THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's, Tigers tied at one curious managerial decision each

Baseball managers get stuck making 50-50 decisions.

Sometimes, they have to happen in a heartbeat.

Sure, they’ve already thought of a few zillion possibilities that might come with the next at-bat.

Or with the next pitch.

The thing about these 50-50 calls is that, unless they work so wonderfully that you look like a genius, well … you still own them.

Maybe they could go either way — no harm, no foul — and fans forget your decision by the next inning.

Or.

Maybe you’re Scott Servais, and you summon starter Robbie Ray to face Yordan Alvarez in the ninth inning of an ALDS Game 1.

Ray has no history of pitching in relief, but he’s got blazing stuff — and the clincher, he’s lefthanded.

This is NOT a 50-50 call.

It’s what some fans and media call a “galaxy brain decision.”

In other words, it has to work, or now — three years later — critics remain wondering if Servais had lost his mind.

Of course, you (and millions more) know that crazy call wound up with Alvarez hitting a three-run homer that may STILL be in flight over Galveston Bay.  

Galaxy brain, indeed.

AS IT happens, both Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and current Mariners boss Dan Wilson have made puzzling decisions in this ALDS.

And we’ve only played two games.

Wilson’s mistake was unbelievable, and may turn out catastrophic if the M’s first-game loss winds up knocking them from the postseason.

We still haven’t heard Dan explain exactly what was running (or slogging) through his mind when he chose to let starting pitcher George Kirby try his luck with one more batter.

Kirby had shut out the Tigers through four innings (which is considered a solid start in the postseason), and he was still throwing the ball well.

By the time we reach the moment of truth in the fifth, Kirby is sitting on a 1-0 lead — courtesy of a Julio Rodriguez homer off Detroit starter Troy Melton.

However.

The way the Tigers’ lineup happened to roll around, Kirby wound up with a runner on second, and needing to get one more out to finish his five complete innings.

The bad news: The hitter between Kirby and safety in the dugout was Kerry Carpenter.

They have a stunning resume together, these two.

Carpenter was not only 4-for-8 in his matchups with Kirby — but all four hits were home runs.

Think about that for a minute.

Contestants in the Home Run Derby hardly launch that many rockets.

So.

I ask you.

If you’re managing the Mariners, would you let Kirby pitch to Carpenter AGAIN?

For whatever reason (Wilson’s postgame replies made little sense at all), Kirby was given another shot at slaying the demon.

Result: Carpenter’s fat total against George jumped up to 5-for-9, including five homers.

The Tigers went on to win 3-2 in 11 innings, but Carpenter’s two-run jolt was all that got them beyond nine.

WILSON has to wear the goat horns for that first-game blunder.

However, the teams are 1-1 heading into tonight’s game in Detroit.

Seattle managed to put its own 3-2 thriller on the board with some eighth-inning dramatics.

Explosions from both teams seemed to happen all at once.

Most of the game was quiet (if you’re not counting the manic, full-house crowd), except for a pair of solo homers from the Mariners’ Jorge Polanco off the presumptive Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal.

It seemed that Polanco’s two shots would decide the game, until Detroit suddenly came to life in the eighth.

A walk, an error and a double made it 2-2 in barely a nanosecond.

The walk (Matt Brash) and error (Josh Naylor) reminded Mariners fans of the “bad old days.”

The Tigers’ bullpen had won that late-inning battle a night before, so Detroit seemed set up to grab another victory for the plane ride home.

At that point, though, Hinch made a call that wasn’t quite “galaxy brain” stuff, but it still seemed like tempting fate.

Cal Raleigh doubled off Kyle Finnegan with one out in the eighth, and Hinch was (more or less) in a similar spot to Wilson the night before.

Pitch to Julio, who is hotter than the face of the sun?

The option was Polanco, who had done so much damage earlier in the game.

Hinch chose the future Hall of Famer.

He was rewarded with a screaming double into the left-field corner, Cal trotting home with the game-winner.

Hinch’s decision was a 50-50.

But sometimes, they hurt just as much.                                                                                   

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”