WEST SACRAMENTO -- The word "clutch" was foreign to Jacob Wilson for most of his life. He didn’t learn the meaning until he began playing "MLB The Show" as a teenager and noticed the video game featured a "clutch batting attribute," which is a rating system that determines how well a hitter performs in high-pressure situations.
These days, there might not be a better word to describe Wilson. Few players in baseball have statistically been more clutch so far this season than the 23-year-old shortstop, who came through not once, but twice in big moments for the Athletics as he played hero in Monday night’s 7-6 victory over the Mariners in 11 innings at Sutter Health Park.
Wilson’s first big moment came in the bottom of the 10th. Heading to the plate with the A’s trailing by a run against lights-out closer Andrés Muñoz, Wilson plated the first run allowed by the flamethrower in 17 innings dating back to last season (though it was an unearned run). Wilson led off with a single that scored automatic runner JJ Bleday from second base.
One inning later, Wilson delivered the final blow. After Gio Urshela’s leadoff sacrifice bunt moved Tyler Soderstrom to third, the Mariners issued consecutive intentional walks to Shea Langeliers and Bleday to set up a potential double play.
Facing reliever Casey Legumina, Wilson battled in an 0-2 count before getting the changeup inside he was looking for. He put the ball on the ground, but since it was struck at 99 mph off the bat with the infield in, it bounded through the defense and into center field as the game-winning single, marking Wilson’s third career walk-off hit and second of the season.
"That was a little weird,” Wilson said of the consecutive intentional walks. “They were playing the infield in, so I was just trying to get something in the air. Try to get a sac fly and win the game there. … To get the job done is awesome. It’s a great feeling. It’s been a long stretch of games, and it’s been great so far.”
Adding another RBI single in the second, Wilson is performing like a superstar with video game-like numbers in clutch situations. The rookie’s .438 batting average (14-for-32) with runners in scoring position is fourth highest in the Majors, trailing only Aaron Judge (.519), Paul Goldschmidt (.452) and Teoscar Hernández (.447).
Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, with three walk-off hits in only 62 career games, Wilson became the second-fastest player to reach three walk-off hits in at least the Divisional Era (1969).
The only player with three walk-off hits in fewer games: Gomer Hodge (30 games) in 1971.
"You just have to go up there and stay confident,” Wilson said of his success in the clutch. “My thing is, I go up there and you always have to think you’re the right guy for the spot. I went up there trying to stay positive and stay confident knowing that I’m the right guy in this spot right now. Just do whatever I can to put the ball in play.”
It’s not just with runners in scoring position. With an overall batting average of .341 that also ranks fourth in the Majors behind Judge, Goldschmidt and Pete Alonso, Wilson is looking like the elite hitter he was billed as throughout his quick journey through the Minors as the A’s No. 1 prospect.
"This young man has been exceptional,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s a great start to the season. He continues to put the bat to the baseball. You’re watching a young player mature really nicely right now.”
For a series in May, this three-game set between the Athletics and Mariners feels a bit more significant than your typical early regular-season matchup.
Since April 15, no team in baseball entered Monday with more wins (13) than the upstart A’s, who have vaulted up to second place in the American League West on the strength of that stretch. Perhaps the only team hotter was the first-place Mariners, whose 12-5 record in that same timeframe was the best in baseball.
The series opener certainly had a different energy. In a tightly contested game that went into extras, it was the A’s who inched within one game of their division rivals in the standings.
The heroic performances were abundant for the A’s, particularly within the bullpen, as the quartet of Mitch Spence, Mason Miller, Hogan Harris and Tyler Ferguson held the Mariners mostly in check over the final 3 1/3 innings.
"I don’t think you could watch a better game tonight,” Kotsay said. “Every pitch from the eighth inning on was a pitch that could have changed the game. So many big performances on our end. To win a game like that feels really rewarding.”