who knows?

We should read the Tarot cards again.

Or ask Jose Caballero.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”