Julio Rodriguez continues mind-boggling baserunning mistakes for the Mariners

You ever see something so dumb that you fail for a bit to comprehend what just happened? You sit there and think about it, trying to understand what went down, and once you finally have a grasp on it, you realize that you'll likely not see anything dumber than that for years, if not decades? Only for humanity to show you just how inopportune that they can truly be, and they instantly one up themselves. I know you all understand that feeling... especially after watching the Mariners.

We saw Victor Robles steal home, or at least attempt to, with two outs and a 3-0 count against a pitcher who was struggling to find the zone. It's a heads up play, a smart one, just one that was executed and an incredibly dumb time. there was literally zero reason to try and do it when he did, and happened against the best team in the American League. You can't give the Yankees anything extra, or they will make you pay.

Julio Rodriguez had an unfortunate ill-timed mistake

Then, in Wednesday night's game, Julio Rodriguez decided to one-up Robles. After striking out to end the 9th, Julio would start the 10th on second base with the Mariners down 2-1. A Cal Raleigh flare into shallow left wasn't enough to score Julio, so the Mariners had runners on the corners with no outs. It's guaranteed that they should score. Right? RIGHT?

Nope.

Instead, we saw Randy Arozarena strike out for the first out of the inning. It was more than that though, as he would fling his bat down the third base line. Unfortunately, it was right at Julio. He would dance out of the way, heading further away from third and into foul territory to avoid the bat. He continued to move away from the field of play... only to be picked off as he realized the folly of his ways, diving back to third just too late and being called out on the tag.

All of a sudden, there were two outs and a runner on first, and the team was still down 2-1. A strikeout would end the game, and the Mariners, instead of putting the pressure on New York, instead got to watch as they celebrated clinching a playoff spot in the visiting clubhouse.

Look, what Julio did was immensely costly. Moreso than what Robles did. However, I firmly believe that what Robles did was, to put it bluntly, the more stupid move. There was no reason for him to steal home. Literally not a single one, and it ruined the Mariners chances at a rally.

Julio, however, reacted to a bat flying at him from less than 90 ft away. His closest route to safety was away from third, and he was likely thinking something along the lines of "oh man, that was close, I'm glad that bat missed me" while also probably thinking that the ball was dead, or there was a foul ball, or something along those lines.

I don't know that I give Julio a pass here, because you always have to be aware on the field. His mistake hurt the team so much more than the Robles one. I do believe that his was a reactionary one though, and just bad timing and bad luck mixed with a tiny brain fart. Unfortunately, it likely means the end of the Mariners season as well. The Mariners blew a chance to pick up games on both Minnesota and Houston, and time is running out for the M's. As of now, it looks like it's too late for them to fix their season.