SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez was simply trying to jump out of the way as the bat sailed swiftly in his direction while he led off from third base in the bottom of the 10th inning on Wednesday night.
But in the process, as Randy Arozarena struck out and lost the grip on his lumber, Rodr¨ªguez came way off the bag and was picked off for a gut-punch double play at the finish line of a 2-1 loss to the Yankees, sending a shockwave of stunned disbelief from Rodr¨ªguez to the home dugout and the ticketed 31,674 on hand at T-Mobile Park.
"After I saw the bat, I thought it was going to be a dead play,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said, adding that he asked third-base umpire Jeremy Rehak for an explanation why it wasn¡¯t called such, alongside Mariners third-base coach Manny Acta.
"Then they would pick up the bat, and then I was going to go back to third,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said. ¡°And then I heard Manny yelling, ¡®Get back to third.¡¯ That¡¯s when I got back to third. At that moment, I wasn¡¯t really thinking about the game. I was just thinking about getting away from the bat coming at me. That was a first for me.¡±
Arozarena¡¯s bat sliced directly in Rodr¨ªguez's direction after the outfielder hacked at a 2-2 slider off the plate from reliever Ian Hamilton, and it didn¡¯t come to a halt until after reaching shallow left field.
Rehak also had to move out of the way, though from where the umpire was standing, deep on the dirt and just in front of the grass, the bat¡¯s trajectory had slowed and wasn¡¯t coming in nearly as hot as when it passed Rodr¨ªguez.
"I don't think that's for him to be blamed,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said of Arozarena. ¡°It's just kind of a weird situation that we all kind of found ourselves in. So I don't think it's his fault. I think it's for me to learn from that.¡±
The play came one night after the Mariners were front-and-center for a separate significant slip-up on the basepaths, when Victor Robles attempted to steal home in a 3-0 count with the bases loaded and two outs. That sequence also represented a massive momentum shift, but with more wiggle room given that it was in the first inning and not the 10th.
Each carried its own never-seen-that-before reactions, and from both clubhouses.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone: ¡°It's two plays down at third on back-to-back nights that are pretty amazing. Obviously, kind of gifts our way.¡±
Mariners manager Dan Wilson: ¡°It all happened fast, and again, just very reactionary. I think we'd all jump out of the way. But just unfortunate that it ended up that way.¡±
Leading into Wednesday¡¯s fateful sequence, it looked like the Mariners might rally to their 11th walk-off victory, with runners on the corners, no outs and their cleanup man who loves big moments stepping to the plate.
But after Rodr¨ªguez receded into the dugout, Justin Turner struck out on three pitches to leave Robles on first base after he pinch-ran for Cal Raleigh, their 10th stranded baserunner of the night.
And with it, the Mariners instead squandered another dominant pitching performance, this one a team-wide effort from both Bryce Miller and the bullpen, further putting their postseason hopes in peril.
Miller threw a career-high 106 pitches, gave up just one run on two hits and showed incredible maturation given the opponent, as the Yanks had tagged him for a combined 13 runs (including five homers) in his only other two starts against them. Troy Taylor, Andr¨¦s Mu?oz and Collin Snider were just as vital, going scoreless behind Miller into extras, with a combined one baserunner.
But after the Mariners came away empty in the ninth, Rodr¨ªguez striking out as the third out, Snider was ambushed on his first pitch in the 10th that Anthony Rizzo yanked for a down-the-line double that scored the automatic runner Jasson Dom¨ªnguez.
The Mariners' only run production came via a solo homer from Turner, who blasted a hanging slider from Clay Holmes in the eighth that tied the game at 1-1.
With their victory, the Yanks officially clinched a playoff berth, while Seattle¡¯s postseason hopes took another significant hit.
With 10 games to play, the Mariners (77-75) remained five games behind the Astros in the American League West after Houston lost in San Diego, and they stayed three games back of the final AL Wild Card spot, but dropped to 2 1/2 behind surging Detroit.