The Mariners’ visit to LA this week was exactly what the Dodgers needed. The Diamondbacks and Padres were slowly building their lead in the NL West, and the Dodgers needed at least a series win to put some distance between them. The Mariners, who were 7-8 before their trip to LA and slowly slipping out of the Wild Card race, were the perfect opponents.

As it turns out, the Dodgers didn’t just win a series. They took all three games from the Mariners in a commanding manner, winning by at least three points in each of their victories. In doing so, they secured the best record in baseball and dropped Seattle 7.5 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.

One day after the series ended, as the Mariners headed home with their tails between their legs, it was announced that they would fire manager Scott Servais and replace him with former Mariner Dan Wilson.

Servais reportedly saw the news on social media before a scheduled meeting with Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations, where he was officially told he was being fired. Yuck.

By mid-June, the Mariners seemed unstoppable. They were ten games ahead of the Astros in the AL West in a division that Seattle seemed to be able to win. But because the Mariners are Mariners and the Astros are Astros, Seattle’s lead shrank to 3.5 games by the end of June, and by July 20, they were actively battling with the Astros for first place in the division.

According to OptaSTATS, Servais is the first manager in MLB history to lead a team to a ten-game division lead and then be fired in the same season.

That’s what it does to a player when he gets beat by the Dodgers. The Dodgers have enjoyed some long-awaited and well-timed returns from the IL over the past two weeks, restoring their lineup depth after a truly excruciating few weeks. The Mariners, despite attempting to breathe new life into their team with the firing of Servais and the hiring of Wilson, appear to be well past the postseason as the Twins and Royals remain stable in the final two Wild Card spots.

Servais left Seattle with an incredibly kind message to the team, the organization and the fans. The Mariners didn’t have a great second half of the season, but hopefully he can find a permanent place with another organization.