Seattle Mariners star outfielder Julio Rodríguez has had a disappointing season by his own lofty standards. His year got a little worse on Wednesday night, when he made an unusual and costly out during the 10th inning of a 2-1 defeat against the New York Yankees. (The Yankees, by the way, became the first American League team to clinch a playoff spot this season with the victory.)
To set the scene: Rodríguez was the lead runner in a first-and-third situation with nobody out and Randy Arozarena at the plate. Arozarena swung and missed a 2-2 pitch from Ian Hamilton, losing his bat in the process. Said bat traversed down the third-base line, causing Rodríguez to juke out of the way. There was just one problem: Rodríguez strayed too far from third base, allowing Yankees catcher Austin Wells to throw behind him. Third baseman Jazz Chisholm then applied a tag, making Rodríguez the tail-end of a weird strike' em out, throw 'em out double play.
Take a look:
After the game, Rodríguez explained that, in the moment, his instinct was to get out of the way out of the bat. He did think, however, that third-base umpire Jeremy Rehak would rule it to be a dead ball, making his excursion away from the bag a non-issue.
"Then they would pick up the bat, and then I was going to go back to third," Rodríguez told reporters, including MLB.com. "And then I heard (third-base coach Manny Acta) 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."
Rodríguez later asked Rehak about the ruling, but was denied vindication. As best as we can tell, Rehak was probably working off Rule 5.09(a)(8), which states in part:
If a bat breaks and part of it is in fair territory and is hit by a batted ball or part of it hits a runner or fielder, play shall continue and no interference called. If a batted ball hits part of a broken bat in foul territory, it is a foul ball.
If a whole bat is thrown into fair or foul territory and interferes with a defensive player attempting to make a play, interference shall be called, whether intentional or not.
Arozarena's bat didn't break, nor did it interfere with any Yankees, the defensive players. You can even argue that it didn't necessarily interfere with Rodríguez, either -- and that he had ample time to ensure his safety before returning to the bag. His gaffe here is an understandable one, an instinctual one even, but unfortunately still a gaffe based on the current MLB rulebook.
It should be noted that Rodríguez's baserunning mistake represents the second consecutive night the Mariners have made an out on the basepaths in odd fashion. On Tuesday, Victor Robles was thrown out attempting to steal home on a 3-0 count with two outs and the bases loaded. To add literal injury to insult, Robles was later removed with a hand contusion he suffered on a hit by pitch that placed him on base initially.
It's been that kind of season for the Mariners, who are now three games back of a wild-card spot with 10 games left to play.