Your Seattle Mariners played their biggest series in four seasons this week. With a chance to overtake the first place Angels if they could win three games, the Mariners won zero games.

They got outscored 24-8.

Ever see that thing they do at the zoo where hippos eat pumpkins? It was like that.

Much of the blame is gonna come down on Mariner manager John McLaren, who took the interesting step of using his worst pitcher more than his best pitcher. To wit:

Innings pitched during the most important series of the year...

38-year-old, fat, goateed Astros castoffs (Rick White)--2
Fireballing young All-Star pitchers with ERAs under 2 (J.J. Putz)--0

Your Mariner fan friends are telling each other that this stat is all you need to know about how John McLaren managed the bullpen in this series.

That is, that McLaren's clueless.

But what it actually is, is evidence why McLaren should managing the team and not fans like us.

Would we have had Putz in the game Tuesday night to try to hold the Angels close? Damn right we would've.

Would we have put him in yesterday afternoon, as the roof caved in on our hopes of winning the AL West? Absolutely.

We don't want the wild card, we want the division.

McLaren's job isn't to get caught up in the heat of a division race like we are right now.

His job is to get the Mariners to the playoffs.

He'd never admit it, but halfway through yesterday's game, he waved the white flag on the AL West, and started managing to win the wild card.

If you're trying to win the wild card, beating the Angels is no more important than beating the Indians tomorrow, or the Blue Jays over the weekend. And it's far less important than beating the Yankees and Tigers next week.

Had the M's and Angels been far behind the wild card contestants, and the loser of the division would be out of the playoffs, you would've seen Putz in those games. But because the M's can take that walk on the wild side, McLaren's saving Putz for games that mean more.

Putz has thrown 60 innings this year, more than any other closer in the American League.

If he starts working in the late innings of games when the M's are behind, he'll be shut down with "arm soreness" before you can say Greg Hibbard.

And if Putz is out for a week or two, do the M's have a chance at the wild card?

They do not.

So while we mourn the crappiness of the Mariners this week, we salute the steady hand of the man in charge. The Mariners are still in first place (though tied with the Yankees) for the wild card and a berth in the playoffs. It's not time to panic...yet.