The Seattle Mariners have begun a new era, as the team took the field for the first time under interim manager Dan Wilson on Friday against the San Francisco Giants. The team won Wilson's first game in charge, a 6-5 outcome over the visitors. A late rally by a much-maligned offense led to a win in extra innings. Wilson talked to the media after the victory, discussing what the Mariners' goals will be for the rest of the season.
“When you look beyond just this next stretch here that we have, I think the idea is to try to start something new,” Wilson said to reporters, including MLB.com. “And you can't do that in 34 games. I think there's quite a bit of time where that needs to happen. We're going to make a great run at this thing here at the end, but there's also this idea of looking long-term as well.”
Outfielder/first basemen Luke Raley hit a solo home run during a 2 for 3 outing in the leadoff spot, and shortstop Leo Rivas knocked in the game winning run in the 10th inning. Catcher Cal Raleigh and center fielder Julio Rodriguez each went 0 for 3 with two walks on the night, as the rest of the offense picked up the slack in a rare occurrence for the Mariners. Hopefully that trend continues for the rest of the season under Wilson and new hitting coach Edgar Martinez.
Dan Wilson, Julio Rodriguez hope to spark Mariners to playoff berth
The Mariners are hoping that this season is not a repeat of 2023, when the team collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs. They qualified for the postseason in 2022, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card series before losing to the Houston Astros in the Division Series. Now Wilson is hoping to get the team back to the playoffs once again.
They led the division by 10 games at one point earlier this season, but they fell apart and are now in second behind the Astros. Last night's win was a step in the right direction, especially since other starting position players stepped up in the game. The offense has largely been fueled by the efforts of Rodriguez and Raleigh, and on a night where they were mostly off, contributors like Rivas, Raley and third baseman Josh Rojas stepped up.
If the offense continues this trend upward, then hopefully they can match the excellent effort that the Seattle pitching staff has put in throughout the 2024 regular season. Veteran starter Luis Castillo did give up five earned runs over six innings of work, but he still carries a 3.66 ERA and threw 100 pitches last night as well. Performances like that will help the Mariners for the rest of the season. Now it's up to the offense to perform like they did last night. If that happens, then a postseason berth looks more and more likely.
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