The Seattle Mariners first baseman was doubled off in a play that looked worse than it actually was.
On Wednesday night, the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-2 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. It wasn't a particularly clean game between two teams that have a habit of not playing particularly clean games.
The Mariners moved to 71-82 on the season with the win and they are 5.5 games out of the American League West lead with nine games to play. Their playoff hopes all but officially dead, they are essentially playing out the string.
The only thing that can really help them are as follows:
1) The Houston Astros losing on Thursday against the Kansas City Royals, and then getting swept over the weekend by the Atlanta Braves.
2) The Texas Rangers losing on Thursday against the Boston Red Sox, and then getting swept over the weekend by the Toronto Blue Jays.
3) And the Mariners sweeping the Colorado Rockies in Colorado.
Even if all that happens, the Mariners would still be two games back of both teams. They don't have the tiebreaker on Texas. The odds are astronomical.
As a result, just about everyone involved is finishing out the season, and fans are trying to take comfort in nice moments and nice performances. But fans are still also quick to point out their frustrations, especially those that they've held in for 153 games to this point.
Such was the case on Wednesday when Josh Naylor was doubled off third base in the top of the seventh inning. Here was the situation.
1) Naylor was on third with one out and Weston Wilson was at the plate.
2) Wilson smoked a line drive to shortstop Zach Neto, who caught the ball.
3) Naylor, as he's prone to do, tried to play some head games with Neto, kind of dancing off the base and daring Neto to throw the ball to third. Neto did, and Naylor was doubled off.
In year full of frustration, specifically about effort and accountability, the play looks really bad. But the reality is that Naylor thought Neto fielded the ball on a hop, so he didn't think he was at risk of being doubled off. Perhaps he did try to draw a throw that would have allowed Wilson to be safe at first, but again, he thought he would need to be tagged in that scenario, which he wasn't.
After the game, manager Dan Wilson re-iterated that Naylor thought the ball was fielded on a hop. And while you might think that Wilson was just covering for his player, it's clear that Naylor says that to the umpire on multiple occasions in the moment.
It's a bad look, but it's not a lack of effort, and that's clear. But at the end of the day, it's just another frustrating moment in a frustrating season.
The Mariners will play the Rockies on Friday following Thursday's off day.
