Seattle Mariners’ outfielder Julio Rodríguez had a rough night on Wednesday, making a costly mistake in the 10th inning against the Yankees, losing 2-1.
Rodríguez was the lead runner with no outs and Randy Arozarena at bat. Arozarena missed a pitch from Ian Hamilton, losing his bat which flew down the third-base line. Rodríguez dodged it but strayed too far from third base. Yankees catcher Austin Wells threw to third baseman Jazz Chisholm, who tagged Rodríguez out in an odd double play.
Check this out:
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Afterward, Rodríguez explained he thought umpire Jeremy Rehak would call it a dead ball. “Then they would pick up the bat,” he said, “and then I was going to go back to third.” He heard coach Manny Acta yelling to get back but wasn’t thinking about the game ; just avoiding the bat.
Game Rules and Umpire Decisions:
Rodríguez asked Rehak about it later but got no satisfaction. Rule 5.09(a)(8) might explain why: if part of a broken bat hits someone or is hit by a ball in fair territory, play continues unless it interferes with defense. The bat didn’t break or interfere with Yankees players or even really with Rodríguez himself—he had time to get back safely.
Fans might feel frustrated seeing such avoidable errors costing games.
Interestingly, this was not the first weird baserunning blunder for Seattle recently. Victor Robles tried stealing home on Tuesday with bases loaded and two outs but got thrown out and injured his hand getting hit by pitch earlier.
It’s been that kind of year for Seattle—now three games behind in wild-card race with only ten games left.
What do you think about all these mistakes?
