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The Seattle Mariners were eliminated from the playoffs on Monday night, losing Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mariners, who at times in the best-of-seven series held both a 2-0 and 3-2 advantage, led by a 3-1 score entering the bottom of the seventh inning. That's when Blue Jays star George Springer, hobbled earlier in the series when he was struck by an errant pitch to his right knee, unloaded what proved to be a decisive three-run home run.

Just as notable as Springer's home run, the 23rd of his postseason career, was what happened right beforehand, when Mariners manager Dan Wilson made a pitching change. Wilson, in his first full year at the helm, removed right-hander Bryan Woo in favor of Eduard Bazardo. For as good as Bazardo was during the regular season, when he appeared 73 times and amassed a 2.52 ERA (150 ERA+), it's only natural that folks second-guessed Wilson and wondered if he should've gone directly to closer Andrés Muñoz.

"Bazardo's been doing it all season long and has been so consistent at it and he's done such a good job all year," Wilson said after the game. "We felt really comfortable with him out there, the way he's been throwing the ball, especially in this series, and it was a good spot for him."

Bazardo, for his part, had actually held righties to a lower OPS this season than Muñoz. And, to Wilson's point, Bazardo had appeared three times in the ALCS prior to Monday and had limited the Blue Jays to one run on three hits and four strikeouts. Those marks included an appearance in Sunday's Game 6, when he threw two scoreless innings. 

Notably, Bazardo faced Springer in that outing, throwing him two sinkers, with the second located in roughly the same spot as the one he homered against in Game 7.

"I mean, you make your decisions, and sometimes you have to live and die with it," Wilson said. "I think, again, the way Bazardo has thrown the ball all season long, we were comfortable with where we were and it just, again, didn't go our way."

In turn, the Mariners will now head home for the winter, having come within a single win of reaching the World Series for the first time in franchise history.