The desire is to blame Dan Wilson, or Eduard Bazardo, or somebody, but in reality, it was a team loss that ended the Mariners season in game 7 of the American League Championship Series. As unfortunate as it is, that's baseball. We've chosen to love it, and this is how it sometimes treat you.
TORONTO -- I'll be honest. I'm still emotionally shaken as I'm writing this. You're emotionally shaken (probably) as you're reading this.
By now, you know that the Seattle Mariners lost in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, falling 4-3 in heartbreaking fashion. George Springer hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to turn a 3-1 Mariners lead into a 4-3 deficit and yet another crushing blow in Mariners fandom.
I've seen it on social media already: Fans blaming manager Dan Wilson for the loss, but the reality is this: While you can question Wilson's decisions, especially in the seventh, this was a full-throated Mariners loss, and everybody really had a hand in it. Both in this game, and in this series.
So stop looking for one person to blame. The team came up short. It's as simple as that.
The offense had runners at first and second with nobody out in the top of the second and didn't score. They benefited from three Kevin Gausman walks in the top of the seventh, but because of a double play, they failed to score there too. Though they got solo home runs from Julio Rodriguez in the third and Cal Raleigh in the fifth, the offense was largely stagnant in the middle innings.
There was George Kirby, who battled through four pretty good innings, but he still gave up a run in the bottom of the first because, in part, of a leadoff walk and his allowing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a hit on an 0-2 pitch basically down the middle. Again, while he pitched well, those two things are regrettable mistakes in a game of this magnitude.
There was Bryan Woo, who was fairly heroic in his two-plus inning relief effort on two-days rest, after a month-long injury, also walking the No. 7 hitter and allowing an 0-2 hit to the No. 8 hitter in the top of the seventh. Both of these things occurred with nobody out.
There was Eduard Bazardo, who threw the pitch that Springer hit out, and there was Wilson, who could have gone to Andres Munoz in that spot instead, could have gone to Bryce Miller, or could have started the inning with Gabe Speier.
But see? There's plenty of blame to go around, and there's also blame to spread around from earlier in the series, when the starting pitching was underwhelming and the offense was absent for far too long.
All that matters is that the Mariners' dream season is over. It doesn't really matter how we got here on Monday night.
At least not to me.
Related Mariners Stories
LATEST PODCAST IS OUT: Brady Farkas is back for the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast, and he's talking about the Mariners being just one win away from the World Series after Friday's win in Game 5. The emotion behind it, Geno Suarez's big hit and much more in a quick recap. CLICK HERE:
SCOTT SERVAIS POSSIBILITY? With Mike Shildt stepping aside as the manager of the San Diego Padres, could former M's manager Scott Servais be in the mix? CLICK HERE:
LINEUP QUESTIONS: Dominic Canzone started again for the Mariners over Victor Robles on Sunday. Why? Dan Wilson explains the thoughts behind it. CLICK HERE: