SEATTLE -- Dan Wilson might be the least angry manager in baseball, but his rare fiery emotion came out during the Mariners’ game against the Padres on Saturday afternoon that led to his first ejection of 2026.
Wilson was tossed by first-base umpire Chad Fairchild for vocalizing frustration over at least two check-swing calls that went the Padres’ way in a costly fourth inning for Logan Gilbert.
The first was to Miguel Andujar in a 1-2 count on a slider in the dirt that kept the at-bat alive and allowed him to chop an RBI forceout for the inning’s first run. The next was to Ramón Laureano, also in a 1-2 count, in an eventual strikeout for the third out -- but after the damage against Gilbert was done.
In between, Nick Castellanos touched Gilbert for a three-run homer on the first pitch that gave the Padres a commanding 5-0 lead.
Both check-swing calls were appealed to Fairchild by home-plate umpire Brian Walsh.
While the one to Andujar was extremely close, replay of the one to Laureano showed that he pretty clearly went around.
It was at the latter point that Wilson was chirping to Fairchild from the home dugout, which is along the first-base line and within Fairchild’s earshot. Wilson was then ejected from the top step, after which he went out and had more words for the official before being pulled back by bench coach Manny Acta.
This seemed like a pretty clear case of a loyal manager wanting to back his pitcher, as much as the actual calls.
Before Andujar’s RBI and Castellanos’ homer, Gilbert had issued back-to-back one-out walks, to Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets, on a combined 10 pitches. It prompted a mound visit from pitching coach Pete Woodworth, after which Gilbert gave up a single to Xander Bogaerts that loaded the bases.
Had Andujar’s check-swing been ruled a full swing, it would’ve been the third strike for the second out. Castellanos still would’ve had an at-bat, though, and potentially with the bases loaded.
That homer was one of three that Gilbert gave up, including a solo shot to Sheets in the second and a two-run blast to Rodolfo Durán in the seventh, which ended his day. Gilbert finished with seven earned runs, a threshold opposing teams have tagged him for just four times prior over his six-year career.
More broadly, it’s been a frustrating 24 hours for Wilson, who was the center of fan frustration for his platoon usage in Friday’s 2-0 loss.
Specifically, for substituting lefty sluggers Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone for Connor Joe and Rob Refsnyder, respectively, after San Diego turned to lefty reliever Adrian Morejon in the seventh inning.
Those spots in the lineup again came up later against a righty reliever -- albeit, the sport’s very best -- in Mason Miller, who locked down his MLB-leading 14th save but needed four outs to do so and faced a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.
Wilson, who was never ejected over his 14-year playing career, was tossed twice last season -- including during a loss in Tampa with his former skipper, Lou Piniella, in the building. In many ways, the fiery Piniella is the antithesis of the affable Wilson.