Brady's Spin: Manager Scott Servais Makes Blunder But Also Huge Save in Monday Win
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The Seattle Mariners delivered a thrilling victory on Monday night, beating the Chicago White Sox 8-4 on a walk-off grand slam by Cal Raleigh.
It was among the most improbable wins of the M's season, as Seattle trailed 4-0 after seven innings and had nothing going against White Sox' hurler Erick Fedde. Seattle is now 38-30 on the year and leads the American League West by 5.5 games over the Texas Rangers.
While Raleigh's grand slam will get a lot of the attention out of the victory, the impact of manager Scott Servais can't be ignored either. Servais made a potentially fatal managerial blunder and then made a game-saving decision that led the M's to the win. We examine both below.
The bad
This game was tied at 0-0 in the top of the sixth inning. In that inning, White Sox' catcher Korey Lee led off with a double. After two outs, Luis Robert Jr. came to the plate with two outs, a runner at second and a base open.
Servais elected to pitch to Robert Jr. and the righty deposited a Logan Gilbert fastball in the upper deck, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead.
Luis Robert Jr. mauled this baseball pic.twitter.com/Hsd1kFIoZM
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 11, 2024
Yes, Gilbert is a good pitcher who shouldn't be afraid of good hitters. Yes, the pitch that Robert Jr. hit out wasn't bad. Yes, Robert has been struggling since coming off the injured list. Yes, Gilbert got to two strikes on him. Absolutely none of that matters. Robert Jr. is the only hitter in the White Sox lineup that you fear, as he was an All-Star last year who hit 38 home runs.
Gavin Sheets, who was hitting behind Robert Jr., is now hitting .242 for the season. You have to make HIM beat you, but you can't allow Robert Jr. to do it. He hits the homer and gives the White Sox a 2-0 lead, which could have (and should) been enough to win them the game and lose it for Seattle.
The good
As potentially catastrophic as that was, Servais saved the game for Seattle in the bottom of the eighth inning. Trailing 4-1, Raleigh was called out on strikes with the bases loaded and one out. Mitch Haniger and Luke Raley each singled with two outs to tie the game at 4-4, but because Servais got ejected in that inning and not Raleigh, Raleigh was still in the game to walk it off in the ninth.
baseball dad absolutely nailed the situational ejection tonight pic.twitter.com/ZOY8MhY3Nw
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) June 11, 2024
In the age of analytics and front office intervention, you don't always see managers have a huge impact on game outcomes, but it's absolutely evident that Servais had an impact here.
The Mariners will take on the White Sox again on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
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