A well-known American sports commentator didn’t hold back when talking about how the Seattle Mariners lost Game 7 to the Toronto Blue Jays. His harsh criticism hurt even more for a team that has never made it to the World Series. The Mariners had everything they needed to win—a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning and only nine outs left to get to baseball’s biggest stage—yet they lost it.

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo gave his harsh opinion on ESPN’s MLB YouTube channel, making it clear how bad Seattle’s loss was. Russo mentioned that the Mariners were to blame for the loss when asked if the Blue Jays won the series or if Seattle just blew it. “I’m going to say Seattle had a lot to do with this,” Russo stated bluntly. He even explained the historical nature of the collapse.

“Only four teams have blown two leads when they win their first two games on the road. Seattle did that.” The sportscaster then drove the knife deeper. “Seattle’s never going to get over it. That’s how bad that loss was,” he declared, echoing the agony of a franchise that has never reached a World Series.

His criticism extended to manager Dan Wilson’s decision-making, calling out specific mistakes.

“I never would have taken out Kirby after four innings. I can’t allow the kid reliever to pitch to Springer when he had pitched two innings the night before, and his best reliever Muñoz was in the bullpen.” Then Russo directly pointed at the heartbreak.

“It’s a brutal loss. The Mariners haven’t been in the World Series since they’ve been in the sport.” His assessment painted a picture of a franchise haunted by missed opportunities and questionable managerial choices.

The numbers backed up Russo’s gloomy view.

Seattle was only the fourth team to lose a two-game lead after winning the first two games on the road. They gave up a 3-2 series lead, even though they had two chances to win it. Springer’s three-run homer, the first go-ahead blast in Game 7 history when trailing by more than one run in the seventh inning or later, crushed Seattle’s hopes. And the Mariners are still the only team in the major leagues that doesn’t have a pennant.

The Blue Jays will play the Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending champions, in the World Series. The first game will be on Friday night at Rogers Centre. With 94 wins in the regular season, Toronto had home-field advantage over Los Angeles. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has led the team through October, outshining Aaron Judge against the Yankees and staying fearless in the postseason even though he had a bad regular season.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, beat Milwaukee in four games to get to their second straight Fall Classic. Shohei Ohtani was the star of the show.

Now, Toronto is getting ready for baseball’s biggest stage, but Seattle is still stuck in the wreckage of Game 7. It wasn’t just bad luck or clutch hitting by the other team that caused the Mariners to fall apart.

Dan Wilson’s Bazardo gamble costs the Mariners their season

The Blue Jays are happy to be in the World Series, but the Seattle Mariners are still thinking about what could have been and the one choice that changed everything. In a game where the winner takes all, managing the bullpen is like managing the whole season. Dan Wilson learned this the hard way when his decision in the seventh inning sealed Seattle’s fate.

The Mariners’ manager had his best closer, Andrés Muñoz, warming up in the bullpen, but he chose setup man Eduard Bazardo instead. George Springer hit a sinker over the left field wall right away, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy and sending the Mariners home for the winter.

Muñoz watched it happen from the bullpen. The All-Star closer could have questioned his manager’s call, but he took the high road.

“Everybody was ready,” Muñoz told Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “But in that moment, they thought that was the best decision, and we all support that, because we’ve been doing that through the whole season. So today it didn’t work. It doesn’t mean that they made a wrong call. It was just that today wasn’t the day. That’s it.”

Muñoz did a great job with it. But it makes sense to use your best closer when the game is on the line and a proven postseason player like Springer is at the plate. Wilson made a different choice, and Seattle paid the price: They still haven’t made it to the World Series.