Brady's Spin: Dan Wilson Needs to Learn From His Managerial Mistake on Thursday
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As is usually the case, two things can be true at the same time.
1) The Seattle Mariners beat the Cincinnati Reds 11-7 on Thursday afternoon to win a big series on the road. They are now back over .500 at 10-9 and carry momentum into the final six games of their road trip.
2) The Mariners offense came-from-behind to bail out their manager, Dan Wilson, in Thursday's win. And Wilson needs to learn from what went wrong moving forward.
And let me say this: Dan Wilson is going through a lot of scenarios for the first time, and I am willing to give him the opportunity to learn from his mistakes. The mistake he made on Thursday ended up not costing the team the game, but it could have.
Let's go through the scenarios, bit-by-bit.
First, Emerson Hancock gave the Mariners 5.0 solid innings of two-run ball. He left the game with a 4-2 lead. Wilson was RIGHT to remove Hancock after five.
I had ZERO problem with Wilson going to Gabe Speier in the sixth inning. Speier has been one of the best bullpen arms on the team, and he was facing 1-2-3 in the order, including Elly De La Cruz. Speier got just one out, so Wilson pulled him and went to Collin Snider. Also, ZERO problem with that.
Wilson started the seventh inning with Carlos Vargas, who has been excellent. He wasn't on Thursday, but I also have no problem with Wilson trusting him against the bottom of the order. He gave up a run and got pulled, with Trent Thornton ending the inning. Still, no problems on my end.
The Mariners added on to take a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. With 4-5-6 up in the Reds order, Wilson should have gone to closer Andres Munoz. If he had, and Munoz did his job, then 7-8-9 would have been up for the Reds in the bottom of the ninth.
Instead, Wilson went to Eduard Bazardo, who doesn't typically pitch in late-game situations where the team has a lead. He walked the ballpark and gave up a grand slam to Jake Fraley, which put the M's down 7-5.
I understand saving your closer for a save situation, but if you never get to a save situation, it doesn't really matter, does it? If the Mariners had held a lead in the bottom of the ninth, I would have trusted Bazardo, Troy Taylor or Casey Legumina to get out the bottom of the order in the ninth inning, but we never saw that unfold because the M's were down 7-5. The decision to not bring in Munoz could have cost the M's the game, but luckily the offense rallied in the top of the ninth and the M's won in extras.
Next time, they may not be so fortunate. Wilson can grow from this, and he should.
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