AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS VS MARINERS

October 5, 2025

Dan Wilson

T-Mobile Park

Seattle Mariners

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Mariners - 3, Tigers - 2

Q. Dan, just what were your emotions in that one? The back-and-forth, you know, they tie the game late, then Julio and Cal deliver. Just all -- the wave of emotions that you went through tonight?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. That's kind of the nature of playoff baseball. There's back-and-forth. There's momentum shifts.

I gave our guys a ton of credit. Number one, this was a bounce-back game for us, and they did just that. And to lose the lead late like that and to come right back and score a run was huge. I thought those at-bats by Julio and Cal were tremendous and just a huge momentum shift back to our dugout.

And then Muny coming in there in the ninth to slam the door. You know, this is what it's like. This is playoff baseball, so you're going to see this, and it's good to come up on the top side of this one.

Q. Dan, you mentioned Cal and Julio. Obviously it's a team effort. A lot of people contributed to this one. But, you know, when everything's on the line, your two guys, the guys who have been doing it all year, just to have those stars step up, how big is that, to have that in your pocket?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. Obviously those two guys, with the big at-bats there late. But, you know, you can't overlook everything else that happened today. Polo with two homers off of one of the league's best if not the best. And just two great at-bats there to give us a little bit of a lead. You know, outstanding ballgame for him, and another hit later, an infield hit.

And then what The Rock did for us on the mound, a tremendous job of getting us to where we needed to get to and, you know, kind of give it back to the bullpen that did a tremendous job again tonight. Defensively doing what we needed to do. Some good at-bats, even some unsung at-bats there where we put a few pitches on Skubal, which was key for us.

But all in all, I think it's a team win from top to bottom. But those two guys certainly coming up big late.

Q. Dan, can you just speak a little bit more to what you saw from Luis today. All year, he gets better as the outing goes on. The shaky first few innings, and then he seems to settle in. What did you see from him tonight?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. I thought he really settled in. The second time through the order, he just really started to dominate there.

And, again the good fastball, using his secondaries extremely well, like we have seen, getting the punch-out.

And I think he has been in those moments. We talked about it beforehand. And when you get back in those moments and that adrenaline starts flowing the way it was, I think that he was not going to be denied.

And certainly it was getting to the point where we might have had to lift him with no hits, but that's a tough decision too.

But just a great ballgame from Rock. And at a time when we really needed it. It seems like he's done that all along.

And down the stretch we had some big wins where he kind of stepped up, and tonight was another opportunity for him, and he did exactly what we needed him to do.

Q. Dan, just talking about guys stepping up, you've talked to us all season about your team's resiliency and then attention to detail. How did you play out tonight?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. I mean, resilient in a lot of ways tonight. Again, to bounce back from a tough one last night, extra innings, and to come out today against, you know, one of the league's best pitchers.

And we've done this before, and they did it again tonight. Some great at-bats and just a tough night, you know, to come back from something like last night, but they did it. They found a way. And that's resiliency.

It seems like there's no other way around it, but they were able to find a way to do it tonight.

And, you know, just from top to bottom, I thought again guys doing what they had to do to get the W tonight. The bullpen outstanding, you know? That's not an easy role in those tight games, but I thought they all threw the ball well.

And, you know, just a good team win up and down today and a chance to travel, get a little rest tomorrow, and then be ready to get back after it on Tuesday.

Q. Dan, going back to Julio and where he was at around the All-Star break, what did tonight teach us more about the kind of makeup and approach that he has that helps him meet the moment for the postseason?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. You know, the second half that Julio had has been tremendous, and we've seen these great at-bats all along in the second half. And I think his maturity here that he has kind of experienced throughout the season has really paid off, and we saw it tonight. And just coming up huge there. That's a huge RBI.

Again, talking about momentum shifts and grabbing that lead right back after losing it is so huge. And to stay in that moment, to not try to do too much, that says so much about Julio and what he has done for us all season.

Q. And how easy was it to go to Gabe there with Carpenter coming up and just leaving him in knowing he can still get out the righties after a little patch?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. It's almost deja vu all over again. And I thought Gabe came in, as he did last night when he got his time to get in the ballgame, just continued to pound the zone as he does and really attack, and to be able to do it in that situation again, get us back in the dugout, keep that lead.

And then, again, to go back out. This is playoff baseball, and, you know, threw a lot of pitches last night, but right back out there tonight going one plus for us and, you know, reaching down.

And that's where everybody is. Everybody's reaching down at this point and giving everything they've got, and they leave it all on the field, and that was what Gabe did tonight for us again.

Q. Dan, leadoff walks the last two nights have hurt you guys late. How do you maybe balance the pitchers being aggressive in the zone with not wanting to make that crucial mistake late?

DAN WILSON: Yeah. Certainly it's little things here in the playoffs that make a big difference, and we've talked about that all season long. And, you know, leadoff walks can be costly. You know, sometimes it's not, but sometimes it is, and eliminating that as much as possible is huge.

But I thought Matty threw some good pitches when he had to, got us out of that inning, even though it was tied, and then allowed our offense to take over from there.