Mariners' Rodríguez on baserunning gaffe: Thought it was a dead play

Seattle Mariners star outfielder Julio Rodríguez boiled his costly baserunning mistake late in Wednesday's loss to the New York Yankees down to an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Randy Arozarena came up to bat down 2-1 in the 10th inning with runners on the corners and nobody out. He struck out swinging, losing his grip on the bat. It flew up the third base line towards Rodríguez, who strayed too far while dodging it and got picked off.

"After I saw the bat, I thought it was going to be a dead play," Rodríguez said, according to MLB.com's Daniel Kramer.

"Then they would pick up the bat, and then I was going to go back to third. 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."

Justin Turner - who hit a dramatic game-tying home run in the eighth - then struck out on three pitches to end the game.

Rodríguez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk. The talented 23-year-old is hitting .266/.322/.389 with 16 home runs and 22 stolen bases this season.

New York clinched a playoff spot with the win, while Seattle saw its playoff chances take a huge hit with the loss. The Mariners now find themselves five games behind the Astros in the AL West and three back of the Minnesota Twins for the final AL wild-card spot.

The Yankees and Mariners wrap up their series Thursday afternoon.