Seattle Mariners' Skipper Gives Answers For Questionable Plays on Thursday
SEATTLE - All's well that ends well, ultimately. And that was certainly the case for the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, who beat the Athletics 4-2 at T-Mobile Park.
The M's trailed 2-1 in the eighth inning before Randy Arozarena hit a game-tying home run and Jorge Polanco hit an eventual game-winning blast.
However, before that, the M's tried to utilize some small ball, which didn't go quite as well. Let's examine:
SITUATION 1: Bottom of the 6th inning, Mariners down 1-0. Runners at first and second with one out. Jorge Polanco at the plate.
THE PLAY: Polanco, who was 2-for-2 at the time, elected to bunt the ball to third base. It was listed as a sacrifice and the runners moved to second and third, but there were two outs. Rowdy Tellez then struck out, ending the threat.
THE RESOLUTION: Plenty of Mariners fans and media were confused by the decision, including me, but after the game, Polanco said that he bunted on his own and was trying to take advantage of something he saw on the field.
THE VERDICT: Since Polanco did it on his own, the Twitter Tridents can come down, from myself included. Wilson said he and Polanco would have a conversation and there's a coaching point in there. Polanco said he didn't dwell on the decision and was able to stay in the moment before his eighth-inning heroics.
SITUATION 2: Bottom of the 7th inning, Mariners down 1-0. Runners at first and second, nobody out. Victor Robles at the plate.
THE PLAY: Robles squared to bunt, fouling off the first pitch. He then squared again, missing the ball, but the pitch got past the catcher. Both runners moved up, but Bliss was called out at the plate after trying to advance a second base.
With a runner now at third and one out, Robles hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.
THE QUESTION: Let's play armchair manager, which is something I was doing in real time. If Robles gets the bunt down and the runners move to second and third with one out, would the A's walk Julio Rodriguez intentionally to load the bases? If that happened, the M's would have lost at-bats from Robles and Rodriguez, two significant parts of their order. Is that something that Dan Wilson was OK with? How does he manage that possibility in real time?
THE RESOLUTION: I asked Wilson the question, and here was his answer:
I'm fascinated by baseball strategy.
— Brady Farkas (@RefuseToLosePod) March 28, 2025
Runners 1st/2nd, no out last night. Robles squares to bunt. If he gets the bunt down, runners 2nd/3rd. A's likely walk Julio and bat is gone from Robles and Julio.
How does Dan Wilson think about that in real time?
Here's his answer: pic.twitter.com/n18Q6LMGO5
THE VERDICT: I personally would not have bunted, but I'm not the manager of the Mariners. Situations like this are the exact kind of things that Wilson is going to have to deal with nightly. How he does and how he develops will continue to be interesting as the season goes on.
The Mariners will play the Athletics again on Friday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
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