WEST SACRAMENTO -- Dan Wilson has only been on the job as Mariners manager for what amounts to less than half a season. On Monday night, he showed some rare vulnerability that can come with the demands of the high-stakes job after a series of decisions preceded a 7-6 walk-off loss to the A’s at Sutter Health Park.
"That’s on me,” Wilson said.
Specifically, Wilson opted to intentionally walk Shea Langeliers and JJ Bleday in consecutive plate appearances to load the bases for Jacob Wilson, who then punched a 99 mph single vs. Casey Legumina in an 0-2 count past the mound for the dagger.
Moreover, all four infielders were playing in and on the grass, virtually eliminating any double-play ball that was seemingly set up by the decision to load the bases and create a forceout around the diamond.
"We were hoping for a ball on the ground and being able to get somebody there,” Wilson said. “And we just weren't able to do it.”
Wilson entered the day with a 53.3% ground-ball rate, the 15th-highest in MLB among 162 qualified hitters. But he also has a 91.9% contact rate, the third-best among that group, behind only Luis Arraez and Steven Kwan, two of the sport’s best pure hitters. Wilson's .455 batting average with runners in scoring position is second only to Aaron Judge (.519), who is on a level all his own.
Wilson, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft who debuted last summer, is a prominent face of the A’s future and now batting .341 with an .816 OPS in 2025.
"Wilson puts the ball on the ground, and we're hoping we get it on the ground,” Wilson said. “I mean, he put it on the ground but was able to get it through. That's on me. That's a tough way to lose.”
There were far more layers to those final moments that proved fateful, though.
Legumina has primarily been used in low-leverage spots, and Wilson opted not to deploy Matt Brash on one day’s rest, after the flamethrower made his much-anticipated return from Tommy John surgery on Saturday in Arlington.
"He threw the ball well in Texas and [we] just wanted to give him another day,” Wilson said.
Gabe Speier might’ve been another option, especially against the lefty-hitting Bleday, as Speier also most recently pitched on Saturday. The only other arm left beyond those two was Eduard Bazardo, who tossed two innings on Sunday.
"Again, we're just having to take the bullpen as we go,” Wilson said.
Legumina surrendered a sacrifice bunt to his first batter, Gio Urshela, that advanced the automatic runner, Tyler Soderstrom -- who eventually scored the game-winning run -- and put Seattle’s reliever on a tightrope right away. The Mariners then intentionally walked Langeliers to put runners on the corners, which prompted a lengthy mound meeting initiated by catcher Cal Raleigh, after which they intentionally walked Bleday.
Decisions like these are obviously more magnified in a loss, and Wilson’s logic was understood from the opposing dugout.
"I see where they’re going with that,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “They get a ground ball from Jacob on the infield, they can turn a double play. They can go home-to-first with Jacob’s speed. You can second guess all you want, but I don’t want to second guess that decision and be that manager that is put in that situation, because it’s not easy.”
Much of the night might’ve gone differently, though, had the Mariners received more length from Bryce Miller, whose command issues persisted as he labored through 94 pitches just to get through the fourth inning. That forced Carlos Vargas and Trent Thornton to pitch two innings apiece, followed by a gritty effort from Andrés Muñoz in the 10th when trying to protect a one-run lead.
Muñoz allowed the automatic runner to score and tie the game, marking his first run surrendered in 17 appearances this season, albeit unearned. He then worked out of a bases-loaded jam after a few tough calls from home-plate umpire Nestor Ceja, capped by three straight strikeouts.
"That was a big, big point for us in the game,” Wilson said, though the Mariners never reclaimed the lead.
The back-and-forth tussle between these American League West hopefuls could be a sign of things to come over the long season. The Mariners (20-14) hold a one-game lead over the A’s (20-16) for first place, as both teams are ahead of the division’s established order of the Astros and Rangers.