The New York Yankees were winning 2-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning, however, the Seattle Mariners were threatening to score, with baserunner Julio Rodriguez on third, as well as Cal Raleigh on first base and no outs.
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Randy Arozarena was at the plate, and the count was two balls and two strikes. That is to say, what happened next might be a first in MLB history, as somehow a double play happened on a strike-three swing, in which the hitter lost grip of the bat.
In view of what took place, Arozarena swung at the next pitch and let go of his bat, which made its way down the third baseline. Rodriguez tried dodging the flying bat, and in doing so he apparently forgot that he was in the middle of a game and that the play was still live.
With attention to the most important moment of the game, Rodriguez walked so far away from the base, trying to catch his breath from almost getting hit, that Yankees catcher Austin Wells threw the ball to third base and got him out.
Julio Rodriguez with maybe the worst baserunning mistake you’ll ever see pic.twitter.com/lLxAxIXosr
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 19, 2024
Then with two outs, Justin Turner, who homered in the eighth to tie the game at one, struck out. And just like that, with a win, the Yankees (89-63) became the first AL team to clinch a playoff spot.
To note, this bizarre ending to a close game is a tough pill to swallow for the Mariners (77-75) as they are currently fighting for a playoff spot, and now remain five games behind the first place Houston Astros (82-70) in the AL West standings. In addition, they are three games back behind the Minnesota Twins, fighting for the last wildcard spot, with just 10 games left in the regular season.
During the postgame interviews, Seattle manager Dan Wilson talked about the bat-hurling incident.
"Kind of a freak scenario there at the end with the bat coming down there and just kind of a reactionary thing... It was a great ballgame on all fronts and a tough one to lose."
Rodriguez also elaborated on what was going through his mind, in regards to his baserunning blunder.
"I got away and turned my back to the field and I heard (third base coach) Manny (Acta) yelling, 'Get back to third.' That's when I got back to third," Rodriguez explained. "Honestly, at that moment I wasn't really thinking about the game, just trying to get away from the bat coming at me."
Wow.
Randy Arozarena strikes out swinging here in the 10th inning but in the process also sails his bat down the third-base line near Julio Rodríguez ... While jumping out of the way then gathering himself, he’s then picked off. pic.twitter.com/mn7xDlrPzl
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) September 19, 2024
To point out, this was the second night in a row that the Mariners made a dumb mistake on the base pads, as in Tuesday's game vs. the Yankees, Victor Robles tried to steal home when the hitter had a 3-0 count and the bases were loaded.
3-0 count, two outs, bases loaded… and the Mariners try to STEAL HOME? pic.twitter.com/GrSFLJTTEl
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 18, 2024
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